12 March 2006 Manchester United 2 (Rooney 8, 12) Newcastle 0 Two early Wayne Rooney goals gave Man United a comfortable victory against Newcastle as they moved to within 15 points of Chelsea at the top. The opener was down to an awful back pass from Peter Ramage who attempted to find his keeper from just inside his own half but underhit the ball and having collected with time to space, Rooney chipped Shay Given from the left edge of the area to find the net. Four minutes later, John O'Shea found Rooney who held off a challenge and fired the ball into the roof of the net from 15 yards. He had the chance to complete his hat trick in the second half but hit the post having rounded the keeper. Attendance : 67,858 Assists : n/a, O'Shea Charlton (0) 2 (Bent (D) 73, 86) Middlesbrough (0) 1 (Viduka 81) Two Darren Bent goals gave Charlton a valuable win against Middlesbrough, however it was the Boro goal from Mark Viduka that caught the eye in a remarkable weekend for excellent goals. Bent put Charlton ahead with seventeen minutes to go when he headed in Chris Powell's cross, however eight minutes later, Viduka struck. He controlled a long ball on his chest, flicked it over his own head and then walloped a superb shot home from well outside the penalty area that looped over the keeper and in. Despite the goal, Charlton clinched victory with four minutes left when Luke Young crossed for Bent to score at the far post. Attendance : 24,830 Assists : Powell, Quedrue, Young Arsenal (1) 2 (Henry 21, 83) Liverpool (0) 1 (Garcia 75) SENT OFF: Xavi Alonso (Liverpool) 81 Two Thierry Henry goals moved Arsenal to within two points of fourth placed Spurs as they overcame ten man Liverpool at Highbury. Arsenal dominated the first half and were ahead thanks to a typically Henry strike as he collected a perfect through ball from Cesc Fabregas and then curled a shot inside the far post from the left side of the area. The Gunners wasted a number of chances to increase the lead and were pegged back when a thunderbolt of a long range effort from Steven Gerrard was only ballooned into the air by keeper Jens Lehmann and Luis Garcia was first to the rebound to nod in. Liverpool were then reduced to ten men when Xavi Alonso appeared to foul Phillipe Senderos late, however replays showed that he seemed to slip and catch the Arsenal defender and that the referee seemed to react to the reaction of the home players. Two minutes later, an awful back pass by Gerrard fell straight to Henry who rounded the keeper and slotted in a deserved winner. Attendance : 38,221 Assists : Fabregas, n/a, n/a 11 March 2006 Birmingham (0) 1 (Forssell (pen) 49) West Brom (0) 1 (Ellington 70) The second city relegation battle ended all-square as Birmingham remain in the drop zone, three points adrift of rivals West Brom. Birmingham took the lead just after half time as Mikael Forssell was fouled in the area by Curtis Davies and then converted the spot kick cooly to send the keeper the wrong way. The Baggies earned a vital equaliser when Kanu laid the ball back to Nathan Ellington who shot crisply into the bottom corner from the edge of the area. Attendance : 28,041 Assists : Forssell (won pen), Kanu Chelsea (1) 2 (Essien 14, Gallas 90) Tottenham (1) 1 (Jenas 45) William Gallas scored a sensational stoppage time winner as Chelsea moved 18 points clear at the top with a victory over fourth placed Spurs. The visitors began well, however their confidence proved their undoing when a loose ball on the edge of his own area by Michael Carrick was intercepted by Shaun Wright-Phillips and as he ran into the box, his cut back was neatly side-footed into the corner by Michael Essien for his first Chelsea goal. The hosts then had the better of things only to concede just before half time as a free kick was hoisted toward Michael Dawson and his header into the area was well read by Jermaine Jenas who just clipped the ball past the advancing keeper and into the net. Both clubs have good chances to win it late on as Jenas broke clear only to hit a weak shot at keeper Petr Cech, whilst Didier Drogba found space in the area and walloped a shot against the post. However, a minute and a half into stoppage time, Damien Duff found Gallas wide on the left, he cut inside and smashed an unstoppable shot inside the far post from 25 yards to clinch the win for the Champions elect. Attendance : 42,243 Assists : Wright-Phillips, Dawson, Duff Bolton (3) 4 (Giannakopolous 12, 30, Speed 45, Pedersen 83) West Ham (0) 1 (Sheringham 79) Bolton's