Premier League Table: Updated 2014 EPL Standings Following Matchday 9 Results
Manchester City handed a major incentive to Chelsea ahead of their trip to Old Trafford on Sunday, as they were beaten by high-flying West Ham United in the opening game of Week 9 of the Premier League season.
However, the Blues were denied the chance to take full advantage of their rivals mistake when a last-minute Manchester United goal denied them victory at Old Trafford on Sunday.
On Monday, QPR picked up a crucial three points against Aston Villa to move them off the bottom of the Premier League.
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| 1 | Chelsea | 9 | 7 | 2 | 0 | +15 | 23 |
| 2 | Southampton | 9 | 6 | 1 | 2 | +15 | 19 |
| 3 | Manchester City | 9 | 5 | 2 | 2 | +9 | 17 |
| 4 | West Ham | 9 | 5 | 1 | 3 | +5 | 16 |
| 5 | Arsenal | 9 | 3 | 5 | 1 | +4 | 14 |
| 6 | Swansea | 9 | 4 | 2 | 3 | +3 | 14 |
| 7 | Liverpool | 9 | 4 | 2 | 3 | +1 | 14 |
| 8 | Manchester United | 9 | 3 | 4 | 2 | +3 | 13 |
| 9 | Everton | 9 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 12 |
| 10 | Hull | 9 | 2 | 5 | 2 | 0 | 11 |
| 11 | Tottenham | 9 | 3 | 2 | 4 | -2 | 11 |
| 12 | Stoke | 9 | 3 | 2 | 4 | -2 | 11 |
| 13 | West Bromwich Albion | 9 | 2 | 4 | 3 | -1 | 10 |
| 14 | Newcastle United | 9 | 2 | 4 | 3 | -5 | 10 |
| 15 | Aston Villa | 9 | 3 | 1 | 5 | -10 | 10 |
| 16 | Crystal Palace | 9 | 2 | 3 | 4 | -3 | 9 |
| 17 | Leicester | 9 | 2 | 3 | 4 | -4 | 9 |
| 18 | Sunderland | 9 | 1 | 5 | 3 | -9 | 8 |
| 19 | QPR | 9 | 2 | 1 | 6 | -10 | 7 |
| 20 | Burnley | 9 | 0 | 4 | 5 | -11 | 4 |
| West Ham vs. Manchester City | 25 Oct. | 12:45 p.m. | 2-1 |
| Liverpool vs. Hull | 25 Oct. | 3 p.m. | 0-0 |
| Sunderland vs. Arsenal | 25 Oct. | 3 p.m. | 0-2 |
| Southampton vs. Stoke City | 25 Oct. | 3 p.m. | 1-0 |
| West Brom vs. Crystal Palace | 25 Oct. | 3 p.m. | 2-2 |
| Swansea City vs. Leicester City | 25 Oct. | 5:30 p.m. | 2-0 |
| Burnley vs. Everton | 26 Oct. | 1:30 p.m. | 1-3 |
| Tottenham vs. Newcastle | 26 Oct. | 1:30 p.m. | 1-2 |
| Manchester United vs. Chelsea | 26 Oct. | 4 p.m. | 1-1 |
| QPR vs. Aston Villa | 27 Oct. | 8 p.m. | 2-0 |
Monday Recap
QPR are off the bottom of the Premier League after a brace from Charlie Austin gave the Loftus Road outfit a vital 2-0 win over Aston Villa. Harry Redknapp's side bounced back in style after suffering late heartache to Liverpool last time out, and once again, his team turned in a display that was bristling with endeavour and intensity.
While QPR seem to be putting the dark early days of the campaign behind them, Villa are a team doing quite the opposite. Paul Lambert's men were magnificent in their opening matches, but this recent defeat is their fifth in a row. Just to compound matter they've failed to score in any of those games either, per Opta Joe:
They could certainly do with a player of Austin's calibre, who showcased his clinical instincts with two fine finishes against Villa, as noted here by Squawka:
Their prosperous start to the campaign gave them something of a cushion, but after this wretched run of form, Villa now find themselves just two points clear of the bottom three. Admittedly, they've had a tough run of fixtures, but their supporters will be expecting a much improved display when they host Tottenham in Week 10.
QPR seem to have their swagger back and after putting in their two best performances of the season in their last two games, they have the unenviable task of tackling league leaders Chelsea at Stamford Bridge. Little will be expected of them there, but at least there are signs of life and they're moving in the right direction under Redknapp's tutelage once again.
Sunday Recap
In a pulsating game at Old Trafford on Sunday afternoon, Manchester United claimed a last-gasp 1-1 draw against Chelsea thanks to a poacher's effort from Robin van Persie.
With Chelsea having taken the lead through Didier Drogba from a header early in the second half, the Blues appeared fairly comfortable, having been unsettled by United's first-half intensity.
However, with just moments remaining Chelsea were reduced to 10-men when right-back Branislav Ivanovic saw red for a clip of winger Angel di Maria on the left flank, his second yellow of the afternoon.
From the resulting free-kick, Marouane Fellaini's strong header was well-saved by goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois, only for Van Persie to fire home his follow-up effort. There was ecstasy at Old Trafford, with Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho left fuming.
