Premier League, Week 28: Thomas Vermaelen Wins It For Arsenal

Up until stoppage time, Krul seemed like the clear man of the match. Between his fantastic saves and van Persie’s shocking misses after his goal, Newcastle came very close to holding onto a result even though they were thoroughly dominated after Ben Arfa’s goal. This loss almost certainly puts them out of the race for the top four, while Arsenal can set their sights on third.

For more on the two teams, head over to Arsenal blog The Short Fuse and Newcastle United blog Coming Home Newcastle.

For more on the two teams, head over to Arsenal blog The Short Fuse and Newcastle United blog Coming Home Newcastle.

Arsenal Lineup (4-2-3-1): Szczesny; Gibbs, Vermaelen, Koscielny, Sagna; Song, Arteta; Oxlade-Chamberlain, Rosicky, Walcott; van Persie

Newcastle United Lineup (4-4-1-1): Krul; Santon, Coloccini, Williamson, Simpson; Gutierrez, Cabaye, Tiote, Obertan; Ben Arfa; Ba

United soon reaped the rewards of their numerical advantage, with Rooney slotting home a penalty following Keith Andrews’ foul on Young, and the hosts then saw out the rest of the match with minimal difficulty. With news of Swansea’s winner against City hitting the stands as the board went up to show the three minutes of stoppage time, the mood around Old Trafford at full time was something approaching ecstatic. The title is now United’s for the losing.

It was an intriguing opening 15 minutes at the Liberty Stadium, with chances in short supply and neither team taking a strong footing in the game, although it could have been argued that Swansea nicked the first few rounds.

There were ugly scenes around the hour mark when Balotelli went down in the area under pressure from Joe Allen. No penalty was given, and rightly so as the contact was minimal, but the away side were convinced it was and a surrounding of the referee, lead by Yaya Toure and Sergio Aguero ensued as Balotelli in full petulant mode lay in the area scratching his head.

For more on the Blues, head over to Chelsea FC blog We Ain’t Got No History.

I wonder what Mark Hughes is going to say about the refereeing...

One of the great things about the promotion/relegation system is that it makes us pay attention to games involving Wolves, Wigan and Blackburn!

Hey, waitaminute...