23 January 2006 West Ham (2) 2 (Ferdinand 17, Benayoun 28) Fulham (0) 1 (Helguson 52) West Ham move up a place to ninth after a narrow in against London rivals Fulham. The visitors began well but went behind to two sensational goals. The first came after Fulham only cleared a corner to the edge of the area and after Marlon Harewood nodded the ball into the air, Anton Ferdinand swivelled and crashed a superb volley past the keeper that tore into the top corner. Ten minutes later, Matty Etherington found Yossi Benayoun and having tried to find space by running across the edge of the penalty area, he chipped a beauty over the keeper and in. Early in the second half, a mis-timed header by Danny Gabbidon fell to Heidar Helguson who cracked a shot across the keeper and in off the far post to bring Fulham back into it, however the equaliser never came. Attendance : 29,812 Assists : Harewood, Etherington, n/a 22 January 2006 Manchester United 1 (Ferdinand 90) Liverpool 0 Man United go four points ahead of Liverpool in second place after a late Rio Ferdinand header sealed the points. For such a high profile game, it was a drab encounter, won in the latter stages when Ferdinand thumped a header into the corner from a free kick by Ryan Giggs, although the keeper did get hands to the ball. Attendance : 67,874 Assist : Giggs (fk) Chelsea 1 (Gudjohnsen 19) Charlton 1 (M Bent 59) Chelsea failed to win at home in the league for the first time this season as Charlton, who knocked them out of the Carling Cup in October, came from behind to earn a draw. All was going to plan when the Champions went ahead as Damien Duff's corner was met by the head of Hernan Crespo and although the keeper shovelled it away, Eidur Gudjohnsen was on hand to bundle it over the line before it was hacked clear. Charlton earned a point when Darren Ambrose chipped the ball forward for debutant Marcus Bent to loop a header over Petr Cech and in. Chelsea were reduced to ten men late on when Ricardo Carvalho was shown a second yellow card for a tackle from behind on Darren Bent. Attendance : 41,355 Red Card : Carvalho 81 (Chelsea) Assists : n/a, Ambrose 21 January 2006 Everton 1 (Beattie 13) Arsenal 0 Everton move up three places to 11th after narrowly, but deservedly, beating Arsenal at Goodison as the Gunners's away day woes continue. Everton had the better of the first half and went ahead when Tim Cahill's lobbed ball forward found James Beattie and he held off the attentions of two defenders to bobble the ball in past the keeper. It came just a minute after Freddie Ljungberg had hit the post for Arsenal and it could have been worse for the Gunners when Beattie was clear again after an awful back pass by Cesc Fabregas gifted him the chance, however he was too quick and casual and clipped it well wide from the edge of the area. The second half was a tepid affair with few chances, however it exploded in stoppage time when Cahill caught Thierry Henry as he galloped forward and althoigh play continued with the Arsenal man in possession, team mate Fabregas took matters into his own hands and grabbed Cahill by the throat earning him a red card whilst the Everton man was booked. Attendance : 36,920 Red Card : Fabregas 91 (Arsenal) Assist : Cahill Tottenham 0 Aston Villa 0 Spurs had the better of their goalless draw at home to Aston Villa but found keeper Thomas Sorensen in top form for the visitors. Ultimately the primary talking point came with seven minutes to go when Villa's Gareth Barry was sent off for a second bookable offence as he blocked off Aaron Lennon in full flow. Attendance : 36,243 Assist : n/a Newcastle 0 Blackburn 1 (Gamst Pedersen 75) More problems for underfire Newcastle boss Graeme Souness as his side lost at home to rapidly improving Blackburn. The only goal came from Morten Gamst Pedersen late on, however whilst few spotted it at the time, replays showed that he clearly punched the ball in with his fist after Lucas Neill had crossed for Shefki Kuqi to nod back across goal. Attendance : 51,323 Assist : Kuqi Bolton 2 (Borgetti 37, Nolan 41) Manchester City 0 After the Lord Mayor's show for Man City as they followed up their derby win last week with a weak display at Bolton who won thanks to two goals in five first half minutes. The first came from Jared Borgetti, who netted his first ever Prem goal from six yards after a touch in the area by Stelios Giannakpolous had set him up and with City still recovering, Giannakopolous floated in a free kick which hit City's Richard Dunne on the back, falling perfectly for Kevin Nolan to sweep in. Attendance : 26,466 Assists : Giannakpolous, n/a Birmingham 5 (Jarosik 5, Pennant 37, Upson 55, Forssel 91 pen, Dunn 93) Portsmouth 0 Birmingham moved to within three points of safety after walloping relegation rivals Portsmouth, although both clubs remain in the drop zone. The hosts went ahead early on when Mario Melchiot's right wing cross was headed in at the far post by Jiri Jarosik and they never looked back. By half time, the lead was doubled when Emile Heskey's header was brilliantly dummied by Chris Sutton which allowed Jermaine Pennant to collect the ball, dribble into the area and fire home just inside the post. Early in the second half, the lead was increased further when Pennant's corner was met with a diving header by Matthew Upson who made no mistake. A minute into stoppage time, Mikael Forssell was pulled back in the area by Noe Pamarot and got up to dispatch the penalty with ease, sending the keeper the wrong way. Still the punishment wasn't over for Pompey as Sutton's back heel set up David Dunn to slot in the fifth in the dying seconds. Attendance : 29,138 Assists : Melchiot, Sutton, Pennant (ck), Forssell (won pen), Sutton Middlesbrough 2 (Hasselbaink 56, Yakubu 66) Wigan 3 (Roberts 2, Thompson 29, Mellor 93) Middlesbrough awful recent run continued at home to Wigan, but only after they'd come from two goals down only to concede a stoppage time winner. The visitors wasted no time in getting started when Jason Roberts put them ahead inside two minutes with a drilled finish off the goalkeepers shoulder after excellent work from debutants David Thompson and Neil Mellor to set him up. Thompson doubled the lead himself when he headed Gary Teale's cross into the roof of the net, however in the second half, Boro stormed back and pulled a goal back when Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink headed in Stuart Downing's corner at the near post. Ten minutes later, another Downing corner was nodded on by Gareth Southgate and touched over the line from close range by Yakubu. That was as good as it got though as Wigan snatched all three points in the final minute when Jimmy Bullard's cross was helped on by Roberts and dispatched into the net from close range by Mellor. Attendance : 27,208 Assists : Mellor, Teale, Downing (ck), Southgate, Roberts West Brom (0) 0 Sunderland (0) 1 (Watson 72 og) Sunderland win for only the second time this season, although their victory at West Brom was tinged with controversy. The incident in question came when Darren Carter seemed to be shrugged off the ball unfairly by Liam Lawrence, however play was waved on and he found Anthony Le Tallec who cut inside and although the keeper seemed to have his shot covered, it clipped off of Steve Watson to wrong foot the keeper and bobble in. Attendance : 26,464 Assist : n/a 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 |