12 FEBRUARY 2001

West Ham (0) 1 (Cole 82)
Coventry (0) 1 (Dailly (og) 89)

Honours even at Upton Park after Coventry had the better of the
first half before the Hammers took control after the break. It took
until eight minutes from time for the opening goal to arrive when
Joe Cole converted Nigel Winterburn's cross at the far post. With
time running out, David Thompson swung in a free kick that was
missed by Eustace, but struck Christian Dailly on the head and
bobbled into his own net. New signing John Hartson was unlucky to
have a stunning volley ruled out for offside when replays proved
that he was onside and was then denied a late minute penalty have
been brought down by Pearce and Tihinen.


11 FEBRUARY 2001

Charlton (2) 2 (Svensson 37, Bartlett 43)
Newcastle (0) 0

Newcastle's 24th successive game in London without a victory, dating
back to November 1997, but credit to Charlton who deserved the
victory. The Addicks went ahead when Chris Powell's deep cross was
headed back across goal from Shaun Bartlett to Matt Svensson who
kept his close range volley down and into the corner. Six minutes
later the points were wrapped up when Bartlett slotted under the
keeper at the far post from Svensson's cross.


10 FEBRUARY 2001

Arsenal (0) 1 (Henry 67)
Ipswich (0) 0

Arsenal consolidated second place, gaining ground on Man United as
well as pulling away from their rivals as they were the only club in
the top half of the table to win! The only goal came after an
outstanding performance from Ipswich keeper Richard Wright had kept
the hosts at bay for the majority of the game. Thierry Henry however
came off the bench and within ten minutes found the net, latching
onto Dennis Bergkamp's through ball to slot neatly home.


Aston Villa (1) 1 (Stone 39)
Middlesbrough (0) 1 (Ehigou 49)

Boro remain unbeaten under Terry Venables (12 games now) but needed
a goal from Ugo Ehigou to earn a point against his former club.
Steve Stone put stuttering Villa ahead just before half time,
heading home a Staunton corner. Ehigou levelled matters early in the
second half, a carbon copy of the Villa goal as he powered home a
header from a Keith O'Neill corner.


Chelsea (1) 1 (Hasselbaink 24)
Manchester United (0) 1 (Cole 69)

Honours even at Stamford Bridge as Man United's lead drops to just
13 points! Paul Scholes was left red faced midway through the first
half when he gifted Chelsea the lead. Standing on the edge of his
own penalty area, he attempted to head the ball back to keeper
Raimond Van Der Gouw only for it to fall woefully short, allowing
Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink to head simply past the stunned keeper. His
blushes were spared by Andrew Cole with just over twenty minutes
left, firing home courtesy of a slight deflection from a fine pass
by Ryan Giggs.


Everton (2) 2 (Jeffers 8, Campbell 43)
Leicester (0) 1 (Sturridge 79)

Everton were the only club in the bottom six to register a victory,
improving their relegation worries considerably after beating
faltering Leicester at Goodison. Francis Jeffers, in his first game
for five months, put the Merseysiders ahead early on after being
sent clear by Thomas Gravesen. Kevin Campbell made it two just
before the break, slotting home a cross from David Weir. Dean
Sturridge gave Leicester some hope late on with his first goal for
his new club, bundling home after Gerrard had saved well from Gary
Rowett


Leeds United (0) 0
Derby County (0) 0

Leeds move up to fifth against a determined Derby team who will
treat this as a point won in their relegation battle. Visiting
keeper Andy Oakes was the hero for the away side, pulling off a
number of decent saves, however it was ultimately Leeds inability to
contend with an 8-1-1 formation that cost them victory.


Manchester City (0) 0
Tottenham (0) 1 (Rebrov 89)

Spurs collect their first away league win of the season thanks to
Sergei Rebrov's late goal, that also stopped them from creating a
new Premiership record of five successive goalless draws. He latched
onto a through ball from Oyvind Leonhardsen to slot past Weaver
after City had largely dominated.


Southampton (0) 2 (Pahars 60, Beattie 63)
Bradford (0) 0

Bradford look to be staring the first division in the face after
another defeat, this time at Southampton. Two goals in four second
half minutes decided matters as first Marion Pahars opened the
scoring, heading home Jo Tessem's deep cross and then James Beattie
scored his 12th of the season, slotting home former Bradford man Dan
Petrescu's cross.


Sunderland (0) 1 (Hutchison 50)
Liverpool (0) 1 (Litmanen (pen) 80)

Late controversy at the Stadium of Light as Liverpool held onto
third place ahead of Sunderland thanks to a disputed penalty. Former
Kop-ite Don Hutchison put the home side ahead early in the second
half, drilling home after Phillips surging run had been ended by
Sami Hyypia and Arca's shot blocked. With ten minutes to go, Gary
McAllister was fouled clearly outside the area by Stanislav Varga,
however even after chatting with his linesman, referee Graham Barber
awarded a penalty, converted by sub Jari Litmanen. Even after that,
Robbie Fowler thought he'd won it for the visitors, however his goal
was judged to be offside, even though it looked onside!


Gary Dowden
Chief Editor - Soccerage (UK)
http://www.soccerage.com
gary@soccerage.com