EPL Soccer @ Today.com

Chelsea 2-0 Middlesbrough
A Kalou double was enough to give Chelsea all 3 points and move them ahead of Liverpool and into sole posession of second place behind Manchester United.

Manchester City 2-1 Newcastle
Newcastle continue to hang around the relegation zone after todays defeat. Shaun Wright-Phillips and, new signing, Craig Bellamy had staked City to a 2 goal lead before Carroll got a late consolation.

Wigan 1-1 Liverpool
Liverpool’s title challenge continues to fade with 2 more points dropped today. Benayoun had the reds in fron at the half, but a late Mido penalty tied it up.

Blackburn 2-2 Bolton
A battling second half performance from Blackburn who found themselved 2 down at the half through goals from Taylor and Davies. Warnock and McCarthy got the goals that salvaged the point.

Everton 1-1 Arsenal
Everton will be disappointed with this result as they chase the final European spot, currently occupied by Arsenal. Cahill had them ahead on the hour, but a last minute strike from Van Persie ruined the celebrations.

West Ham 2-0 Hull
Another 3 points for the Hammers who are in a rich vein of form at the moment, not something that can be said fro struggling Hull. Di Michele and Cole got the goals on either side of half time.

Sunderland 1-0 Fulham
Kenwyne Jones, fresh off of signing a lucrative new deal, was the difference maker here, slotting home the winner in the 55th minute.

West Brom 0-5 Manchester United
United opened their gap at the top with a drubbing of West Brom. The home seides cause was not helped when Paul Robinson was sent off close to half-time. Berbatove had the Red Devils a goal up at that point and Tevez added one more before the half. Vidic and a Ronaldo double made it 5 in the second.

Portsmouth 0-1 Aston Villa
Villas improbable run for the tilte continued today with an away win against Pompey who are heading in the wrong direction. New boy Emile Heskey got the lone goal in the 21st minute.

Tottenham 3-1 Stoke
The goals came at last for Spurs, and they came quickly. Lennon, Defoe and Dawson all netted inside the first 24 minutes. James Beattie got the consolation for Stoke.

Another wild round of FA Cup action is over and those who moved on, as well as those who lived to battle another day via replay, went into the hat for the 5th round draw. Most of the big guns will play teams from lower divisions, but a few of them were paired together, assuming of course they can win their replays. Here is how the full draw turned out. All the games will be played the weekend of February 14th.

Sheffield Utd v Hull
Watford v Chelsea
West Ham v Middlesbrough
Sunderland or Blackburn v Coventry
Swansea v Fulham
Liverpool or Everton v Doncaster or Aston Villa
Cardiff or Arsenal v West Brom or Burnley
Derby or Nottinham Forest v Manchester Utd

Cardiff 0-0 Arsenal
Last seasons beaten finalists, Cardiff City, set out to try and pull off another mammoth upset on their home turf and they came perilously close to doing just that. Over the 90 minutes, the bluebirds held the advantage in play and almost snatched a dramatic winner in the dying moments when a free kick came crashing back off the crossbar. It’s back to The Emirates for a replay to decide this one.

Liverpool 1-1 Everton
The same result as the last meeting between these 2, but this game lacked the same level of excitement. A dull affair to say the least. Lescott put Everton in front on the half hour on a nice set piece play, the only way Everton ever looked like scoring, but Gerrard hit the equalizer in the second half, courtesy of a howling blunder from goalkeeper, Tim Howard. Replay at Goodison to sort this one out.

Hartlepool 0-2 West Ham
The Hammers go into the draw for the 5th round, but not without a little help from the referee. They went ahead through a Behrami goal and Mark Noble added a second from the spot a minute later, despite the replay showing the ball handled well outside the box.
Chelsea 3-1 Ipswich
Another bit of a struggle for Chelsea who are having some real problems with their form at the moment. Ballack put them ahead early, but Alex Bruce tied things up before ballack scored again on the hour and Lampard added a late security goal.
Doncaster 0-0 Aston Villa
Villa looked very unlike the team that is challenging for the EPL title and, in truth, were lucky to earn the replay.
Hull 2-0 Millwall
A little confidence booster for Hull who have been struggling of late. Goals from Turner and Ashbee were enough to steer them into the 5th round.
Kettering 2-4 Fulham
This is the type of game that makes the FA Cup so special. Non league Kettering played up to their opposition and almost tasted glory. Davies put Fulham ahead early but were pegged back by Westcarr. The second half went back and forth and a Danny Murphy srike in the 77th minute looked like the nail in the coffin, but Kettering came back again when Westcarr scored from the spot in the 83rd. A replay looked on the cards until Johnson and Zamora scored a minute aprt very, very late on. Hats off to Kettering for a brilliant display.
Portsmouth 0-2 Swansea
More trouble for Tony Adams and his Portsmouth side as they go crashing out of the cup to an opponent from a lower division. Dyer and Scotland did the damage for the Swans.
Sunderland 0-0 Blackburn
A replay will be needed to sort this one out. A game that was as dull as the scoreline suggests.
West Brom 2-2 Burnley
Burnley recaptured their magic from the Carling Cup and will now force West Brom into a very uncomfortable replay at Turf Moor. Alexander put Burnley ahead from the spot, but goals from Koren and Kim had West Brom ahead at the half. It looked like it would end that way until Martin Paterson hit the tying goal in the last minute.
Wolves 1-2 Middlesbrough
Boro avoided a replay by the skin of their teeth. Alves had them ahead at the half, but Vokes hit the equalizer on the hour before Emnes came up with the winner in the 83rd.
Manchester Utd 2-1 Tottenham
Injury ravaged United move on, but had to work for it. Spurs went ahead in the 5th minute through Roman Pavlyuchenko, but 2 goals in a minute, right at the half , from Scholes and Berbatov saw United through to the next round.

