Adebayor and 1.02 Arsenal slip up big time

Premier League / Jamie "The Pacman" Pacheco / 23 February 2008 / Leave a Comment

Arsenal matched at [1.02] before last-minute equaliser plus the best of the rest from Saturday's Premiership action

It was a match that had everything and may well end up having a huge say in both the Premiership title and the relegation battle. A horrific injury to Eduardo that will certainly rule him out for the season and probably Euro 2008 in the summer had consequences for the offender Martin Taylor, who was shown red - a sending-off was matched at [5.3].

But it was Birmingham who took the lead through James McFadden, matched at [16.5] to open the scoring. Birmingham managed to hold onto their lead till half-time despite pressure from Arsenal after being matched at [25.0] to be leading at the break.

Arsenal drifted to 2.28 in the second-half before Theo Walcott scored twice to put the Gunners ahead. With just seconds of injury-time left Arsenal were matched at [1.73] on the Premiership winner market, the lowest they have been all season, with Man Utd drifting to [3.75]. But a few seconds are a long time in Premiership football and after Arsenal were matched at [1.02] to win the match and with the draw touching [50.0], James McFadden was placing the ball on the penalty spot after a costly mistake by Gael Clichy. McFadden scored and this was good news in particular for backers of the 2-2 scoreline at [85.0].

Before Man Utd's clash with Newcastle later on today, Arsenal and Alex Ferguson's side are the exact same price at [2.3 ]for the Premiership. The result may yet save Birmingham for the drop but they are still just [2.3] to go down.

Fulham's relegation fears are increasingly justified after losing at home to a late West Ham goal. Alan Curbishley' side had drifted to 9 before Solano scored with a controversial goal to leave Fulham four points away from safety with only Derby below them. The West London side are now just around 1.4 to be playing in the Championship next year.

Liverpool drifted to 2.42 after going a goal behind at Anfield but a hat-trick from Fernando Torres (no hat-trick was matched at a low of 1.03) changed all that. Stewart Downing pulled one back to reward those who backed 5 goals or more at 9.8 and ensure the match ended with the unlikely score of 3-2, matched at 55.

Portsmouth drifted to 2.54 before Jermaine Defoe's 69th minute penalty to drag Sunderland back into the relegation fight, a possibility for which they are now 5.5. Wigan's crucial win at home to Derby provided what is probably the final nail in Derby's coffin but which has also resulted in Wigan easing to 4.2 for the drop.