United and City ends 2012 with victories.

Manchester United and Man City have ended the 2012 calendar year with wins in their matches. Sir Alex Ferguson's men defeated West Bromwich Albion by two goals to nil at the Old Trafford Stadium on Saturday evening. Ashley Young's first half cross across the goal line was turned in by a West Brom defender. Steve Clarke's men had several shots on goal, but they couldn't break down the steel defence that was marshalled by Nemanja Vidic.
Peter Odemwingie was deployed on the left hand side of the 'Baggies' attack throughout the duration of the encounter. Shane Long played on the right side of the midfield, but the United midfielders were able to intercept the moves that were made by Clarke's men.

United introduced Robin Van Persie towards the end of the game as the 'Red Devils' searched for a winning goal. The former Arsenal striker scored a brillaint goal when he received the ball at the edge of the penalty box before unleashing a shot that flew past the visitors' keeper. Prior to that moment, the West Brom keeper had made some stunning saves. A clear shot on target was palmed around the post off a shot from Antonio Valencia.

At the Carrow Road, Norwich City were beaten 4-3 at home by Manchester City. Edin Dzeko scored a brace to give a 10-man City all the three points at stake. The Bosnian striker scored two quick goals within the first four minutes. Pilkington's free kick gave Norwich some hope, but City were undeterred by the red card that was picked up by Samir Nasri.

Odemwingie sinks Chelsea at the Hawthorns

Peter Odemwingie and Shane Long ensured that Roberto Di Matteo's Chelsea left the Hawthorns empty handed on Saturday.

Liam Ridgewell denied Chelsea an opportunity to get a goal in the seventh minute of play. Victor Moses' cut back Ryan Bertrand in the vital area and his shot was cleared off the line by the Scot while Jonas Olsson blocked Eden Hazard's rebound. Steve Clarke's men took the lead in the 10th minute. Zoltan Gera provided a sublime pass to James Morrison and his cross was nodded home by Shane Long. David Luiz was ball-watching and he was stationary when the goal went in.

Long should have doubled his side's lead on 35 minutes. The Irishman brushed aside Gary Cahill before curling a shot off target with only Petr Cech to beat.
Former Marseille defender, Cesar Azpilicueta delivered a cross that was headed in by Eden Hazard. The ball came off Billy Jones. The Belgian had no idea of where the ball was heading to because he was backing the post.

Restart
Nigeria's Victor Moses made a dazzling run down the right flank and his cross found Daniel Sturridge in a promising position, the Englishman made a swift turn and fired a shot that was saved by West Bromwich's stand-in keeper.
Long provided the assist for West Brom's winning goal earlier in the second half. A successful counter attack ended with Long's cross being nodded in by Peter Odemwingie. The Nigerian international has now scored a total of four goals, despite missing about four games due to suspension and injury.

Azpilicueta could have provided his second assist of the game when his cross was almost tapped in by Daniel Sturridge, but Olsson made a sensational block to deny the Englishman an equaliser.

Oscar and Juan Mata came off the bench with some few minutes to the end of the game to replace Fernando Torres and Oriol Romeu.
Mata made an instant impact when his sublime pass was enough to split the 'Baggies' defence, but Sturridge failed to beat Myhill who was in goal for the hosts.

Odemwingie shoots down Liverpool

Peter Odemwingie scored a goal for West Bromwich Albion in their 3-0 win over Brendan Rodgers' Liverpool on Saturday afternoon. The Nigerian international scored the Baggies second goal from the penalty spot after Skrtel had committed a foul.
First Half
The match began on a good note for Liverpool as they were fully dominant. Luis Suarez created plenty of problems for West Brom's defence, but he failed to convert his chances. The biggest miss of the half came from the Uruguayan. A decent cross from Glen Johnson was headed over the ball with just an empty net to beat. Fabio Borini was impressive in his first EPL match. The Italian gained confidence as the game went on. Meanwhile, Zoltan Gera scored one a brilliant volley in the 43rd minute of action, The Hungarian player chested the ball down before whipping a volley that sailed into Reina's net.
Luis Suarez picked up a yellow card for a bad gesture towards a linesman in the closing moments of the half.
Second Half
However, things became worse for the Reds when Daniel Agger was sent off for a tackle on Shane Long around the penalty box. The Danish defender might have played his last game for Brendan Rodgers due to his impending move to Manchester City. That incident occurred after Luis Suarez had missed a good chance in the 48th minute with a shot that went wide off Foster's goal.

Missed penalty
Shane Long's spot kick was saved by Pepe Reina. Several Liverpool fans were happy with the save, but it wasn't long before another penalty was awarded to Steve Clarke's wards. Martin Skrtel tripped Shane Long and Peter Odemwingie stepped up to fire the ball past Reina to make it 2-0.
Jamie Carragher came on for Stewart Downing while Joe Cole replaced Lucas Leiva who was on a yellow card.
Steve Clarke who was Dalglish's former assistant last season made a great change later on as he introduced Romelu Lukaku. The Chelsea player who is on loan at the Hawthorns scored a thumping header to give his side a 3-0 win over Liverpool. Luis Suarez missed two other chances before the end of the game. Ben Foster dropped the ball on his foot only for him to fire over the ball from four yards. He also headed the ball over the bar after a great cross from Fabio Borini.
Liverpol's next match is against Hearts in Thursday's Europa League game.