Saturday sees the 4th round of the FA Cup swing into action with a number of EPL teams involved. The early game sees West Ham travel to Hartlepool where they should have no problems. Chelsea have a home tie against Ipswich, Aston Villa hit the road to face Doncaster and Hull have a tricky tie at home to Millwall. Fulham go on the road to face Kettering Town, while Portsmouth stay at the friendly confines of Fratton park to face Swansea.In the first of 3 all EPL ties, Sunderland welcome a rejuvenated Blackburn side and then we have a couple of games that could provide us with the surpeise results of the 4th round. Burnley, fresh off their brilliant Carling Cup display against Spurs, travel to West Brom and Middlesbrough make a very tricky trip to play Wolves. The glamor ties on Saturday sees Spurs welcome an injury ravaged Manchester United.2 games on Sunday featuring EPL clubs. Arsenal make the trip to Wales to play Cardiff and, in the game of the round, Liverpool face Everton in the Merseyside derby.

Spurs booked a ticket to Wembley on March 1st to face Manchester United in the Carling Cup final, but not before almost falling to one of the greatest comebacks in recent football memory. Burnley came into this game 4-1 down from the 1st leg and proceeded to tear apart their Premiership opponents with a great display of attacking football. Robbie Blake put the home side ahead on the half hour, but the real excitement began when Chris McCann made it 2 in the 74th. Burnley continued to hammer away and were rewarded with a 3rd from Jay Rodriguez with 2 minutes to play, forcing the game into extra time. Tired legs prevailed and Spurs scored 2 late goals through Pavlyuchenko and Defoe to make it to the final. Kudos to Burnley though for putting up such a brave fight.

This evening saw the second leg of the Carling Cup semi-final go off at Old Trafford with underdog Derby coming in with a surprise 1-0 lead from the first leg. It was always going to be an uphill struggle for them to hold that lead and things got a little tougher when they found themselves 2 down inside the first 20 minutes, Nani and John O’Shea doing the damage. Tevez added a third before the half and United coasted in the second before a little flurry of goals in the last 10 minutes made things interesting. Giles Barnes scored from the spot for the Rams, before Ronaldo replied, also from the spot to restore the 3 goal cushion. Barnes added another for plucky Derby right on the final whistle.United will most likely face Spurs in the final as they are carrying a 4-1 lead from their first leg over Burnley. The second leg goes tomorrow.

Liverpool failed to make their way back to the top of the table and, in doing so, furhter the popular thinking that they have slipped back into the type of frustrating form and lack of killer instinct that has plagued them over the past few seasons. Things looked good for the Reds when captain Stephen Gerrard put them ahead in the 68th minute, but they couldn’t hold off a stubborn Everton side who eked out an equalizer through Tim Cahill in the 87th.

Manchester City continue to dominate the transfer headlines, paying 14 million pounds to lure Craig Bellamy from West Ham. It looks as though the 100 million pound plus deal for Kaka may have finally fallen through after a week of on again off again speculation.

West Ham 3-1 Fulham
The Hammers continued their recent run of good from with an impressive win over London rivals, Fulham. Di Michele put them ahead early, only for Paul Konchesky to score a rare goal to tie things up in the first half. West Ham took control in the 2nd and put the game away with goals from Noble and Cole.

Tottenham 1-1 Portsmouth
Spurs snatched a point and lifted themselves off the bottom of the table, but they will be kicking themselves for not taking all 3 points. Pompey went ahead through a clinical David Nugent finish on the half hour, but new boy Jermaine Defoe scored against his old club to salvage a point. The standout point of the game has to go to an unbelievable Darren Bent miss that would have won the game late on. He somehow managed to head the ball wide from less than 5 yards when it looked easier to score.