2 February 2005 Blackburn 0 Chelsea 1 (Robben 5) Chelsea move eleven points clear of Man United after a narrow win at Ewood Park against Blackburn. Chelsea went ahead with a swift breakaway when a Rovers attack broke down. Frank Lampard launched the ball forward and after it was glanced on by Eidur Gudjohnsen, the rest was down to Arjen Robben who ran on and then drilled the ball home under the hands of keeper Brad Friedel. Blackburn then had a golden chance to level matters when Robbie Savage went down a little easy under challenge from Paulo Ferreira, however Paul Dickov's penalty was superbly saved by Petr Cech. Attendance : 23,414 Assist : Duff Everton 1 (Doherty 78 og) Norwich 0 Everton left it late to see off relegation threatened Norwich and even then needed a stroke of luck to clinch the points. It came with twelve minutes left and after Marcus Bent's header was saved, the ball was prodded into his own net by Gary Doherty, under pressure from Duncan Ferguson. Attendance : 37,485 Assist : n/a Birmingham 2 (Pandiani 12, Blake 51 pen) Southampton 1 (Camara 52) Two debut goals at St Andrews as Birmingham edged past struggling Southampton. Walter Pandiani opened the scoring in his first ever Prem game as the Saints defence went walkabouts, allowing him a simple, free header from Jermaine Pennant's cross. The lead was doubled when Mario Melchiot was fouled by Jamie Redknapp and Robbie Blake found the top corner for his first goal for his new side. Southampton battled back and one of their debutants, Henri Camara, netted a stunning strike and he latched onto a Peter Crouch header to fire into the roof of the net. One final note for trivia fans - Olivier Bernard made his debut for the Saints, however they somehow managed to spell his name wrong on his shirt (a la David Beckham - or Beckam - in the 96 Charity Shield). Instead they had him as Barnard! Attendance : 28,797 Assists : Pennant, Melchiot (won pen), Crouch Fulham 1 (Clarke 90) Aston Villa (Angel 55) Amazing game at Craven Cottage as we saw a last minute equaliser and THREE missed penalties! The fun began in the second half when Juan Pablo Angel ended his 14-game goal drought with a near post header from Thomas Hitzlsperger's corner. Seven minutes later, Luis Boa Morte was caught by Olaf Mellberg and although he appeared to play the ball, a penalty was awarded despite heated protests from the visitors, however justice was seen to be done when Andy Cole sent the keeper the wrong way and the ball wide of the post! The penalty count was evened out when Luke Moore was bundled over at the far post by Moritz Volz and although Angel struck the kick low and firmly, Edwin van der Sar did superbly to keep it out. Remarkably, within four minutes, Moore was tripped by Liam Rosenior and another penalty was awarded, however as boss David O'Leary screamed for Gareth Barry to take the kick, Angel stepped up again and put the kick in the same place, albeit a little higher, only for Van Der Sar to get it right again and push the ball to safety, much to the annoyance of the Villa chief. This was intensified in stopage time when his side failed to clear their area and allowed Lee Clark to thump in an equaliser. Attendance : 17,624 Assist : Hitzlsperger (ck), n/a Manchester City 1 (Fowler 49 pen) Newcastle 1 (Shearer 9) Honours even in Manchester as City came from behind to earn a point against Newcastle. The visitors went ahead with a landmark goal for Alan Shearer who latched onto a long ball from Titus Bramble and smashed it inside the top corner for his 250th Premiership goal, the first player to reach that particular figure. His day was ruined somewhat early in the second half when Bramble fouled Shaun Wright-Phillips and Robbie Fowler converted the spot kick. Attendance : 45,752 Assist : Bramble, Wright-Phillips (won pen) 1 February 2005 Arsenal 2 (Vieira 8, Bergkamp 36) Manchester United 4 (Giggs 18, Ronaldo 54, 58, O'Shea 89) Heavy tackles, flaring tempers and quality football - yes, it's Arsenal vs Man United again as the latter came from behind to win a stunning encounter 4-2 and move into second place. Arsenal began well, although Ashley Cole was lucky not to get an early yellow card for a blatant dive in the area as he challenged Roy Keane for the ball. They took the lead with an un-Arsenal like goal as Thierry Henry's corner was nodded in by Patrik Vieira from four yards. United levelled matters with a well worked goal as a Paul Scholes chip was guided into the path of Ryan Giggs by Wayne Rooney and the Welshman finshed well from the edge of the area via a deflection off of Cole. The Gunners felt that they should have had a penalty when Robert Pires was tripped by Mikael Silvestre, however they did regain the lead when Henry slid in Dennis Bergkamp down the left and his powerful drive went through the legs of Roy Carroll at his near post and fllew into the bottom corner. The second half began at the same frantic pace as United equalised again within nine minutes of the retart as Giggs sent Cristiano Ronaldo away on the left