27 AUGUST 2001

Bolton (1) 2 (Ricketts 26, Holdsworth 89)
Liverpool (0) 1 (Heskey 66)

Bolton go top of the Premiership after a sensational 2-1 victory
over Liverpool. Bolton took the lead thanks to a well worked corner
routine. Ricardo Gardner crossed to the far post after a short
corner, Paul Warhurst headed across goal, leaving Michael Ricketts
with a simple header to find the net. The equaliser fell to Emile
Heskey, who had only been on for three minutes, before collecting a
pass from Gary McAllister before thrashing the ball into the back of
the net. The winner came courtesy of an error by Liverpool keeper
Sandor Westerveld, who allowed Dean Holdsworth long range strike to
go under him and into the back of the net.


26 AUGUST 2001

Aston Villa (1) 1 (Vassell 4)
Manchester United (0) 1 (Alpay (og) 90

Manchester United earned a point at Villa Park courtesy of an own goal by
Alpay three minutes into stoppage time. Villa took the lead inside the
opening four minutes when Darius Vassell collected a pass from Hassan
Kachloul before slotting past reserve keeper Roy Carroll. After David
Beckham limped off in tears for United, seemingly with a groin injury which
would cast severe doubts over the possibility of him facing Germany on
Saturday, United equalised with time ticking away. A right wing corner was
swung into the near post and struck Alpay, under pressure from Ronny
Johnsen, and flew past Schmeichel.


Newcastle (1) 1 (Bellamy 43)
Sunderland (1) 1 (Phillips 34)

Honours even in the Tyne-Wear derby, although Newcastle will feel that they
should have won the match. Kevin Phillips opened the scoring after a
frenetic opening half an hour, nodding neatly past Shay Given from Stefan
Schwarz's fine inswinging cross. The lead lasted less than ten minutes when
Laurent Robert's excellent through ball found Craig Bellamy, who showed good
control before thumping the shot into the far corner. Newcastle had were
creating the better chances, notably for Nol Solano who sent a free header
wide when he should at least have made the keeper make a save and then in
stoppage time, was sent clear by Acuna, but only half hit his shot, allowing
Sorensen to save easily.


25 AUGUST 2001

Arsenal (2) 4 (Ljungberg 17, Wiltord 28, Henry 77, Kanu 90)
Leicester (0) 0
RED CARD: Wise (Leicester), Vieira (Arsenal) both 60 mins.

Arsenal won 4-0 for the second successive Saturday, however the
result could have more serious implications for underfire Leicester
boss Peter Taylor, after his club took their `goals against` tally
to nine in two games. Freddie Ljungberg took 17 minutes to open the
scoring, tapping home after excellent build up play by Robert Pires,
and the lead was doubled before the half hour mark when Sylvain
Wiltord was set up for a simple finish, also by Pires. Sub Thierry
Henry, having wasted three good chances, finally found the net when
he sidefooted home from the edge of the area having been set up by
Kanu, although it did take a wicked deflection, and in stoppage
time, Kanu added a fourth, heading home after Flowers had saved from
Henry. The game will be overshadowed by the double dismissal of
Patrick Vieira and Dennis Wise on the hour mark. The Leicester man
went first when he got involved in a disagreement with Robert Pires
when ironically it didn't involve him in the first place. Vieira was
then also red carded for his role in the same incident, which seems
to have been a head-butting incident between the pair.


Blackburn (1) 2 (Mahon 8, Duff 71)
Tottenham (0) 1 (Ziege 89)

Blackburn pick up their first win of the season whilst leaving Spurs
still looking for theirs. Alan Mahon scored the first goal of the
afternoon early on when he drove into the area and fizzed a shot
across Neil Sullivan and into the far corner. The lead looked a
little fragile until Damien Duff gave Rovers a cushion with an
excellent solo run, taking him half the length of the pitch before
his low shot nestled into the net. A late reply from Christian
Ziege, volleying home from the edge of the area, gave Spurs brief
hope, but it was too little too late for Tottenham.


Everton (1) 2 (Campbell 18, Gemmill 54)
Middlesbrough (0) 0

Everton go top after a comfortable 2-0 victory over Middlesbrough,
who are still goalless and pointless after three games. Captain
Kevin Campbell put his side ahead, nodding home a Mark Pembridge
corner ahead of keeper Mark Schwarzer. Scot Gemmill doubled the
lead, and clinched top spot, with a superb volley early in the
second half, his first time shot from the edge of the area found the
bottom corner after Alexandersson's cross was only half cleared.


Fulham (0) 0
Derby (0) 0

No Poom or Ravanelli for Derby, but they held previously impressive
Fulham to a goalless draw, thanks largely to a strong defensive
display at Craven Cottage. Ironically, it was Derby who came closest
to winning the game when Seth Johnson struck a shot against the
outside of the post.


Ipswich (0) 0
Charlton (0) 1 (Lisbie 83)

Arguably the surprise result of the day as Charlton handed Ipswich
their first home defeat in the league since February. An uneventful
game was decided late on by a fine goal by Kevin Lisbie, crashing
home a volley from the right edge of the penalty area that gave
keeper Matteo Sereni no chance.


Southampton (0) 0
Chelsea (1) 2 (Hasselbaink 35, Stanic 90)

A record home attendance for Southampton at their new St Marys
stadium, however the result sent the home fans away disappointed.
Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink scored the first ever goal at the new
ground, nodding home at the far post after Graeme Le Saux's cross
had beaten Paul Jones. Southampton had the better of the second
half, however the result was confirmed in stoppage time when Mario
Stanic converted firmly at the far post after Hasselbaink had set up
Frank Lampard to cross.


West Ham (0) 0
Leeds United (0) 0

Leeds blew the chance to go top after being held at Upton Park by
West Ham, who in truth looked the better side for periods of the
game. Joe Cole was unlucky to have a goal disallowed after Leeds
keeper Nigel Martyn was judged to have been fouled in the build up,
whilst former Hammer Rio Ferdinand cleared off the line from Paolo
Di Canio's drilled shot. Leeds closest effort came early on when
Mark Viduka sent a free header over the bar.


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