26 December 2004 Arsenal (1) 2 (Henry 12, Pires 71) Fulham (0) 0 Arsenal continue their pursuit of Chelsea with a comfortable home win against Fulham who are sinking into the relegation dogfight. Thierry Henry gave the hosts the lead with a jink inside and slotted finish having been sent clear by Freddie Ljungberg. It was the Frenchman's 128th league goal for the club, equally the tally on Ian Wright. Victory was secured late on when Ljungberg's cross was dummied by Dennis Bergkamp, allowing Robert Pires to dribble his way into a shooting position and then fire home. Assists : Ljungberg (x2) Birmingham (2) 2 (Morrison 10, Heskey 45) Middlesbrough (0) 0 Middlesbrough slumped to defeat at Birmingham although they felt hard done by having had an early goal ruled out for offside. The decision angered Boro as Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink's shot was sliced into his own net by Stan Lazaridis, however Mark Viduka was standing in an offside position behind the Birmingham man and the flag was raised. It didn't take the home side long to capitalise and take the lead when a long kick was Maik Taylor was helped on by Emile Heskey and Clinton Morrison slid the ball in from a tricky angle. On half time, the points were clinched when a Robbie Savage cross found Heskey unmarked and his header found the net. Assists : Heskey, Savage Blackburn (1) 2 (Dickov 26, Todd 54) Newcastle (2) 2 (Dyer 6, Robert 34) Newcastle boss Graeme Souness returned to the club that he left to move to St James, however Blackburn did him no favours as they twice came from behind to earn a draw. Newcastle took the lead when Laurent Robert's through ball sent Kieron Dyer clear and his crisp finish gave the keeper no chance. Quick thinking by Barry Ferguson put the home side level as his quickly taken free kick found Paul Dickov in the area and he turned and shot into the net. Another free kick restored Newcastle's lead as Robert did his party piece with a stunning shot from all of 35 yards, however early in the second half, David Thompson's long range shot wasn't held by Shay Given and Andy Todd was on hand to bobble in the equaliser. Assists : Robert, Ferguson, Dyer (won fk), n/a Chelsea (1) 1 (Duff 30) Aston Villa (0) 0 Chelsea stay clear at the top, although they were given a run for their money against a determined Aston Villa side. The only goal came on the half hour as Arjen Robben found Damien Duff and after skipping inside the defender, he fired the ball into the net. Assist : Robben Crystal Palace (0) 0 Portsmouth (0) 1 (Primas 69) Crystal Palace remain in trouble after losing at home to Portsmouth, a result which sent the Fratton Park side into the top half. Just one goal settled matters as Linvoy Primas rose to head home Patrick Berger's corner. Assists : Berger (ck) Everton (1) 2 (Cahill 22, Bent 63) Man City (1) 1 (Fowler 42) SENT OFF: Negouai (Man City) 83 Everton stay third after a narrow win against Man City. All three goals were headers as firstly Tim Cahill was left unmarked to thump in a free kick from Thomas Gravesen, however just before half time, City levelled matters when Robbie Fowler headed in Jon Macken's cross. The points were won when Marcus Bent nodded in Gravesen's chip at the far post, however the game ended on a sour note when City sub Christian Negouai was shown a straight red card for a studs-first tackle on Bent. Assists : Gravesen (fk), Macken, Gravesen Man United (1) 2 (Giggs 10, Scholes 89) Bolton (0) 0 Man United remain in fourth after their recent good form continued with a win over out of form Bolton. Ryan Giggs gave United an early lead when he converted Gabriel Heinze's cross with a far post volley and with a minute to go, a solo run from Giggs helped set up Paul Scholes to wallop the ball home from 20 yards. All that is likely to be forgotten unfortuntely as the after-match talk was of Wayne Rooney who squared up to Tal Ben Haim and pushed the Bolton man in the face. Ben Haim reacted as though he'd been shot, however Rooney did raise his hands and although all the officials missed the incident, it's likely to be looked at by the video panel. Assists : Ronaldo, n/a Norwich (0) 0 Spurs (0) 2 (Keane 73, Brown 77) Spurs' remarkable recent run was extended to seven succesive victories with a win at struggling Norwich. Both goals came late on, firstly as Robbie Keane scrambled the ball home after the hosts failed twice to clear a corner and then four minutes later, Keane set up Michael Brown to fizzed a shot in from 25 yards. Assists : n/a, Keane Southampton (0) 0 Charlton (0) 0 No goals at St Mary's, although Southampton will be happier with a point than Charltom who had the better of the chances. Home keeper Antti Niemi saved well from Jerome Thomas and Radostin Kishishev, however Shaun Bartlett will be most disappointed as he broke the offside trap only to head against the bar from close range. West Brom (0) 0 Liverpool (1) 5 (Riise 17, 82, Sinema-Pongolle 51, Gerrard 55, Garcia 89) SENT OFF: Contra (West Brom) 39 MISSED PEN: Baros (Liverpool) 40 - Saved Bottom club West Brom were lambs to the slaughter for second week in a row as they were walloped at home by Liverpool. The visitors took the lead when Steven Gerrard's chip found John Arne Riise and his first time side footed volley sailed across goal and inside the far post. Any hopes that the home side had were realistically ended when Antonia Nunez's goalbound header was handled by Cosmin Contra, although keeper Russell Hoult was behind him and appeared to have the effort covered. Contra was sent off, however Hoult did keep out Milan Baros' poor spot kick to keep the score within range. Two goals in four minutes gave the scoreline a more ominous look as firstly Florent Sinema-Pongolle bobbled in a volley from Riise's cross and then Gerrard fired in off the post as Dietmar Hamann tapped a free kick to him. With eight minutes remaining, Alonso's pass was helped on by Hamann for Riise to bullet a shot into the top corner and late on, Luis Garcia added a fifth with a tap in from Riise's cross. Assists : Gerrard, n/a, Hamann fk, n/a, Riise Gary Dowden - Joint Admin Topica Premier-L list http://www.topica.com/lists/premier-L Leeds United and Scotland and proud of it http://www.peanutsfan.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk/footiemad The Unofficial Premiership Site |