and although the angle was tight, his shot back across goal was perfect and nestled inside the far post. Three minutes later, Rooney thudded the bar with a free kick and within a further minute, United took the lead courtesy of a mad monent by Arsenal keeper Manuel Almunia as he tried to sheppard the ball out only for Giggs to cross for Ronaldo to tap into an empty net from no more than a yard. Tempers had remained fairly even in the second half until Silvstre tussled with Bergkamp in the area. As the ref called a halt to it, the United defender then headbutted Freddie Ljungberg as the Swede came across and was promptly shown the red card. Arsenal struggled to make their numerical advantage count until the latter stages when Henry's overhead kick was straight at the keeper and remarkably within a minute, United clinched victory as Scholes found John O'Shea on the edge of the area who found the net with a brilliant chip. Attendance : 38,164 Red Card : Silvestre 69 (Manchester United) Assists : Henry (ck), n/a, Henry, Giggs, Giggs, Scholes Bolton 3 (Diouf 49 pen, Ben-Haim 86, Davies 89) Tottenham 1 (Defoe 68) Bolton move above Spurs in the upper mid table battle after a hard fought win at the Reebok. All the excitement came in the second half, although it needed a harsh penalty to open the scoring as Erik Edman appeared to head the ball against his own arm, prompting the referee to award a penalty, converted with ease by El-Hadji Diouf. Spurs were level when a ood run by Robbie Keane saw him find sub Jermain Defoe on the edge of the area and his shot found the net having gone through the legs of keeper Jussi Jaaskelainen. Two minutes later, Fredi Kanoute launched into a two-footed tackle on Anthony Barness and although no contact was made, the ref showed him a second yellow card, followed by a red. Two late goals in a minute clinched the win for Bolton as the visitors looked to hang on for a draw. Firstly, a corner from Stelios Gianakolpoolos was headed home by Tal Ben Haim and then Diouf broke clear to set up Kevin Davies to sweep in the third. Attendance : 24,780 Red Card : Kanoute 68 (Tottenham) Assists : n/a, Keane, Giannakopoulos (ck), Diouf Charlton 1 (Barltett 20) Liverpool 2 (Moreintes 61, Riise 79) Fernando Morientes opened his Liverpool account as his new club came from behind to win at Charlton. The hosts took the lead when a Danny Murphy corner was headed home at close range by Shaun Bartlett, however after the interval, Liverpool took command of matters and were level when Charlton lost possession on the edge of their own area and after a quick side-step, Morientes drilled the ball into the net. With eleven minutes left, Luis Garcia found John Arne Riise on the left and he slotted in the winner. Attendance : 27,102 Assists : Murphy (ck), Baros, Luis Garcia Portsmouth 2 (Taylor 40, Yakubu 58) Middlesbrough 1 (Christie 35) Middlesbrough's European hopes were dented as Portsmouth came from behind to win at Fratton Park. The visitors went ahead when Ray Parlour's shot was only partially saved by the keeper, allowing Malcolm Christie - back after four months out through injury - to slot home. Five minutes later, Portsmouth were level when Matt Taylor's original shot was saved, however as Aliou Cisse played the ball back to him, he smashed it into the back of the net. Just before the hour, the home side clinched the points when Yakubu crashed the ball in at the far post after Ricardo Fuller did well to find space to cross, although there was some debate as to whether defender Franck Queudrue had actually got the final touch. Attendance : 19,620 Assists : n/a, Cisse, Fuller West Brom 2 (Campbell 82, Earnshaw 90) Crystal Palace 2 (Johnson 47, Riihilahti 92) Four goals, two of which came in stoppage time and a red card as two of the relegation candidates battled out an exciting encounter at the Hawthorns. Crystal Palace were up against it early on when Gonzalo Sorondo brought down Geoff Horsfield as he ran clear and was shown a red card for a professional foul, although it was by no means a clear goalscoring chance. In the second half, Palace took the lead when home defender Darren Purse ducked under a long ball forward, presumably after getting a shout from his keeper, allowing Andy Johnson to sneak in and nod the ball over Russell Hoult and into the net. They held the lead until eight minutes from time when Zoltan Gera's cross was almost sliced into his own net by Darren Powell, only for the keeper to tip the ball into the air, however Kevin Campbell was alert enough to be on hand to tap the ball over the line from a yard out. Into stoppage time and the bottom club appeared to have won it when Campbell sent Robert Earnshaw through and he cooly clipped the ball home, however with time almost up, a Palace free kick caused a scramble in the home area and after Mikele Leigertwood nodded the ball goalwards, Aki Riihilahti was there to loop it home. Attendance : 25,902 Assists : Kiraly (gk), n/a, Campbell, Leigertwood 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 |