PREMIERSHIP ROUND 27
 
9th Feb 2003

Man United (1) 1 (Van Nistelrooy 18)
Man City (0) 1 (Goater 86)

The 128th Manchester derby ended all square after a dramatic late substitution paved the way for
City to snatch an equaliser at Old Trafford. United, three points adrift of Arsenal prior to the game,
took a deserved lead when Ryan Giggs crossed from the left for Ruud van Nistelrooy to tap in at
the far post. With time running out, City boss Kevin Keegan sent on Ali Benarbia and Shaun Goater
for a free kick and the former decided against swinging it into the area, playing it short to Shaun
Wright-Phillips, whose chip was met by Goater to head into the corner. City almost grabbed a
winner late on, however Goater's effort was disallowed after a handball from Nik Anelka following
a deflected cross which struck the crossbar.


Newcastle (0) 1 (Robert 53)
Arsenal (1) 1 (Henry 35)
RED CARD: Robert (Newcastle) 58

Laurent Robert scored an equaliser and was sent off in the space of five manic minutes as his
Newcastle side held Arsenal at St James Park. The Champions took a first half lead when Sylvain
Wiltord's pass sent Thierry Henry through and he rounded the keeper to slot into an empty net.
Robert then levelled matters early in the second half when he jinked past two defenders before
neatly side-footing home from the edge of the area. However, joy turned to despair when he twice
blocked a quickly taken free kick from Dennis Bergkamp without retreating and was duly shown a
second yellow card having been booked just minutes before. Maybe the sending off was harsh and
it will be argued that he was given no time to retreat, however the case for the Gunners will be
that he showed no inclination to get back the distance and twice made deliberate moves to block
the taking of the free kick. Either way, Arsenal will view it as a lost chance to move five points
ahead of Man United.


8th Feb 2003

Liverpool (0) 1 (Riise 74)
Middlesbrough (1) 1 (Geremi 37)

Middlesbrough gained a creditable point at Anfield as Liverpool's poor week showed little sign of
improving. The visitors managed just one shot at goal in the first half, yet Cameroon international
Geremi found the top corner with it, courtesy of a superb curling free kick from the left edge of the
penalty area. Liverpool salvaged a draw late on when Michael Owen beat two men on the left and
although El-Hadji Diouf couldn't convert his pass, John Arne Riise made no mistake and drilled the
ball past Mark Schwarzer.


Birmingham (0) 1 (Savage (pen) 87)
Chelsea (1) 3 (Zola 44, Gudjohnsen 49, Hasselbaink (pen) 69)

Chelsea moved into third place for at least a day with a comfortable win at Birmingham. The visitors
took the lead just before half time when Gianfranco Zola volleyed in after Eidur Gudjohnsen headed
on a cross from Emmanuel Petit. Gudjohnsen doubled the lead himself with a far post header from
a Jesper Gronkjaer cross and Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink added a third with a firmly struck penalty after
Robbie Savage had brought him down. Savage made partial amends late on when he converted a
spot kick after Clinton Morrison was held by Petit, but it was too little, too late.


Blackburn (1) 1 (Thompson 26)
Southampton (0) 0

Blackburn ended their recent barren spell with a narrow win over an impressive Southampton side.
The only goal came from David Thompson who found the bottom corner following a cross from Keith
Gillespie.


Charlton (1) 2 (Kishishev 19, Lisbie 83)
Everton (0) 1 (McBride 69)

Charlton's good season continues with a late win over Everton, who remain in contention for a
European spot themselves. Radostin Kishishev gave the hosts the lead when he followed up to score
after Shaun Bartlett's shot was saved. American international Brian McBride continued his good recent
spell with an equaliser, firing in from the edge of the area after Li Lie had set him up, however the
Chinese star was at fault for the winner as his poor pass fell to Kevin Lisbie who broke clear to slot
home.


Fulham (2) 2 (Malbranque (pen) 14, Harley 36)
Aston Villa (1) 1 (Barry 3)

Fulham's relegation fears were eased with a fine win over Aston Villa, courtesy of one of the goals of
the season. Villa took an early lead through Gareth Barry who wriggled through to score after latching
onto Dion Dublin's header. Steed Malbranque then levelled from the penalty spot after Luis Borte had
been fouled by Joey Gudjonsson before Jon Harley lit up Loftus Road with a wonderful winner.
The former Chelsea man ran onto a header from a team mate and crashed a brilliant first time volley
into the roof of the net from all of 35 yards.


Leeds (1) 1 (Johnson (Seth) 20)
West Ham (0) 0
RED CARD: Kanoute (West Ham) 68

Lee Bowyer suffered a losing return to Elland Road as a first half strike from Seth Johnson saw Leeds
condemn West Ham to another defeat. Johnson's strike, slightly deflected, came after Gary Kelly had
found him on the edge of the area, his firm shot was also touched by the hand of David James. Midway
through the second half, Freddie Kanoute marked his return from injury by slapping Johnson in the
face after the Leeds man had pushed him in the back. The resulting red card was no surprise.


Spurs (2) 4 (Poyet 14, Doherty 45, Davies 67, Sheringham 84)
Sunderland (1) 1 (Phillips 26)

Spurs compounded Sunderland's miserable season with a crushing win at White Hart Lane, capped by
Teddy Sheringham's 300th club goal. The plaudits however should go to Darren Anderton who had a
hand in all four of his team's goals. Firstly, his cross from the left was prodded in by Gus Poyet,
however a shock was on the card when Kevin Phillips broke the offside trap to collect a Gavin
McCann cross, clipped the ball over the keeper and blasted into the roof of the net from close range.
On half time, Gary Doherty headed in an Anderton corner to restore the lead and midway through the
second half, Simon Davies added a third after Poyet had flicked on an Anderton pass. Sheringham's
milestone arrived late on when he headed home a corner from Anderton!


West Brom (0) 1 (Johnson 90)
Bolton (1) 1 (Pedersen 18)

West Brom grabbed a deserved stoppage time goal to earn a point in their relegation clash against
Bolton. The visitors went ahead when Per Pedersen pounced to score after Youri Djorkaeff's weak
effort was spilled by Russell Hoult. The dramatic finale arrived when Sean Gregan's cross was helped
on by Darren Moore and tapped in at the far post by Andy Johnson.


4 February 2003

The first game is from last Tuesday and is the final match from the round of games played in the
preceeding midweek.

Birmingham (0) 0
Man United (0) 1 (Van Nistelrooy 56)

Man United keep up the pressure on Arsenal as a Ruud van Nistelrooy goal against Birmingham keeps
them within three points of the league leaders. The only goal came when Mikael Silvestre crossed from
the left for the Dutchman to shield the ball well and turn to shoot into the bottom corner.


Gary Dowden - Joint Admin Topica Premier-L list
Leeds United and Scotland and proud of it
http://www.topica.com/lists/premier-L