3 November 2003

Birmingham (0) 1 (Dugarry 64)
Charlton (1) 2 (Holland 11, 58)

It was a case of double Dutch at St Andrews as two goals from Matt Holland
gave Charlton their third away win in a row at the expence of Birmingham,
whose excellent defensive record was dented. The opener, as with all the
goals, came from a corner as Claus Jensen's kick was headed in at the near
post by Holland. Just before the hour mark, another corner fell to Graeme
Stuart and although his stinging volley was cleared off the line by
Christophe Dugarry, it struck Holland in the chest and flew over the line.
Dugarry made amends six minutes later when his firm header pulled a goal
back for the hosts, however both he and Mikael Forsell were denied an
equaliser by brilliant reaction saves from Dean Kiely.


2 November 2003

Fulham (1) 1 (Saha 39)
Liverpool (1) 2 (Heskey 17, Murphy (pen) 89)
RED CARD : Boa Morte (Fulham) 90

A late Danny Murphy penalty gave Liverpool their third win in eight days,
although their 2-1 win over Fulham will be remembered equally for an awful
tackle by Luis Boa Morte which saw him red carded in the final minute. Steve
Finnan, returning to Fulham after joining Liverpool in the summer, provided
the cross which gave his new club the lead on seventeen minutes as he
whipped the ball in from the right, allowing Emile Heskey to get ahead of
his marker and fire a volley firmly past Mark Crossley. Fulham equalised
when loan defender Maurice Valz had a fine run down the right, eventually
finding Steed Malbranque, whose cross was deflected by Steven Gerrard into
the path of Saha who tapped in at the far post. With the game heading for a
draw, young sub Florent Sinama-Pongolle collected a pass on the edge of the
area, turned too sharply for Zak Knight, who tripped him for a certain
penalty. Danny Murphy kept his cool to slot home his second spot kick in as
many games, clinching the points for Liverpool. It wasn't quite all over
though as Boa Morte, booked for dissent after the penalty, caught
Sinama-Pongolle with a studs-first, knee high tackle in the centre circle,
referee Rob Styles brandishing a deserved straight red card.


Leicester (0) 2 (Bent 75, Howey 82)
Blackburn (0) 0

Two late goals, their only efforts at goal in the entire game, gave
Leicester all three points against Blackburn and sent Leeds United to the
foot of the table. It was a poor game as a spectacle and only livened up
late on. Leicester took the lead as Muzzy Izzet swung in a free kick which
was met by Marcus Bent at the far post to volley home. The second wasn't
long coming as Izzet's corner was nodded back by James Scowcroft and then
kept in play by the head of Matt Elliott, allowing Steve Howey to bundle in
from close range.


1 November 2003

Everton (0) 0
Chelsea (0) 1 (Mutu 49)

Chelsea remain in second place, sandwiched between Arsenal and Man United,
after a narrow and unconvincing win at Everton. The hosts had the better of
the game but Chelsea clinched the points early in the second half when
Geremi crossed from the right for Adrian Mutu to head home with a close
range diving header.


Leeds (0) 1 (Smith 64)
Arsenal (3) 4 (Henry 8, 33, Pires 17, Gilberto 50)

Arsenal stay top as they destroyed Leeds with a classic display of speed and
counter-attacking. Three times in the first half they broke after a Leeds
attack collapsed and scored as the hosts failed to cope with the pace in the
Gunners side. As early as the eighth minute, Thierry Henry latched onto a
long clearance from Ashley Cole to cut in from the left and slot past Paul
Robinson. The lead was doubled when Freddie Ljungberg found space on the
right to cross and although Gilberto missed the ball, Robert Pires was at
the far post to add a second with a tap in. Just after the half hour,
another swift break saw Dennis Bergkamp hit the post from the edge of the
area, however Henry was following up to tap in the third. The rout was
completed early in the second half when Gilberto shot home at the far post
from a cross from Pires. Leeds played some neat football, but the cutting
edge was lacking although they did grab a consolation when Alan Smith got a
slight touch to Aaron Lennon's cross to find the far corner.


Man United (1) 3 (Forlan 37, Ronaldo 80, Keane 82)
Portsmouth (0) 0

Man United bounced back from last weekend's shock home defeat with a
comfortable win over Portsnmouth to keep in touch with the top three. Diego
Forlan made it three goals in as many games for himself when he was allowed
time to volley home after Ryan Giggs had headed back Gary Neville's cross.
Two United subs wrapped the game up late on when firstly Christiano Ronaldo
netted his first goal for the club as he swept in a free kick from the left
flank which found the top corner via the hands of Shaka Hislop. Two minutes
later, Ronaldo's throw found Roy Keane who turned well before curling in a
beauty from the edge of the area.


Middlesbrough (0) 2 (Mendieta 73, Juninho 83)
Wolves (0) 0
RED CARD : Rae (Wolves) 89

Controversy reigned and tempers flared at the Riverside as Middlesbrough
left it late to see off Wolves. The main talking point came after Danny
Mills clashed with Lee Naylor after the two collided with Mills in full
flow. Whilst the pair squared up, Juninho played the free kick into Gaizka
Mendieta who drilled in from the edge of the area. Juninho netted the second
himself after Boudewijn Zenden crossed from the right, however after Alex
Rae was sent off after taking out Mills and Colin Cooper with a high
challenge, tempers continued to rise after the final whistle as players
clashed in the tunnel.


Newcastle (1) 1 (Robert 45)
Aston Villa (1) 1 (Dublin 11)
RED CARD : McCann (Villa) 70
MISSED PEN (Saved): Shearer (Newcastle) 81

Alan Shearer had a late penalty saved as Newcastle were held at home by
Aston Villa. The visitors took the lead when Dion Dublin, in as a emergency
defender, rose to head home a corner at the near post, however they were
pegged back level when they failed to clear the ball from the area, allowing
Laurent Robert to fire in from the edge of the box. Villa were reduced to
ten men when Neil McCann clattered Robert in full flow to earn a second
yellow card and they could have lost after Gareth Barry handled in the area,
however Shearer's penalty was pushed away by Thomas Sorenson, a repeat of an
incident three years ago during the keeper's Sunderland days.


Southampton (0) 0
Man City (1) 2 (Fowler 4, Wanchope 85)

Despite the absence of Nik Anelka, Man City scored early and late to see off
Southampton at St Marys. Robbie Fowler opened the scoring with a fine solo
run and shot from 20 yards which found the bottom corner and then with time
running out, Paulo Wanchope clinched the points as he latched onto a long
ball and made no mistake with the finish.


Spurs (0) 0
Bolton (0) 1 (Nolan 73)

Spurs lost for the first time under David Pleat and in truth were lucky not
to lose by more against an impressive Bolton side. The only goal came when
Jay-Jay Okocha's shot was fumbled by Kasey Keller, allowing Kevin Nolan to
tap in the winner. That only told a fraction of the story however as Bolton
hit the bar on four seperate occasions, with Okocha responsible for three of
them!


Gary Dowden
Chief Editor SoccerAge UK

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