26 December 2005 Charlton (0) 0 Arsenal (0) 1 (Reyes 58) SENT OFF: Murphy (Charlton) 72 Arsenal ended their three game losing streak at the expense of Charlton who are rapidly sliding down the table. The Arsenal missed some great chances, notably through Freddie Ljungberg who was clean through only to delay and shoot at keeper Thomas Myhre. The Gunners had the better of the second half and went ahead when Thierry Henry had a shot blocked and then a second one saved, only for the ball to fall to Jose Antonio Reyes who bobbled his shot in from six yards. A tricky situation was made harder for the hosts when Danny Murphy was sent off for collecting a second yellow card for the henious crime of throwing the ball into the ground after disagreeing with a decision. Attendance : 27,111 Assists : n/a Chelsea (2) 3 (Gallas 3, og 24, Crespo 74) Fulham (1) 2 (McBride 29, Helguson (pen) 56) Chelsea maintained their mammouth lead at the top, however only after local rivals Fulham gave them a fright at Stamford Bridge. The leaders roared into a two goal lead in the first half, starting with a close range tap in from William Gallas after Robert Huth had nodded a corner goalwards. Arjen Robben then set up Frank Lampard to score the second from the edge of the area, however it only went in via a wicked deflection off of a defender. Fulham battled back and capitalised on a rare mistake from Chelsea keeper Petr Cech as he allowed a free kick to drift through his hands and legs, allowing Brian McBride to hook in from close range. In the second half, Joe Cole bundled over McBride in the area to concede a penalty and Heidar Helguson kept his nerve to roll the ball straight down the centre of the goal to level the scores. Chelsea then throw the proverbial kitchen sink at their opponents and eventually won it when Cole made up for his earlier rush of blood to the head to cross for Hernan Crespo to volley into the corner. Attendance : 42,313 Assists : Huth, og, n/a, McBride (won pen), Cole Liverpool (2) 2 (Gerrard 14, Crouch 43) Newcastle (0) 0 SENT OFF: Bowyer (Newcastle) 66 Michael Owen's return to Anfield was ruined by former club Liverpool who saw off his current Newcastle side thanks to two first half goals. The first came from Steven Gerrard who latched onto a touch from Peter Crouch to surge into the area and thump the ball in. Just before half time, a far post header from Crouch hit the post, bounced against keeper Shay Given and just spun over the line for Given hooked it away. Midway through the second half, Lee Bowyer caught Xavi Alonso with a late tackle, sparking a furious reaction from Crouch who pushed him to the ground. Gerrard also got involved and briefly put his hands around Bowyer's neck. It all ended with the Newcastle man getting a straight red, whilst Crouch was lucky only to see yellow. Attendance : 44,197 Assists : Crouch, Kewell Man United (2) 3 (Scholes 35, Ferdinand 45, Van Nistelrooy 63) West Brom (0) 0 Man United remain in second place after sweeping aside West Brom at Old Trafford. Rio Ferdinand was heavily involved in the first two goals as he crossed for Ji-Sung Park to set up Paul Scholes who drilled in from the edge of the area and then Ferdinand rose superbly tp plant a stunning header into the net from a corner by Ryan Giggs. A wonderful move brought the third goal as Alan Smith was given space on the right to cross for Ruud Van Nistelrooy to send his header past the keeper. Attendance : 67,972 Assists : Park, Giggs, Smith Middlesbrough (0) 0 Blackburn (1) 2 (Kuqi 38, 79) Blackburn won at Middlesbrough for the second time in a week thanks to a goal in each half by Shefki Kuqi. His first owed a lot to Boro keeper Mark Schwarzer who came off his line to collect a cross from Brett Emerton only to be beaten to it by Kuqi who nodded into the empty net. The win was confirmed when Schwarzer saved well from Craig Bellamy but could do nothing to stop Kuqi netting from the rebound. Attendance : 29,881 Assists : Emerton, n/a Portsmouth (1) 1 (O'Neil 17) West Ham (0) 1 (Collins 56) SENT OFF: Robert (Portsmouth) 84 Portsmouth and