21 OCTOBER 2002

Reminder for Benny, and a note to everyone else, that I am away next weekend
and unable to do Prem reviews. Back to normal on Nov 2nd. Gary.

Aston Villa (0) 0
Southampton (0) 1 (Beattie (pen) 48)
RED CARD : Enckelman (Villa) 46

A disputed penalty from Jamie Beattie decided the game as Southampton won
away for the first time this season at the expense of Aston Villa. After a
dull first half, the second half began in remarkable style as Villa were
down to ten men within 30 seconds. A long ball forward saw Enckleman and
Alpay get in a mess, allowing Ormerod to sneak past them and go down under
pressure in the area. The referee awarded a penalty and sent the keeper off,
even though Alpay appeared to be the one holding him back. Mark Kinsella was
sacrificed for sub keeper Stefan Postma to come on and he although he got a
hand to James Beattie's penalty, he couldn't keep it out.


20 OCTOBER 2002

Charlton (1) 1 (Euell 5)
Middlesbrough (0) 0

Charlton are off the foot of the table thanks to an early header from Jason
Euell. The former Wimbledon man rose well to nod home Claus Jensen's free
kick. Boro rarely threatned, although Jonathon Greening did crack a shot
against the post.


Spurs (0) 3 (Keane 58, 74, Davies 90)
Bolton (0) 1 (Djorkaeff 63)

Spurs move into third place after a hard fought victory against Bolton, who go
bottom. Robbie Keane scored twice for the hosts, firstly when he netted from
close ranger after Simon Davies had crossed, and then he collected a cross from
Gus Poyet to fire in off the post. Between his two strikes, Youri Djorkaeff
equalised with a fine shot across goal and inside the far post after a neat
through ball by Kevin Nolan, however with Bolton pushing forward, Teddy
Sheringham played Davies in late on to wrap up the points.


19 OCTOBER 2002

Blackburn (2) 5 (Dunn (pen) 4, 8, Taylor 54, 74, Griffin (og) 65)
Newcastle (1) 2 (Shearer (pen) 35, 48)
RED CARD: Dabizas (Newcastle) 3

Blackburn moved into the top half of the table after thumping Newcastle at
Ewood. It began badly for the visitors when Nikos Dabizas was sent off for
handling Dwight Yorke's shot on the line. David Dunn converted the penalty
and rubbed salt into the wounds four minutes later with a second, firing in
after Keith Gillespie had set him up. Newcastle battled back and pulled a
goal back when Alan Shearer was fouled by Lucas Neill, allowing Shearer to
score from the penalty spot - his 300th career goal. Just after half time,
it was 2-2 as Shearer thundered a header home from Laurent Robert's corner.
It didn't last as Blackburn then took over, with central defender Martin
Taylor - three goals in 44 games before this season - scoring twice! His
first, and Rovers third, came when tapped in after the visitors failed to
clear a corner, and he scored again late on, a fine header, again from a
corner. Between Taylor's brace, Andy Griffin put through his own net after
Shay Given had pushed Gillespie's header against him.


Everton (1) 2 (Radzinski 22, Rooney 90)
Arsenal (1) 1 (Ljungberg 8)

Arsenal's ten month, 30 game unbeaten record came to a dramatic end at
Goodison, courtesy of a 16-year old who cannot even sign professional
forms until his 17th birthday on Thursday. Normal services look likely when
Freddie Ljungberg opened the scoring for Arsenal, prodding in from six yards
after Everton failed to clear from Kanu or Toure, however the game was
opened up when Tomasz Radzinski equalised after Lee Carsley had hit the
post. It looked to be heading for a draw until young sub Wayne Rooney
crashed a 25-yard bullet past David Seaman and in via the underside of
the crossbar to become the youngest ever Premiership goalscorer.


Fulham (1) 1 (Marlet 35)
Manchester United (0) 1 (Solskjaer 61)
MISSED PEN: Malbranque (Fulham) 71

Honours even at Loftus Road, although Fulham wasted a golden chance to
beat Manchester United. The hosts took the lead when Steve Marlet bundled
in from close range after United failed to deal with Rufus Brevett's cross,
however Ole Gunnar Solskjaer equalised, crashing in from a tight angle
from David Beckham's long ball forward. Fulham were then awarded a harsh
penalty after Laurent Blanc appeared to run into Marlet, however after
remarkable gamesmanship from keeper Fabien Barthez, for which he was
booked, he then saved Malbranque's poor kick.


Leeds United (0) 0
Liverpool (0) 1 (Diao 65)

Liverpool took over top spot with a narrow, yet deserved, victory over
Leeds. The only goal was made in Senegal as El Hadji Diouf's deflected
cross was stabbed home by Salif Diao. Harry Kewell blew a great chance
to equalise late on, firing over a gaping goal from eight yards.


Manchester City (0) 0
Chelsea (0) 3 (Zola 69, 86, Hasselbaink 88)

Man City's poor season continues with a heavy home defeat against Chelsea.
Gianfranco Zola scored twice, firstly heading in at the far post from Graeme
Le Saux's corner, and then he broke the offside trap to slot coolly home
from a trick angle. Late on Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink added a third, breaking
onto Mario Melchiot's through ball to fire past Schmeichel.


Sunderland (0) 0
West Ham (1) 1 (Sinclair 23)

Howard Wilkinson's Sunderland reign began with a defeat at home to the
bottom club, who subsequently leapt above the Black Cats who go into the
bottom three of the table. The only goal was a cracker as Trevor Sinclair
nodded a Paolo di Canio pass into the air and then volleyed past Jurgen
Macho.


West Brom (0) 1 (Roberts 88)
Birmingham (0) 1 (Moore (og) 86)
RED CARD: Tebily (Birmingham) 83

Honours even in the Birmingham derby as all the key action happened late on.
With seven minutes to go, Oliver Tebily was sent for an innocuous foul on
Jason Roberts, his second yellow of the game, however just minutes later,
keeper Russell Hoult could only help a weak cross against his post and onto
the foot of defender Darren Moore who diverted it into his own net. Within
two minutes, Roberts equalised, cutting inside from the left to curl an effort
around Vaesen and inside the far post.

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