16 January 2005 Middlesbrough (1) 1 (Zenden 26) Everton (0) 1 (Cahill 76) Honours even at the Riverside as two of the Champions League hopefuls met. Middlesbrough went ahead when a through ball from Joseph Desire Job was missed by Tony Hibbert and as keeper Richard Wright came off his line, Bolo Zenden chipped him perfectly, despite the despairing lunge on the line from Alan Stubbs. It was harsh on Everton for whom Lee Carsley had earlier hit the bar and following the goal, home keeper Mark Schwarzer saved well from a Marcus Bent volley. Everton began the second half well and after James Beattie had bobbled an effort against the post, they grabbed a deserved equaliser. Hibbert was the provider with a deep cross met by the head of sub Duncan Ferguson who nod back across goal was bundled in by Tim Cahill. Assists : Job, Ferguson Fulham (0) 1 (Bouba Diop 90) West Brom (0) 0 A goal half a minute into stoppage time gave Fulham a vital win over bottom club West Brom, however the visitors will feel hard done by after dominating the game from the opening minute when Robert Earnshaw shot wide whilst through. Along with debutant Kevin Campbell, the Welshman missed a number of decent chances and late on, Ronnie Wallwork was inches wide after a shot struck his foot and dribbled past the post. Fulham's only real spell came just before half time when Luis Boa Morte had a shot saved and then headed wide within a minute, however as the game entered the final stages, a Mark Pembridge corner was floated in and met perfectly by the head of the unmarked Papa Bouba Diop who powered in his header from close range. Assists : Pembridge (ck) 15 January 2005 Liverpool (0) 0 Man United (1) 1 (Rooney 21) SENT OFF: Brown (Man United) 65 Man United win at Anfield for the third season in a row for the first time in their history, despite playing the last half an hour with only ten men. Liverpool began well but were caught by a bolt from the blue by returning Scouser Wayne Rooney. The former Everton man collected a pass from Cristiano Ronaldo on the left, cut inside and struck a low shot goalwards from 25 yards which deceived keeper Jerzy Dudek who seemed to dive over the ball - not his first error in the history of the fixture - and whilst Rooney's `Ears` celebration directly in front of the Kop was perhaps understandable, the decision to do it was borne of youthful naiveity. The goal unsettled the home side and United almost doubled their lead when Roy Keane almost broke the crossbar with a stinging volley from the edge of the area. Big money debutant Fernando Morientes was kept largely at arms length and after one header on target, he sent another wide and volleyed over, although none were really clear cut. In the second half, United were reduced to ten men when Wes Brown was shown a second yellow card for a lunging tackle which sent John Arne Riise sprawling, however despite stacks on late possession, Liverpool rarely looked like breaking United down although Luis Garcia volleyed wide and keeper Roy Carroll saved well from a shot by Jamie Carragher. Overall, a deserved win which keeps United just about in touch at the top. Assist : Ronaldo Aston Villa (2) 3 (Ridgewell 9, Hendrie 27, Solano 76) Norwich (0) 0 Nol Solano was the star of the show as Villa put their European aspirations back on the right track against relegation probables Norwich. The Peruvian ran the show and provided the free kick cross which led to Liam Ridgewell heading in the opening goal, his first league striek for the club. The lead was doubled when Solano found Juan Pablo Angel who sent Lee Hendrie through to score with a side footed effort from the edge of the box and late on, Solano snatched a well deserved goal of his own with a close range header after Hendrie's mis- hit volley bobbled across goal. Assists : Solano (fk), Angel, Hendrie Charlton (1) 3 (El Karkouri 9, Bartlett 67, Murphy 75) Birmingham (0) 1 (Melchiot 55) Charlton are also battling for a European place after a comfortable win against mis-firing Birmingham, although they needed a freakish effort to get started. It came from Talal El Kargkouri who floated in a free kick from fully 50 yards out and it deceived everyone and bounced past the standing keeper to nestle inside the far post. Early in the second half, Birmingham were level