29 December 2003

Southampton (0) 0
Arsenal (1) 1 (Pires 35)

Arsenal move to within a point of Man United with a narrow win at
Southampton, maintaining their unbeaten start to the season. The only goal
was typically clinical as Thierry Henry's through ball found Robert Pires
whose low first time shot found the back of the net.


28 December 2003

Before the reviews, I'd like to take this chance to wish everyone a happy
and properous New Year and the best of luck to all your clubs....except when
facing Leeds :)

Aston Villa (1) 3 (Angel 33, Vassell 67, 82)
Fulham (0) 0

Villa moved into the top half of the table as the fourth placed jinx struck
Fulham. The visitors began will, however once Villa took the lead, there
only looked to be one winner. J.Lloyd Samuel's cross was helped into the rof
of the net by Juan Pablo Angel to break the deadlock. Samuel also set up the
second for Darius Vassell, his long cross drilled in first time for
Vassell's first goal of the season. His second came fifteen minutes later as
Thomas Hitzlsperger's cross was swept home by the England international.


Bolton (1) 2 (N'Gotty 35, Campo 54)
Leicester (1) 2 (Bent 18, Ferdinand 90)

A last minute goal earned Leicester a draw at Bolton and lifted them out of
the bottom three. They took the lead when a poor kick from keeper Jussi
Jaaskelainen was collected by James Scowcroft, he found Marcus Bent who
curled the ball in 25 yards. Bolton levelled matters when a deep free kick
from Youri Djorkaeff caused problems at the far post and it was touched over
the line by Bruno N'Gotty. Early in the sceond half, Ivan Campo driled the
ball into the bottom corner from the edge of the area having been set up by
Djorkaeff and they held the lead until stoppage time when Les Ferdinand's
header from Muzzy Izzet's corner powered into the top corner.


Chelsea (0) 3 (Bridge 65, Lampard 73, Geremi 82)
Portsmouth (0) 0

Chelsea got back to winning ways against Portsmouth, however it took them
over an hour to break through. The unlikely scorer was Wayne Bridge who ran
onto Geremi's chip and fired home from a tricky angle. The lead was doubled
when Adrian Mutu found Frank Lampard who belted the ball into the roof of
the net from just inside the area. The third was a cracker as Jesper
Gronkjaer's cross was half cleared, allowing Geremi to volley home from 25
yards.


Everton (0) 1 (Rooney 69)
Birmingham (0) 0

Wayne Rooney came off the bench to score the only goal of the game for
Everton against Birmingham. His strike was a scrambled effort, however he
found the back of the net clinically after the keeper had flapped at a
corner.


Man City (1) 2 (Anelka (pen) 30, Fowler 90)
Liverpool (0) 2 (Smicer 66, Hamann 80)

Man City still look for their first win in two months, however they did grab
a late draw against Liverpool thanks to two Anfield old boys. One of them,
Nik Anelka, gave City the lead with a well taken penalty after John Arne
Riise held back Robbie Fowler in the area, however Liverpool came back in
the second half as Vladimir Smicer touched in a corner which had been helped
on by Sami Hyypia. Didi Hamann then gave the visitors the lead with a fine
volley from the edge of the area, however City came back and forced a
stoppage time equaliser when Fowler tapped in a shot from Trevor Sinclair.


Middlesbrough (0) 0
Man United (1) 1 (Fortune 14)
RED CARD : Fletcher (Man Utd) 64

Man United confirmed top spot for the start of 2004 with a narrow win at
Middlesbrough. The only goal came early as Quinton Fortune cut in from the
left, his shot finding the net via a wicked deflection off of Danny Mills.
United ended the game with ten men as Darren Fletcher earned his second
yellow card with a late tackle on Zenden, although team mate Gary Neville
was perhaps lucky not to join him as he ran half the width of the pitch to
remonstrate with the referee only to be held back by Gareth Southgate.


Newcastle (0) 0
Blackburn (0) 1 (Gallagher 72)

Blackburn's relegation fears eased with a good win at Newcastle, although
the only goal was controversial. Paul Gallagher was creditted with the
effort, however it clearly struck his arm before going into the net from
Brett Emerton's cross.


Spurs (0) 0
Charlton (0) 1 (Cole 69)

Charlton go fourth after a fine win at Spurs who moved into the relegation
zone. The only goal came from loan signing Carlton Cole whose header from
Paolo di Canio's corner found the roof of the net.


Wolves (1) 3 (Smith (og) 18, Iversen 48, 90)
Leeds (1) 1 (Duberry 3)
RED CARD : Matteo (Leeds) 76

Bottom beat second bottom at Molineux as Wolves gave themselves hope of
avoiding the drop. Leeds took an early lead when Michael Duberry thumped
home a near post header from Ian Harte's corner, however a freakish own goal
put Wolves level as Alan Smith sliced an Henri Camara corner into the net
via the far post. Early in the second half, Shaun Newton's cross was met by
Stefan Iversen who looped a header over the keeper. Leeds ended with ten men
after Dom Matteo was shown a second yellow card after clattering into Lee
Naylor and their misery was complete in the final minute when Iversen added
his second after Camara's shot thudded against the post.


Gary Dowden
Chief Editor SoccerAge UK


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