West Ham shared the points in a fiery affair as Harry Redknapp's current club met one of his former employers. The hosts went ahead when Laurent Robert set up Gary O'Neil to fire in from the edge of the area, however just before the hour mark, West Ham equalised when Shaun Newton's cross found Anton Ferdinand at the far post and his header was dispatched through a crowd of players by James Collins. Portsmouth finished with ten men after Robert was sent off for a second bookable offence, a lunging tackle on Paul Konchesky after he'd lost possession. Attendance : 20,168 Assists : Robert, Ferdinand Sunderland (0) 0 Bolton (0) 0 A poor game at the Stadium of Light as bottom club Sunderland earned a rare point against Champions League hopefuls Bolton. The visitors had the best chance when El-Hadji Diouf sent a shot into the top tier of the stand from only eight yards, whilst Sunderland were largely restricted to long range efforts, although Julio Arca's chip was well saved by Jussi Jaaskelainen. Attendance : 32,232 Assists : Tottenham (0) 2 (Keane (pen) 58, Defoe 90) Birmingham (0) 0 SENT OFF: Izzet (Birmingham) 65 Spurs remain in a Champions League spot after a home win against relegation probables Birmingham. The game was quite even in the first half and Spurs needed a penalty to go ahead just before the hour when Matthew Upson held Robbie Keane in the area and the Irishman sent the keeper the wrong way from the spot. Birmingham were then reduced to ten men when Muzzy Izzet was sent off for diving in the area, his second yellow card, however there did look to be some contact from Michael Dawson. The home side wrapped it up in stoppage as they broke away from a Birmingham attack as Jermaine Jenas found Jermain Defoe. He ran half the length of the pitch before blasting a superb shot into the roof of the net at the near post. Attendance : 36,045 Assists : Keane (won pen), Jenas Wigan (3) 4 (Roberts 11, 45, McCulloch 28, Camara 71) Man City (1) 3 (Sibierski 3, Barton 77, Cole 88) Wigan keep on winning, this time at the expense of Man City, but only after surviving a superb comeback from the visitors. City actually went ahead early on when Sommeil's cross was headed in at the far post by Antoine Sibierski. Wigan were level when Gary Teale went Jason Roberts clear and he finished well off the post. Teale was also the provider for the second, his cross from the right headed in by the unmarked Lee McCulloch and on half time, Wigan made it three when Ben Thatcher's back header on the half way line sent Roberts free again and he held off the attentions of Sylvain Distin to slot in again. City came flying back after the break only to concede a fourth with twenty minutes to go as Graeme Kavanagh found Henri Camara and after turning his marker, he finished cooly. City then pulled one back when a defensive header went high into the air and was the volleyed home brilliantly by Joey Barton and with two minutes remaining, they were within a goal of getting level after Sinclair's shot was blocked by keeper Mike Pollitt and Andy Cole swept the ball in. Attendance : 25,017 Assists : Sommeil, Teal, Teal, n/a, Kavanagh, n/a, Sinclair Aston Villa (2) 4 (Baros 35, 84, Delaney 48, Angel 82) Everton (0) 0 Aston Villa won the battle of the 'Should Do Better' clubs as Everton lost 4-0 for the second game in a row. They actually began well and felt, justifiably, that Villa's opener should not have been allowed. It came from a cross by Gareth Barry which was handled by Milan Baros before looping it in, however the officials failed to spot the offence and the goal was allowed to stand. Early in the second half, Mark Delaney's near post flick from James Milner's corner doubled the lead and Villa wrapped it up late on as Baros combined brilliantly with sub Juan Pablo Angel, eventually slotting the Colombian through on goal and he turned the ball in. Within two minutes it was four as Aaron Hughes's cross was neatly converted at the far post by Baros. Attendance : 32,432 Assists : Barry, Milner (ck), Baros, Hughes 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 |