when Darren Anderton's corner was thundered into the net via the head of Mario Melchiot, however it didn't take long for the hosts to regain the lead when sub Francis Jeffers crossed for Shaun Bartlett to slide in at the far post and score. Jeffers was also involved in the third as he sent Danny Murphy through to provide a cool finish. Assists : Bartlett (won fk), Anderton (ck), Jeffers, Jeffers Man City (2) 3 (Wright-Phillips (S) 12, 90, Fowler 15) Crystal Palace (1) 1 (Powell 32) Crystal Palace remain in the relegation dogfight after a defeat at Man City which put the hosts back into the top half of the table. Robbie Fowler was at the heart of everything for City, although it was young pretender Joey Barton who set up the opener for Shaun Wright-Phillips to burst into the area and fire home. Three minutes later, a long ball found Fowler who shook off his marker to drill home from a tight angle. Palace pulled one back against the run of play when Wayne Routledge's cross was nodded in by Darren Powell, however City clinched the points in stoppage time when Fowler's cross was stabbed in by Wright-Phillips again. Assists : Barton, n/a, Routledge (fk), Fowler Newcastle (2) 2 (Shearer (pen) 9, Bramble 38) Southampton (1) 1 (Crouch 42) Newcastle heaped more misery onto Harry Redknapp who still seeks his first league win as Southampton boss. It began badly for the visitors when Shola Ameobi burst through only to be pulled back by the shirt by Calum Davenport. A penalty was awarded and although Davenport stayed on, keeper Antti Niemi wasn't so lucky having collected a leg injury as he collided with Ameobi, resulting in sub keeper Paul Smith replacing him for his debut, although his first duty was to be beaten by Alan Shearer's well struck penalty. The lead was doubled when Celestine Babayaro's free kick was hooked in at the near post by the unlikely figure of Titus Bramble, however Saints gave themselves hope when Peter Crouch volleyed in from close range after Kevin Phillips had hit the bar with a header. With time running out, Southampton felt they deserved the chance to equalise with a penalty after Crouch appeared to be kicked in the back of the legs by Bramble, however play was waved on. Assists : Ameobi (won pen), Babayaro (fk), n/a, Portsmouth (0) 0 Blackburn (0) 1 (Pedersen 55) SENT OFF: Lua-Lua (Portsmouth) 51, Faye (Portsmouth) 90 Portsmouth ended their home game with Blackburn having lost 1-0 and with two men sent off as tempers flared at Fratton Park. The fun and games began in the second half when Amdy Faye was booked for an awful two- footed tackle on , however after play restarted, Lomana Lua-Lua aimed a headbutt off the ball at Andy Todd and was promptly sent off, although he had to be restrained by his team mates and was escorted off. The visitors then went ahead when David Thompson sent up Morten Pedersen to clip home a superb shot with the outside of his boot and in stoppage time, the red mist came down again as Faye, lucky to still be on the pitch after his earlier indiscretion, caught keeper Brad Friedel late with another studs first tackle and was shown a second yellow card. Assist : Thompson Spurs (0) 0 Chelsea (1) 2 (Lampard (pen) 39, 90) Chelsea move ten points clear after overcoming Spurs in a potential tricky London derby at White Hart Lane. The in form hosts felt hard done by after Chelsea were awarded a penalty after Ledley was adjudged to have caught Alexei Smertin in the area. Frank Lampard stepped up and beat Paul Robinson from the penalty spot although the keeper did guess correctly. The points were secured in stoppage time when a superb run by Eidur Gudjohnsen saw him cut the ball back for Lampard to drill in his second from the edge of the area. Assists : Smertin (won pen), n/a Bolton (1) 1 (Giannakpolous 41) Arsenal (0) 0 Arsenal lose ground on leaders Chelsea after their first ever defeat at the Reebok stadium against Bolton. The home side were good value for all three points as well and they clinched them when Stelios Giannakopolous rose at the far post to nod in El-Hadji Diouf's cross. The Gunners could have levelled matters, however Robert Pires headed wide from close range after Jussi Jaaskalainen had saved well from Robin Van Persie. Assist : Diouf 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 |