The Chelsea lead so early in the season could have been six points had things gone to plan, but the Portuguese coach will need to be content with a four-point margin following Van Persie's late intervention.
Earlier in the day, Roberto Martinez's Everton secured an important 3-1 victory over Burnley to move themselves back into the top half of the Premier League table after a slow start to the campaign.
Inspired by Samuel Eto'o, who bagged himself a brace on the day, the Toffees shot out of the block to take the lead after just four minutes of the clash through the Cameroonian.
Danny Ings fired Burnley level midway through the first-half, much to the enjoyment of the Turf Moor crowd, however parity would last less than ten minutes before Romelu Lukaku scored his fourth league goal of the season to restore Everton's advantage.
It would take until Eto'o's sensational strike in the 85th minute for Everton to press home their advantage, but Martinez's side were good value for their win. The hope for Martinez must now be that consecutive wins will now set up Everton for a push towards the upper reaches of the table.
Elsewhere, a second half comeback from Newcastle shocked Tottenham at White Hart Lane, with Spurs having led 1-0 at half-time through a goal from Emmanuel Adebayor.
Sammy Ameobi, though, shocked the hosts with a goal just seven seconds into the second half before Spaniard Ayoze Perez also grabbed his first Premier League goal with a header from a fine Remy Cabella ball.
Having waited until mid-October for their first league win of the season, Newcastle have now restored some confidence with back-to-back successes. For under-fire manager Alan Pardew, it will be a sizeable relief.
Saturday Recap
West Ham’s magnificent start to the season continued as they saw off Manchester City in Saturday’s early kick-off. Goals from Morgan Amalfitano and Diafra Sakho put the Hammers 2-0 up in this one, and they were able to cling on to a vital three points despite a stunning effort from David Silva late in the game.
The result moved Sam Allardyce’s side to within one point of City, and in Sakho they have one of the hottest strikers in the Premier League. Indeed, he’s netted in every game that he’s started in the famous claret and blue to date, as noted here by OptaJoe:
The West Ham boss deserves a major portion of credit for the side’s early season form. This team is playing with a swagger and a dynamism at the moment, a style that’s been long lusted for by the Hammers faithful. Comedian Russell Brand is an avid West Ham supporter, and he was unashamed in appreciation of Allardyce’s side, per World Soccer Talk:
City struggled to establish any kind of rhythm throughout this one, and even though they were a long way from their very best, they will feel a little unlucky after striking the woodwork twice in the second half through Sergio Aguero and Yaya Toure.
A physically and mentally draining trip to Moscow in midweek looked to have taken a lot out of the champions and Manuel Pellegrini was naturally unhappy with the performance of his side, but he paid tribute to the efforts of the hosts nonetheless, per David Clayton of MCFC.co.uk:
"We didn't make the most of the chances we created and also hit the crossbar twice when on another day, those shots go into the net.
We didn’t play with our usual intensity in the first half so we’ll look at that and analyse things later, but again, we must give credit to West Ham because they played very well.
"
After that shock result at the Boleyn Ground, the 3 p.m. kick-offs had plenty to live up to. But as is eminently the case in English football’s top flight, there was absolutely no shortage of goals, controversy and encapsulating story lines.
Arsenal beat Sunderland 2-0 to pick up their third win of the Premier League season. Alexis Sanchez scored a remarkable brace after rudimentary defensive errors from Wes Brown and former Gunner Vito Mannone afforded the Chilean easy goalscoring opportunities; a player of his class was always going to gobble up those kinds of chances with gumption.
Goals are goals though, and Sanchez is currently in outstanding form, as WhoScored noted following Arsenal's win up on Wearside:
One striker who's far from his best is Mario Balotelli, and the Italian failed to net once again as Liverpool could only draw 0-0 with a dogged Hull City outfit. After being hauled off at half time against Real Madrid in midweek, Balotelli was given the full 90 minutes to make an impression against the Tigers, but he missed a simple chance to win the match for the Reds right at the death.
Despite spurning that golden opportunity, Hull boss Steve Bruce had some encouraging words for the £16 million striker, per Dominic King of the Daily Mail:
Elsewhere, Saido Berahino continued his hot streak in front of goal, slotting a last-gasp penalty to earn West Bromwich Albion a 2-2 draw with Crystal Palace.
The Baggies were 2-0 down in this topsy-turvy match, thanks to goals from Brede Hangeland and Mile Jedinak for the visitors. But Alan Irvine's side responded well after the break courtesy of a Victor Anichebe header, before Berahino's late penalty gave them a second consecutive 2-2 draw in the Premier League.
Southampton also maintained their fine form, beating Stoke City 1-0 at St Mary's. The Potters made things a lot more difficult for Ronaldo Koeman's men than Sunderland did in their last outing, but there was a sense that once Sadio Mane put Saints ahead in the first half, Stoke didn't have the ingenuity to respond. The win for Southampton pushes them up to second place in the table following Manchester City's defeat to West Ham.
In the last game of the day, Swansea City got back to winning ways with a 2-0 victory over Leicester City. The Swans bounced back in style after losing at Stoke last time out, and a brace from starting centre forward Wilfried Bony gave them all three points at the Liberty Stadium. The Foxes have now gone four games without a win following their fine start to Premier League life.
