8 February 2006 Charlton (2) 2 (Bent (D) 42, Young 45) Liverpool (0) 0 Liverpool wasted one of their games in hand on the rest of the top four after losing at Charlton, who themselves move up to 11th. The visitors dominated the open fourty minutes only to concede twice in a three minute spell before half time. The first came from the penalty spot after Jerzy Duduk was adjudged to have fouled Darren Bent. Contact was minimal, however a spot kick was awarded and Bent converted it himself. He was also involved in the second as he failed to control a cross from Alexei Smertin, however the ball fell nicely for Luke Young who drilled in a low angled drive. Charlton had the better chances of a more even second half as Bent and namesake Marcus both hit the woodwork. Attendance : 27,111 Assists : D Bent (won pen), Smertin 5 February 2006 Tottenham (2) 3 (Defoe 14, 46, Jenas 41) Charlton (0) 1 (Thomas 70) Two goals from Jermain Defoe helped Spurs to a 3-1 win against London rivals Charlton as they continued their quest for a Champions League place. All three Spurs goals relied on the pace of the scorer, firstly when Defoe was sent clear by Jermaine Jenas and his shot found the net via a deflection off of Luke Young, the fingertips of the keeper and the underside of the bar. Jenas doubled the lead when Robbie Keane's chip sent him away and he drilled a shot in from the edge of the area and within a minute of the second half, Tom Huddlestone pass sent Defoe away again and his clipped finish just had enough pace to dribble into the corner. Charlton pulled one back when Jerome Thomas cut in from the left to shoot inside the near post but Spurs rarely looked like surrendering their lead. Attendance : 36,034 Assists : Jenas, Keane, Huddlestone, ? Chelsea (1) 2 (Gallas 35, Crespo 68) Liverpool (0) 0 SENT OFF: Reina (Liverpool) 82 Chelsea regain their fifteen point lead at the top of the Premiership after beating Liverpool 2-0 at Stamford Bridge in a game that saw visiting keeper Jose Reina sent off in the latter stages. Liverpool had the better of the opening half an hour, however they fell behind thanks to the failings of their zomal marking system at corners. Frank Lampard's outswinger was nodded goalwards by Ricardo Carvalho and swept into the net from two yards by Wiliam Gallas. Chelsea thought that they'd doubled the lead on half time as Hernan Crespo bundled the ball in after Jose Reina had spilled a John Terry header, however the South American had strayed offside and the goal was correctly ruled out. The second half began at a higher pace as Steven Gerrard had a volley blocked by Petr Cech whilst at the other end, Arjen Robben drilled an effort across the face of the Liverpool goal. The lead was doubled when Joe Cole's clipped ball sent Crespo through to break the offside trap and fire in from a tricky angle. He had the ball in the net again a minute later with a deft lob and although the flag ruled it out this time, replays showed that he was actually onside. Tempers flared in the final ten minutes as Reina came tearing off his line to challenge Eidur Gudjohnsen near the touchline and although his tackle was hard, he seemed to get the ball, however as players squared up to each other, Robben had words with Reina who pushed him in the throat and was red carded, although Robben's over-reaction to the push was uncalled for. Attendance : 42,316 Assists : Carvalho, n/a 4 February 2006 Manchester United 4 (Bocanegra 6 og, Ronaldo 14, Saha 23, Ronaldo 86) Fulham 2 (McBride 22, Helguson 37) Man United consolidated second place after a narrow 4-2 win against Fulham. United went ahead when Ji-Sung Park's shot was deflected in after Gary Neville had crossed and the lead was doubled thanks to a stunning 30 yard free kick from Cristiano Ronaldo that was struck with pace, yet still swerved viciously in the air. Fulham pulled one back when Liam Rosenior's cross was headed in at the near post by Brian McBride, however straight from the kick off, United went two ahead again when Louis Saha played a ball into Ruud Van Nistelrooy and was on hand to tap in after the Dutchman's shot was saved, however Fulham boss Chris Coleman was left fuming after replays showed Van Nistelrooy at least a yard offside when the ball was played to him. Fulham did pull another back before half time when Heidar Helguson headed in at the far post after a fine run and cross by Wayne Bridge, however the offside decision earlier still wrangled. Fulham more than held their own in the second half, however as they pushed forward late on, United added a fourth as Van Nistelroy's shot was saved and Ronaldo drilled in the rebound off the far post from a tricky angle. Attendance : 67,844 Assists : n/a, Saha (won fk), Rosenior, n/a, Bridge, n/a Newcastle 2 (N'Zogbia 41, Shearer 64) Portsmouth 0 Alan Shearer finally broke the all time Newcastle goalscoring record as his managerless