25 NOVEMBER 2001

Arsenal (0) 3 (Ljungberg 48, Henry 80. 85)
Man United (1) 1 (Scholes 14)

Three individual errors, including two from keeper Fabien Barthez,
cost Manchester United the game at Highbury as Arsenal came from
behind to win 3-1. Paul Scholes put the visitors ahead early on,
firing home after good work down the left by Silvestre, however just
after half time, Gary Neville's poor pass found Robert Pires, he
found Freddie Ljungberg who produced a delightful lob from the edge
of the area to leave Barthez stranded. However, with ten minutes to
go, Barthez was once again the villain of the piece as his
clearance, under no pressure, fell straight to Thierry Henry 25
yards from goal and as he bore down on his compatriot in goal, he
made no mistake slotting. Worse was to follow for Barthez just five
minutes later when he came out to collect a through ball from Vieira
and allowed it to slip from his grasp under pressure from Henry, who
latched onto the loose ball to slot past two back tracking
defenders. The look on the face of Barthez said it all and despite
having made some excellent saves earlier in the game, he'll be
remembered for those errors.


Leeds United (1) 1 (Smith 18)
Aston Villa (1) 1 (Kachloul 35)
RED CARD : Smith (Leeds) 32

Leeds lost ground on Liverpool but stay second on a mixed afternoon
for Alan Smith. The Leeds striker put Leeds ahead early on, firing
home after Robbie Keane had collected a poor back pass by Alan
Wright, however he was red carded 14 minutes later after a running
battle with Alpay, resulted in an elbow into the face of the Turkish
defender. Hassan Kachloul earned a share of the points, and keeps
Villa within a point of Leeds, when he volleyed home a Paul Merson
free kick. Leeds were furious early in the second half when Lee
Hendrie was only shown a yellow card after appearing to push Danny
Mills in the face, although like Alpay earlier, more was made of the
contact than was perhaps needed.


Liverpool (1) 1 (Heskey 22)
Sunderland (0) 0
RED CARD : Hamann (Liverpool) 43

Liverpool keep top place in the Premiership after a hard fought
victory against Sunderland, having played over half the game with
ten men. Liverpool took the lead midway through the first half when
Emile Heskey rose almost unchallenged on the edge of the six yard
box to head home Danny Murphy's free kick. Just before half time,
Dietmar Hamann was shown a straight red card for a two footed tackle
on Bernt Haas, although he did play the ball and Haas made around
six rolls on the floor although contact was minimal.


Middlesbrough (0) 0
Ipswich (0) 0

The fourth goalless draw of the weekend keeps Ipswich bottom. Enough
said!


24 NOVEMBER 2001

Bolton (0) 0
Fulham (0) 0

No goals at the Reebok in a drab encounter that saw both clubs
remain in the mid table area. Michael Ricketts came close early on
for Bolton, whilst Barry Hayles wasted two good chances for Fulham,
but overall you wonder if the players had not heard about the strike
being called off and took action a week early.


Chelsea (0) 0
Blackburn (0) 0

Goalless at Stamford Bridge (spotted the pattern yet??) as Chelsea
were booed off after their second successive 0-0 encounter. Jimmy
Floyd Hasselbaink had the pick of what few chances there were,
however after Petit's shot was blocked, the Dutchman missed the
target by such a distance that it went for a throw in! Blackburn
were happy to defend deep, although David Dunn almost snatched a
winner when his free kick fizzed just wide.


Leicester (0) 0
Everton (0) 0

Leicester have the worst scoring record in the Premiership, while
Everton are so injury hit up front that defender Steve Watson played
in attack! No surprise to see the game end goalless then.


Newcastle (1) 1 (Shearer (pen) 30)
Derby (0) 0
MISS PEN : Ravanelli (Derby) 56

Do not adjust your monitors!! There was indeed a goal in this game -
and it could have been two!! The only goal of the game came from the
penalty spot as Alan Shearer crashed the ball home after Laurent
Robert had been sent sprawling by Chris Riggott. Derby should have
levelled in the second half when Andy O'Brien brought down Fabrizio
Ravanelli, however the Italian then saw his spot kick saved by Shay
Given.


Southampton (0) 1 (Pahars 59)
Charlton (0) 0

Another goal (can you handle the excitement!) at the St Marys
Stadium as Southampton registered their first league win at their
new ground. It was well deserved as they dominated throughout
against Charlton who had scored four in each of their last two
games. Marion Pahars scored the only goal, heading home James
Beattie's cross.


West Ham (0) 0
Tottenham (0) 1 (Ferdinand 50)

Shock, horror! Yet another goal - and the only away netbuster from
Saturday's games. Spurs move into the top six thanks to the win at
West Ham and although the scorer was Les Ferdinand, full credit
should also go to Gus Poyet. The Uruguayian went it where boots were
flying to head Simon Davies' cross goalwards and although David
James pushed the ball onto the post, Ferdinand netted the rebound.


Gary Dowden
Chief Editor SoccerAge UK
http://www.soccerage.com
gary@soccerage.com
garydowden@blueyonder.co.uk