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


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