European hopes are back on track after a thumping win against West Ham who they meet in the FA Cup in midweek. The game was over by half time as Bolton were rampant and could have scored more than the three that did hit the net, starting with Stelios Giannakopolous who was gifted a tap in after Ricardo Vaz Te's header hit the post. The Greek star also claimed the second after Kevin Nolan's long range effort deflected past the keeper off of his foot. No doubt about the third on the stroke of half time as a free kick was only partially cleared by David James and after Ricardo Gardner nodded the ball back into the area, Gary Speed sent an overhead kick into the net from close range. West Ham did pull one back with eleven minutes to go when veteran Teddy Sheringham had a simple task to score after Yossi Benayoun's shot was saved, however the final say went to Bolton as Henrik Pedersen's 20 yard shot arrowed into the top corner having been found by Vaz Te. Attendance : 24,461 Assists : n/a, Nolan, Gardner, n/a, Vaz Te, John (won pen) Everton (2) 3 (Beattie (pen) 14, 36, McFadden 55) Fulham (0) 1 (John (pen) 86) Everton keep up their unlikely surge for a European spot at the expence of Fulham whose awful away form shows no sign of improving. James Beattie did the main damage as he was fouled by Zak Knight and then easily scored from the penalty spot and then showed excellent touch having been set up by Tim Cahill to chip the ball in from the edge of the area. He was also involved in the third as his header found James McFadden and he unleashed a belter of a shot that tore into the net from 25 yards. Fulham grabbed a late consolation when Collins John netted from the penalty spot after he'd been fouled by Tony Hibbert, however just three points from 15 away games does not make good reading for Fulham fans. Attendance : 36,515 Assists : Beattie (won pen), Cahill, Beattie Portsmouth (0) 2 (Mendes 60, 90) Manchester City (0) 1 (Dunne 83) Portsmouth moved to within six points of Premiership safety after two superb goals from Pedro Mendes gave them a victory over Man City. They opened the scoring on the hour when a corner from Andres D'Alessandro was easily cleared, however it fell to Mendes who controlled it and walloped a shot firmly into the bottom corner for his first goal for his new club. City levelled matters with seven minutes to go as a Joey Barton corner was nodded goalwards by Micah Ricards and Georgios Samaras before Richard Dunne got the final touch from close range. The game was in the final minute of stoppage time when D'Alessandro swung another corner in which again was clear to Mendes. This time he beat a defender and then crashed a stunning shot into the top corner. Attendance : 19,556 Assists : n/a, Samaras, n/a Sunderland (0) 0 Wigan (1) 1 (Camara 8) The battle for European football is really hotting up as Wigan continued their push with a win at bottom club Sunderland. The only goal came early as Lee McCulloch headed on and after a defender mis-kicked, Henri Camara volleyed a fantastic shot into the far corner from the left edge of the penalty area. On a day of sensational goals, it was arguably the best of the lot. Ironically, Sunderland were the better team for the majority of the game but couldn't convert chances to goals as they edged closer to an early relegation. Attendance : 31,194 Assist : n/a Blackburn (0) 2 (Todd 48, Bellamy 71) Aston Villa (0) 0 Blackburn move to within three points of fourth placed Spurs after a 2-0 home win against Villa, however the visitors dominated for long spells, missing some great chances. The first half saw Milan Baros break clear, however his shot was weak and saved by Brad Friedel whilst Kevin Phillips was left with a gaping net only to be denied by a last ditch tackle by Ryan Nelson. Early in the second half, Rovers took the lead as a Morten Gamst Pedersen corner was helped goalwards by Steven Reid, possibly with his hand and after Craig Bellamy got his head to the ball, keeper Thomas Sorensen could only fumble it away and Andy Todd scrambled in a messy goal from close range. Chances fell to Villa again and especially Baros who again went through only to find the keeper in excellent form and then he sent an unmarked header over. Blackburn made them pay shortly afterwards as sub Aaron Mokoena found Pedersen in the area and although Sorensen saved at his feet, the ball bobbled clear for Bellamy to slot in from a tight angle. Attendance : 21,932 Assists : n/a, 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 |