3 April 2005 Fulham (0) 3 (Cole 63, McBride 81, Boa Morte 90) Portsmouth (1) 1 (Lua-Lua 32) MISSED PEN : Malbranque (Fulham) 45 - Keeper saved Fulham came from behind to beat Portsmouth as two of the clubs just above the relegation zone met at Craven Cottage. The home side were poor in the first half and went behind when Yakubu played the ball wide for Lomana Lua-Lua who then cut inside and curled a superb effort into the bottom corner, however in stoppage time, Fulham were literally handed a lifeline when Dejan Stefanovic handled in the area. Just to sum up the half though, Steed Malbranque's kick was saved by Jamie Ashdown who recovered quickly to block Luis Boa Morte's effort from the rebound. Fulham bounced back in the second half and were level when Boa Morte's cut back was side-footed in by Andy Cole, however they needed some help to complete the comeback and duly got in the final ten minutes. Firstly, as Arjan De Zeeuw and Brian McBride chased a long ball, the defender seemed to lose his bearings and headed the ball weakly back to his keeper, an act which had been anticipated by McBride whose first time volley found the net. Then in stoppage time, Boa Morte dispossessed Linvoy Primas in the final third, rounded the keeper and kept his cool to slot the ball home. Attendance : 20,502 Assist : Yakubu, Boa Morte, n/a, n/a West Brom (0) 1 (Gera 63) Everton (0) 0 West Brom moved level on points with Southampton, but remain in the bottom three on goal difference after a scrappy, yet crucial, win against Everton whose grip on fourth place is getting looser by the game. A poor first half saw the hosts hit the bar through a Thomas Gaardsoe header, however only after the break did things liven up slightly, culminating in West Brom taking the lead when Zoltan Gera headed in a Jonathon Greening cross. Everton forced a succession of late corners, however Gera came as close as anyone to adding to the scoresheet when his close range shot was blocked by Nigel Martyn. Attendance : 26,805 Assist : Greening 2 April 2005 Southampton 1 (Phillips 69) Chelsea 3 (Lampard 22, Gudjohnsen 39, 83) Chelsea move thirteen points clear at the top of the table after a victory against relegation threatened Southampton at St Marys. They needed a stroke of luck to go ahead midway through the first half when Frank Lampard's 25 yard free kick clipped the shoulder of Rory Delap, wrong footing the keeper and sailing into the centre of the net. The lead was doubled when Eidur Gudjohnsen turned and shot home after a superb run by Glen Johnson took him deep into the penalty area. Saints pulled a goal back when Paul Telfer's drilled cross was side-footed in by sub Kevin Phillips, however with seven minutes to go, Gudjohnsen capped a superb passing move when he found the corner having been played in by Didier Drogba. Attendance : 31,949 Assists : n/a, Johnson, Telfer, Drogba Arsenal 4 (Henry 19, og 22, 66, Ljungberg 50) Norwich 1 (Huckerby 30) Arsenal move into second place on goal difference after Thierry Henry's second hat trick in succesive home league games helped see off bottom club Norwich. Two goals in three minutes started matters off as firstly Henry turned and shot into the bottom corner having been set up by Robert Pires and then Lauren played the ball wide to him and having cut inside, his drilled effort again found the corner. Norwich battled throughout and pulled one back when Darren Huckerby's corner was returned to him and he found the top corner superbly from a tricky angle. Early in the second half, the two goal cushion was restored when Freddie Ljungberg headed in Lauren's far post cross and all that was left was for Henry to complete his hat trick with a poked effort after good work from Jose Reyes and Pires. Attendance : 30,066 Assists : Pires, n/a, Stuart, n/a, Reyes Birmingham 1 (Carter 66) Tottenham 1 (Kelly 59) Honours even at St Andrews as Birmingham came from behind to earn a point against European hopefuls Spurs. The visitors went ahead through the unlikely source of Stephen Kelly who came steaming up on the right to collect a pass from Michael Carrick before shooting across goal and inside the far post, however within seven minutes, Birmingham were level when Darren Carter burst through the defence to prod the ball home after a fine run. Attendance : 29,034 Assists : Carrick, n/a Crystal Palace 0 Middlesbrough 1 (Queudrue 35) Middlesbrough kept their European hopes alive whilst