Barclays English Premier League Season Review 2007-2008 Part 2

The 'big four' of United, Chelsea, Arsenal and Liverpool had led the way in the previous two seasons, and each of those sides strengthened in the 2007 summer transfer window. Owen Hargreaves, Nani, Anderson and Carlos Tevez were the marquee additions for United, Florent Malouda joined the Blues, Liverpool brought Atletico Madrid striker Fernando Torres to Anfield and Arsenal bolstered their strikeforce with Eduardo, after their all-time top scorer Thierry Henry departed following eight years in north London. Despite Henry moving to Barcelona, striker Emmanuel Adebayor quickly stepped up as Arsenal won eight of their opening nine Premier League matches. The Togo international scored twice, including a magnificent flick and volley, as Arsenal triumphed in a 3-1 victory over north London rivals Tottenham Hotspur at White Hart Lane on 15 September. Only five days later, Jose Mourinho parted company with Chelsea after picking up 11 points from their opening six matches. He won two Premier League titles during a hugely successful first spell as manager at Stamford Bridge and was replaced by Avram Grant. The Blues suffered a 2-0 defeat by Man Utd in his first match in charge. September also saw Portsmouth and Reading contest the highest-scoring match in Premier League history. Benjani scored a hat-trick as Pompey won 7-4. Harry Redknapp's side briefly moved up to fourth in the table with a 4-1 thrashing of Newcastle at St James’ Park in early November. That match signalled a decline for the Magpies, who won two of their next 11 matches, and they replaced manager Sam Allardyce with Kevin Keegan in January 2008. It was Keegan's second spell in charge, 12 years after narrowly missing out on the Premier League title in his previous reign at St James’ Park. At the turn of the year, Arsenal led the way after just one defeat from their first 21 matches. They were closely followed by United, who were inspired by the form of top scorer Cristiano Ronaldo. The Portuguese winger scored a dipping, swerving free-kick past the helpless David James, who surpassed 500 Premier League appearances during the campaign, in their 2-0 home win over Portsmouth to go top on goal difference at the end of January. Arsenal regained the advantage when Manchester City beat rivals United at Old Trafford for the first time in 34 years on 10 February. The match was on the 50-year anniversary of the Munich air disaster and, on an emotional occasion marked with a floral tribute and special kits, Darius Vassell and debutant Benjani secured the visitors' win. With the Gunners in the ascendancy, a 2-2 draw away at newly promoted Birmingham City, which was marred by a broken leg for Arsenal striker Eduardo, swung the title race in United's favour. James McFadden scored a stoppage-time penalty to level the match after Theo Walcott had scored his first two Premier League goals to put Arsenal ahead. That was the start of a run of one win in eight matches for Arsene Wenger's charges.