27 September 2004

Charlton (0) 1 (El Kharkouri 49)
Blackburn (0) 0

The first half was sterile with only Garry Flitcroft coming close with a
close range effort which smacked against the post, however the second
half was much better with both clubs stepping up a gear. It was helped when
the home side went ahead inside four minutes when Danny Murphy's corner was
headed powerfully home at the near post by Talal El Kharkouri for his
first goal for his new club. Blackburn battled back and felt that they should
have had a penalty when Hermann Hreidarsson appeared to handle in the area,
however it was waved away by the ref. Late on, Radostin Kishishev had a
great chance to double the lead, however his effort was saved by the
feet of Brad Friedel.


26 September 2004

Portsmouth (0) 0
Everton (0) 1 (Cahill 80)

Tim Cahill nodded a late winner for Everton at Portsmouth as they moved
to within three points of leaders Arsenal. Both clubs hit the post in a
largely unmemorable first half and chances remained at a premium after
the break until, with ten minutes to go, Cahill got on the end of a free
kick by Lee Carsley to head home the winner and this time kept his shirt
down, although he was later booked, unluckily, for a tackle on keeper
Shaka Hislop.


25 September 2004

Aston Villa (1) 1 (Hendrie 36)
Crystal Palace (1) 1 (Johnson 6)

Crystal Palace stay bottom, despite collecting their second point of the
seson away at Aston Villa. The visitors began well and took an early
lead when last season's goal machine, Andy Johnson, latched onto a
hoisted through ball from Aki Riihhilahti and having held off the
challenge of Olof Mellberg, volleyed a shot into the back of the net.
Half an hour later, Villa levelled matters when Juan Pablo Angel's touch
set up Lee Hendrie to plant the ball into the top corner from 25 yards.


Fulham (1) 1 (Radzinski 24)
Southampton (0) 0

Southampton are still looking for a league win under new boss Steve
Wigley after losing at Craven Cottage to Fulham. The only goal was
simple in it's build up and execution as Luis Boa Morte crossed from the
left and Thomasz Radzinski buried his near post header, giving the
keeper no chance.


Liverpool (2) 3 (Baros 23, Garcia 26, Cisse 64)
Norwich (0) 0

Liverpool's 100% home league record continued with a comfortable win
over struggling Norwich. Two goals in four first half minutes
effectively won the points as firstly Milan Baros drilled home from 25
yards after the visitors lost possesion to Dietmar Hamann, the shot
taking a slight deflection to aid it's journey into the net. Then,
Djibril Cisse set up Luis Garcia whose shot was heading for the far post
before another deflection, this one far more significant than the
earlier touch, which diverted the ball inside the near post. The third
came from a well worked free kick, resulting in Xabi Alonso tapping the
ball to Cisse who found the bottom corner well. The only black mark for
Liverpool was an awful tackle by Hamann on Damien Francis, the German
catching the Norwich player's kneecap with his studs and was somewhat
lucky to only see a yellow card.


Man City (0) 0
Arsenal (1) 1 (Cole 14)

Arsenal remain top after a narrow win at the City of Manchester Stadium
against a Man City team brought down to earth after scoring seven in
midweek. The only goal came from the unlikely source of Ashley Cole who
was on hand to fire inside the near post after Jose Antonio Reyes saw
his through ball intercepted by Richard Dunne who could only divert into
the path of the Arsenal left back.


Newcastle (0) 3 (Kluivert 70, Milner 78, Shearer 86)
West Brom (0) 1 (Horsfield 87)
RED CARD : Purse (WBA) 63

West Brom were left rueing a red card to defender Darren Purse with they
felt changed the game at Newcastle. It was still goalless when Purse was
shown a second yellow card for a foul on Patrick Kluivert, although
contact did seem minimal. Earlier Purse had been booked for a late
challenge on Craig Bellamy and continued his eventful match by swinging
an elbow in a crowded penalty area and catching his own team-mate -
Ricardo Scimeca - in the nose, resulting in a blooded face! The goals
all arrived in the final twenty minutes as firstly Kluivert netted after
Laurent Robert's cross was poorly parried away by keeper Russell Hoult.
Jermaine Jenas then took over after his run and cross was blasted into
an empty net by sub James Milner, who'd only been on for a minute which
might explain him mis-kicking the original cross and following it up as
it looked to dribble goalwards. Jenas then cut the ball back for Alan
Shearer to add a third, before a cross from Andy Johnson was converted
by Geoff Horsfield with a superb header across goal.


Spurs (0) 0
Man United (1) 1 (Van Nistelrooy (pen) 42)

Man United move into the top five after a controversial penalty gave
them victory at previously unbeaten Spurs. The incident which left home
boss Jacques Santini fuming came just before half time when Erik Edman
and John O'Shea tangled in the area and although it appeared that both
were guilty of shirt pulling, the award of a penalty stunned the home
side. The kick itself was superbly taken by Ruud Van Nistelrooy who
found the top corner despite Paul Robinson guessing correctly.


Middlesbrough (0) 0
Chelsea (0) 1 (Drogba 81)

Chelsea went temporarily top after their lunchtime kick off was decided
by a late goal. Didier Drogba, who had earlier smashed a shot against
the underside of the bar, was on the edge of the area to slot home Frank
Lampard's free kick to settle what was frankly a largely forgettable
encounter.


Bolton (1) 1 (Jaidi 16)
Birmingham (0) 1 (Izzet 49)

Honours even at the Reebok although Bolton felt hard done by after
having a late strike ruled out for offside. They took the lead against
Birmingham when the visitors failed to properly clear a free kick,
allowing Radhi Jaidi to control the ball on his chest before volleying
home. Birmingham earned a point when Jesper Gronkjaer set up Muzzy Izzet
to fire into the roof of the net. Henrik Pedersen thought he'd won the
game with a superb shot inside the near post, however it was disallowed
for offside despite looking level and therefore onside.


Gary Dowden - Joint Admin Topica Premier-L list
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