9 DECEMBER 2001

Arsenal (0) 3 (Wiltord 46, Henry 72, 90)
Aston Villa (2) 2 (Merson 21, Stone 34)

Arsenal stay second after coming from two goals down to beat Aston
Villa, who are without a league win since the end of October. Villa
took the lead through Gunners old boy Paul Merson who lobbed Stuart
Taylor after Dion Dublin headed on a Peter Enckleman goal kick. The
lead was doubled when Steve Stone shot home from 12 yards after
Arsenal failed to clear following good work by Lee Hendrie and
Dublin. Within a minute of the restart, Arsenal were back in it when
Sylvain Wiltord, on as a half time sub, volleyed home a cross from
Ray Parlour. Enter Thierry Henry who levelled matters with 18
minutes to go after Patrik Vieira had robbed Samuel and then slotted
home a stoppage time winner after being sent clear by Robert Pires.


Blackburn (0) 1 (Berg 83)
Leeds United (0) 2 (Kewell 55, 62)

Leeds stay in third place thanks to Gary Kelly and Harry Kewell. Two
crosses from the former were converted by the latter in the second
half to keep Leeds on the trail of Liverpool and Arsenal. The first
came after a fine run down the right, Kelly's cutback found Robbie
Fowler whose half hit shot was fumbled by Brad Friedal, allowing
Kewell to fire home. Seven minutes later, Kelly's far post cross was
met by the Australian with a fine diving header to double the lead.
Henning Berg pulled one back from close range after good work by
Corrado Grabbi, however it wasn't enough to force any points.


Ipswich (0) 0
Newcastle (1) 1 (Solano 20)

Newcastle stay fourth (spotted a pattern yet?) after a tight, but
deserved win at Portman Road, against an Ipswich side who stay
rooted to the bottom of the table. The only goal was a tap in for
Nol Solano after Matteo Sereni had saved well from Gary Speed's
shot.


Sunderland (0) 0
Chelsea (0) 0
MISS PEN: Phillips (Sunderland) 47

No goals at the Stadium of Light, thanks largely to Chelsea keeper
Carlo Cudicini who made a number of fines saves, most notably from a
Kevin Phillips penalty. The spot kick came about when Celestine
Babayaro fouled Kevin Kilbane, however Cucidini earned praise from
his manager when he pushed the kick away to safety.


8 DECEMBER 2001

Charlton (2) 3 (Stuart 4, Lisbie 19, 79)
Spurs (0) 1 (Poyet 86)

Spurs blew the chance of moving into second place as they were swept
aside by a rampant first half display by Charlton. The game was
effectively over by half time thanks firstly to Graham Stuart, who
slotted home after an error by Dean Richards, allowed Jason Euell to
find him. Then Kevin Lisbie doubled the lead, firing through the
legs of Neil Sullivan after former Spurs man Kevin Lisbie squeezed
the ball through to him. Teddy Sheringham had a goal disallowed for
offside before Lisbie scored his second of the game having been sent
clear by Scorr Parker. Gus Poyet fired home a late consolation,
volleying into the top corner after Charlton failed to clear a
corner, but it was never going to stop Charlton from taking the
points.


Derby (0) 1 (Christie 66)
Bolton (0) 0

Derby stay in the bottom three, but move above local rivals
Leicester on goal difference thanks to Malcolm Christie's second
half goal. Bolton were undone by the youngster when he scored with a
neat near post effort.


Fulham (1) 2 (Hayles 35, 50)
Everton (0) 0
RED CARD: Weir (Everton), Boa Morte (Fulham) both 76 mins.

Everton were beaten by a Hayles-storm as Barry Hayles scored in each
half to guide Fulham to three useful points. His first came after a
drab opening half an hour as he headed home Rufus Brevett's cross.
He doubled the lead early in the second half, tapping home at the
far post from Steed Malbranaque's corner. The game was overshadowed
by a mass brawl late on after Luis Boa Morte launched into a heavy
tackle on David Weir. The upshot saw both Weir and Boa Morte red
carded.


Leicester (0) 0
Southampton (1) 4 (Svensson 12, 75, Beattie 64, Pahars 90)

Southampton's biggest ever Premiership away win sees them move above
Leicester on goal difference, just as it appeared that the Foxes
were finding their feet under new boss Dave Bassett. Anders Svensson
scored his first ever Prem goal early on, finding the corner from
the edge of the area after Marion Pahars had set him through and
then repeated the trick with fifteen minutes to go, smashing into
the net after Paul Telfer's shot was blocked. By then, James Beattie
had added to the original lead, sweeping home from Pahars' cross,
and in stoppage time Pahars completed Leicester's misery, firing
home at the far post.


Liverpool (2) 2 (Owen 26, Berger 45)
Middlesbrough (0) 0

Liverpool move six points clear ahead of the Sunday games thanks to
two excellent first half goals to see off Middlesbrough. Michael
Owen showed that he isn't all pace and one-on-ones when he fired in
a beauty from 25 yards after a good lay off from Patrik Berger. We
are used to similar strikes from Berger however, and the Czech sent
a timely reminder on the stroke of half time, firing home from the
edge of the box having been set up by Jari Litmanen.


Manchester United (0) 0
West Ham (0) 1 (Defoe 64)

The problems continue at Old Trafford as Manchester United lose back
to back league games for the first time in eleven years and for the
only time in their Premiership history. Whilst United were decidedly
average, credit to West Ham and goalkeeper David James who made some
decent saves, notably from Paul Scholes and Mickel Silvestre, either
side of Jermaine Defoe's winner. It came after good work by Paolo Di
Canio, whose far post cros found the youngster unmarked and he made
no mistake to head off the bar past Barthez. Boss Sir Alex Ferguson
started with David Beckham on the subs bench and with Juan Veron &
Ruud van Nistelrooy left out altogether and ultimately United
slumped to their sixth defeat in fifteen league games and are now 11
points behind leaders Liverpool having played a game more.


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