TheSportsCampus

England witnessed sub-zero, tundra like weather conditions as the Premier League had seven games on show on a busy Saturday. Arsenal were the headliners with a 7-1 hammering of 10-men Blackburn Rovers at the Emirates in the early kick-off, with Robin van Persie scoring a hat-trick. There were red cards elsewhere too as Djibril Cisse's marching orders allowed Wolves to comeback from a goal down to beat QPR 2-1 while Sunderland beat Stoke 1-0 after the Potters had Robert Huth sent-off. Norwich overcame Bolton 2-0 at home while Everton drew 1-1 at Wigan, with Tim Howard guilty of a egregious mistake. At the Hawthorns, Swansea came from behind to beat West Brom 2-1. In the late kick-off, Manchester City gave themselves some breathing space ahead of title rivals Manchester United's trip to Chelsea by beating Fulham 3-0.

Arsenal 7-1 Blackburn

Arsenal finally secured their first Premier League win of 2012 as they pummelled a hapless Blackburn side at the Emirates. The scoring began as early as the 2nd minute when Robin van Persie tapped in Theo Walcott's cross from the right. But Blackburn shocked the home crowd by drawing level in the half-hour mark through Morten Gamst Pederson, who curled a sensational free-kick past Wojciech Szczesny. But Arsenal regained the lead before the break as Van Persie added a 2nd in the 38th minute before Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain got his 1st Premier League goal two minutes later as he rounded off Paul Robinson from Van Persie's through ball.

Blackburn were then reduced to ten men before the break as Gael Givet saw red for a two-footed lunge on Van Persie. Arsenal continued the rout after the break as Mikel Arteta found the back of the net on 51 minutes with a typical long range strike before Oxlade-Chamberlain added to his tally a few minutes later. Their Dutch captain then completed his hat-trick around the hour mark with a right-footed strike and the scoring was completed in injury time as substitute Thierry Henry got on the score sheet. Arsenal move up to 5th with that victory while Blackburn stay in the bottom three. (read more)

QPR 1–2 Wolves

The new boys continued to shine for Mark Hughes as Bobby Zamora followed up Djibril Cisse's heroics in mid-week by getting the opening goal on 18 minutes. The Englishman held off a poor challenge to collect the ball from Shaun Wright-Phillips and poke it past Wayne Hennessey in goal. Loftus Road then witnessed the reckless side of Cisse as the striker got himself sent-off in the 33rd minute after he reacted petulantly to Roger Johnson's poor tackle.

Wolves drew level a minute into the 2nd half as Matt Jarvis scored a fine goal after cutting in from the left. The away side should have gained the lead a minute later as Steven Fletcher hit the crossbar with a header before having a shot cleared off the line. Just when QPR thought that they had ridden out the storm, substitute Kevin Doyle put Wolves in the lead in the 71st minute with a brilliant shot on the turn. Adel Taarabt single-handedly led a QPR fight back in the closing stages of the game, but Wolves held on for their first win in ten games. Mick McCarthy's side move out of the relegation zone and into 17th spot while Rangers continue in 16th.

Stoke 0–1 Sunderland

The snow was playing spoilsport at the Britannia as both Stoke and Sunderland struggled to get going. With the a disappointing half drawing to a close, the home side found themselves down to ten-men after Robert Huth was harshly sent-off for a tackle on David Meyler. The only goal of the game arrived on the hour mark as James McLean continued to catch the eye with a lung-bursting run into the box before smashing the ball past Thomas Sorenson in goal. Stoke applied some pressure late-on as Simon Mignolet was forced to save from Ricardo Fuller and Peter Crouch. Sunderland continue in 8th place while Stoke fall three places to 12th.

West Brom 1–2 Swansea

After a quiet first half in a snow covered Hawthorns, the game exploded in the 2nd as both sides got a goal within the first ten minutes. Marc Antoine-Fortune put the home side in the lead on 54 minutes with a strike at the back post from a corner. But the Swans were level less than a minute later as Gylfi Sigurdsson finished off a sweeping move, with Neil Taylor providing the final assist. The Welsh side then took the lead a few minutes later through Danny Graham, who turned in his 10th of the season as Sigurdsson turned provider.

While the away side dominated most of the game, West Brom still had a great chance to draw level as a defensive mistake allowed Peter Odemwingie to walk into space at the far post. But with the goal gaping, the striker contrived to put the ball high. Swansea's 2nd away victory takes them up to 10th while West Brom stay in 15th.

Wigan 1–1 Everton

Steven Pienaar was back in the starting line-up for Everton as they travelled to the DW Stadium looking to build on their win over Man City in mid-week. A drab first half ensued, with Tim Howard's save off Franco Di Santo the only goal action of note. When the goal finally arrived in the 76th minute it was a result of a comedy of errors from Everton as Tim Howard's mistake allowed Jean Beausejour's cross to bounce into the net off Phil Neville. But Everton equalized six minutes later through Victor Anichebe, who bulleted Leighton Baines' cross past Ali Al-Habsi with a close range header. The draw does Wigan no favous as they stay rooted to the bottom of the table while Everton are in 11th spot.

Norwich 2–0 Bolton

The Canaries absolutely hammered Bolton from kick-off, repeatedly having pops at goal. The closest they came to a goal was through Andrew Surman, who struck the woodwork after being setup by Grant Holt. But the loss of both their centre-halves through injury disrupted Norwich's game as the half ended 0-0. The breakthrough finally arrived in the 70th minute as Surman got the ball past Adam Bogdan on his 2nd attempt after Tyrone Mears had blocked his initial shot from Simeon Jackson's cross. It was more of the same from the Canaries as they continued to spurn opportunities from great positions. Anthony Pilkington, who missed a sitter moments earlier, made the points safe on 85 minutes as he reacted the quickest to Bogdan's save from Russell Martin. Norwich jump to 9th place with that win while Bolton drop back into the relegation zone and are now 18th.

Man City 3–0 Fulham

Manchester City regained their three point lead at the top of the table as they overcame a weak Fulham challenge at a snow covered Etihad. City took the lead as early as the 10th minute when Adam Johnson was felled in the box by Chris Baird and the referee pointed to the spot, from which Sergio Aguero beat Mark Schwarzer. City continued to dominate the game and they doubled their lead on 30 minutes as the Johnson-Baird battle once again led to a goal, with Baird guilty of conceding an own goal this time as he turned in Johnson's cross from the right. Fulham were struggling to test Joe Hart and their resistance all but ended in the 72nd minute when Edin Dzeko made it 3-0. Fulham are in 14th spot while City continue at the top. (read more)