side swept Portsmouth aside at St James Park. After dominating the first half, they went ahead just before half time as Shearer's header was brilliantly saved by Dean Kiely only for Charles N'Zogbia to snap up the loose ball. Shearer's record breaking 201st goal for his club, beating the record held by Jackie Milburn, came when he was sent through on goal by Shola Ameobi and drilled the ball into the back of the net to raise the roof of the stadium. Graeme Souness must be wondering why they didn't play like that under his management. Attendance : 51,627 Assists : n/a, Ameobi Bolton 1 (Giannakopoulos 63) Wigan 1 (Johansson 77) Honours even in the North West derby as Wigan came from behind to earn a point at Bolton. The hosts went ahead just after the hour when Bruno N'Gotty's free kick flicked off the head of a defender and fell for Stelios Giannakopolous who turned and shot into the net. Wigan equalised when Reto Ziegler's excellent free kick was parried clear only for Andreas Johansson to fire in the rebound. Attendance : 25,854 Assists : n/a, n/a West Brom 2 (Campbell 6, Greening 32) Blackburn 0 It was a case of After The Lords Mayor's Show for Blackburn who followed up their victory over Man United with defeat at West Brom. In truth, the hosts had the game sewn up by half time as they went ahead early on through veteran striker Kevin Campbell who latched onto a long ball from Junichi Inamoto, controlled it well and netted from close range. The win was secured when Rovers defender Michael Gray skied a clearance which was collected 30 yards from goal by Jonathon Greening. He got it under control and then cracked a superb volley into the corner from the edge of the area. Attendance : 23,993 Assists : Inamoto, n/a Everton 1 (Weir 8) Manchester City 0 Man City continue to blow hot and cold as they followed up their midweek demolition of Newcastle by losing at Everton. The only goal came early on and was a freakish effort as Mikael Arteta's corner was headed goalwards by Tim Cahill and as Richard Dunne cleared off the line, the ball bounced against David Weir's knee and bobbled back over the line. City finished with ten men as Stephen Jordan was shown a red card as he launched into a studs first, high challenge on Tony Hibbert. Attendance : 37,827 Red Card : Jordan 90 (Manchester City) Assist : n/a West Ham 2 (Ashton 81, Konchesky 87) Sunderland 0 Sunderland continue to look forward to the Championship next season, although they did hang on for ten men at West Ham and only lost thanks to two late goals. Stephen Wright was the player red carded as he hauled back Matthew Etherington in full flow to earn his second yellow card in 18 first half minutes. The Hammers finally broke through thanks to new record signing Dean Ashton who had a tap in after Marlon Harewood's shot was saved. Paul Konchesky then chipped in with a rare goal as he collected a pass from Nigel Reo-Coker and then fired a low drive in from 25 yards, although keeper Kelvin Davis will feel that he should have done better as the ball seemed to go under his diving body. Attendance : 34,745 Red Card : Wright 23 (Sunderland) Assists : n/a, Reo Coker Birmingham 0 Arsenal 2 (Adebayor 21, Henry 63) Arsenal won an away game! Yes, you read that correctly after a makeshift Gunners side saw off struggling Birmingham at St Andrews. A goal in each half decided matters, starting with new signing Manuel Adebayor who was on hand to nod in after Abu Diaby's cross was almost put into his own net by Martin Latka whp forced a great save from his goalkeeper. Thierry Henry added the second as he chased a through ball from Cesc Fabregas to drill home his 200th Arsenal goal. A miserable afternoon for the hosts was complete when Emile Heskey was sent off for a second bookable offence as he jumped with a leading arm into the face of Mathieu Flamini. Attendance : 27,075 Red Card : Heskey 83 (Birmingham) Assists : n/a, Fabregas Middlesbrough 0 Aston Villa 4 (Moore 18, Phillips 24, Moore 62, 64) Aside from their midweek win at bottom club Sunderland, Middlesbrough are without a league win in almost two and a half months as they hit new depths at home to Aston Villa this weekend. Villa, themselves underachieving this season, destroyed their hosts, starting with a goal for Luke Moore who volleyed in after Kevin Phillips had touched on a cross from J.Lloyd Samuel. Phillips grabbed the second himself with a neat glancing header from James Milner's cross and a third followed after the break as Gareth Barry's cross found Moore at the near post and although his first effort was blocked, he made no mistake with the rebound. Moore completed his hat trick two minutes later thanks largely to Steven Davis who won the ball in midfield and set up the youngster to clip coolly home. Attendance : 27,299 Assists : Phillips, Milner, n/a, Davis 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 |