keeping Crystal Palace in the drop zone after a narrow win at Selhurst Park. The only goal came from a Stuart Downing corner which was headed powerfully home by Franck Queudrue. Attendance : 24,274 Assist : Downing (ck) Liverpool 1 (Biscan 86) Bolton 0 Liverpool move to within a point of Everton in fourth place, although they left it very late to see off sixth placed Bolton. The winner came with four minutes to go as Igor Biscan was on hand to head in Djimi Traore's cross. Attendance : 43,755 Assist : Traore Manchester United 0 Blackburn 0 Man United old boy Mark Hughes brought his Blackburn side to Old Trafford and went home with a creditable point after United again failed to break down a resolute defence. They could have had the points sewn up by half time as keeper Brad Friedel saved superbly from both Mikael Silvestre and Wayne Rooney from close range, however both Rooney and Roy Keane also smashed long range efforts against the post as Rovers rode their luck. Attendance : 67,939 Assists : n/a Newcastle 0 Aston Villa 3 (Angel 5, Barry 73 pen, 80 pen) Red Cards : Taylor 73 (Newcastle), Bowyer 82 (Newcastle), Dyer (Newcastle) Fun, games and controversy at St James as the back page headlines were written by Lee Bowyer and Kieron Dyer, both sent off for fighting each other as Aston Villa recorded a terrific 3-0 win at Newcastle. It began well for the visitors when Juan Pablo Angel blasted in the opener after a cross from Stephen Davis was only half cleared, however it was only in the final twenty minutes when things got out of hand. Newcastle had already had a couple of good penalty appeals rejected, notably when J.Lloyd Samuel seemed to handle in the area, so when Nicky Butt was robbed by Darius Vassell who then rounded the keeper only to have his goalbound effort handled on the line by Stephen Taylor, then the home fans and players were naturally angered. The ref had no option but to send Taylor off and Gareth Barry dispatched the penalty with power. Seven minutes later, Vassell was bodychecked just outside the area by Stephen Carr, however the ref again pointed to the spot and again Barry finished it off with ease. The game had barely kicked off again when words were exchanged in midfield between Dyer and Bowyer with the latter seemingly furious that he'd not been given a pass, however as Dyer wheeled away, Bowyer followed him and caught him with a couple of punched, sparking a brief, yet unsavoury incident between the pair. Both were sent off, leaving the home side with eight men and a few reputations in tatters. As an aside, since the Prem began in 1992, this is the third time that a club have been reduced to eight men and on each occasion, the HOME side have been the guilty party! First to do it were Barnsley against Liverpool in 1997-98 and then West Ham did it at home to Leeds a year later. Newcastle have now joined the illustrious club although the fact that two of the reds were for fighting each other, then it's all the more newsworthy. Attendance : 52,306 Assists : n/a, n/a, Vassell (won pen) Chalrton 2 (Bartlett 10, Perry 90) Manchester City 2 (Hreidarsson 4 og, Fowler 38) A late strike by Chris Perry gave Charlton a point after they twice came from behind to deny Man City what would have been a deserved victory at the Valley. City had by far the better of the first half and were ahead within four minutes when Robbie Fowler's corner was nodded in at the far post by Richard Dunne, although the ball went in via the head of Hermann Hreidarsson and the leg of Danny Murphy on the line. The hosts were level when Paul Konchesky sent Jerome Thomas clear on the left and his cross was missed by keeper David James and then bundled back toward his own goal by Sylvain Distin, allowing Shaun Bartlett a simple tap in from cloe range. Defensively though, Charlton were poor as Jon Macken was denied twice by keeper Dean Kiely whilst Claudio Reyna shot just wide and it was no surprise when City went back ahead when Fowler found space at the far post to half volley in a corner from Joey Barton. Charlton id improve in the second half as Matt Holland hit the bar with a header and Thomas missed a great chance when he shot over, however with a minute of stoppage time left, a cross from Luke Young was nodded on by Francis Jeffers and forced home at the far post by Perry. Attendance : 26,436 Assists : n/a, n/a, Barton (ck), Jeffers 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 |