19 March 2006 Newcastle (1) 1 (Ameobi 41) Liverpool (2) 3 (Crouch 10, Gerrard 34, Cisse (pen) 52) SENT OFF : Boumsong (Newcastle) 51 Newcastle had Jean-Alain Boumsong sent off as they crashed 3-1 at home to Liverpool who move to within two points of second placed Man United. They went ahead early on when Jan Kromkamp's deep cross was nodded across goal and in by Peter Crouch and the lanky striker was also involved in the second as he laid Steven Gerrard's cushioned header back into the path of the captain who drilled the ball home from 15 yards. Newcastle pulled one back before half time when Scott Parker's cross was met by Shola Ameobi's looping header that wrong-footed the keeper, however any hopes of a comeback were shattered by Boumsong who snapped another string on his already weak bow as he firstly mis-controlled the ball on the edge of his own area and lost possession to Crouch and then proceeded to haul the Liverpool man down in the area to concede a penalty and earn a red card as he was the last man. Djibril Cisse converted the penalty easily but was booked for lifting his shirt to reveal a message that angered the home fans. Not content with that, the Frenchman then continued to gesture at them two minutes later to earn a rebuke from the referee and team mate Jamie Carragher. Considering what happened to Gary Neville after the Man United-Liverpool game, you wonder if we've heard the last of Cisse's antics. Attendance : 52,302 Assists : Kromkamp, Crouch, Parker, Crouch (won pen) Fulham (1) 1 (Boa Morte 16) Chelsea (0) 0 SENT OFF : Gallas (Chelsea) 90 Fulham eased their relegation concerns with a superb victory against Champions Chelsea in the West London derby in a game with enough talking points to keep experts happy for days! Fulham began by far the better and should have had an early penalty when Brian McBride seemed to be caught in the area by John Terry. It wasn't given though but Fulham still took an early lead when Steed Malbranque's shot was blocked and as it ran towards Luis Boa Morte, Chelsea defender Paulo Ferriera tried to clear only to hit the ball against Boa Morte's leg and it rebounded into the net. Chelsea boss Jose Mourinho didn't like was he was seeing and made the remarkable decision to make two tactical changes after just 26 minutes as Joe Cole and Shaun Wright-Phillips were replaced by Didier Drogba and Damien Duff and it was the latter who almost equalised as he forced a fine save out of Mark Crossley. Fulham almost doubled their lead before half time when Collins John broke through only for Petr Cech to save well. After the break, Chelsea stepped up a gear and thought they'd equalised when Drogba ran onto a long ball, rounded the keeper and slotted in, however Fulham were adamant that he'd used a hand in controlling the ball and after a long discussion, referee and assistant agreed and disallowed the goal. Replays proved them totally correct. Drogba then had a header tipped onto the bar and Crossley saved well from a John Terry header before Chelsea frustrations boiled over in stoppage time. Duff had the ball trapped beneath him whilst grounded and as two Fulham players hacked away to free it, William Gallas ploughed in with a tackle than can best be described as over the top and at worst, a leg breaker. Pushing, shoving and flayling arms ensured and when all was calm(ish), Gallas was rightly shown a straight red card, sparking the traditional Chelsea scrum around referee and linesman. Attendance : 22,486 Assists : n/a 18 March 2006 Everton (3) 4 (McFadden 15, Cahill 22, 90, Osman 45) Aston Villa (0) 1 (Agbonlahor 64) Tim Cahill scored twice as Everton's recent good form continued as they eased past Aston Villa at Goodison to move into the top half of the table. Everton effectively had the game sewn up by half time as they tore into a three goal lead. Villa had begun well, however they went behind when a long ball forward was nodded down by James Beattie for James McFadden to send a well controlled volley into the bottom corner from the edge of the area. Villa then had three efforts cleared off the line in a remarkable sixty second spell before they went two behind after capitulating at the back. They failed to deal with a long throw that was nodded on by Beattie and after McFadden somehow bobbled a shot across the line from an impossible angle, the ball hit the far post and was netted from close range by Cahill. A third followed just before half time as Mikael Arteta found space on the left and his cross was easily finished at the far post by Leon Osman. Villa pulled a goal back in the second half when Lee Hendrie set up Gabriel Agbonlahor to shot into the net from a tricky angle to register a goal on his first team debut, however Everton had the final say late on when McFadden's back heel set up Cahill to drill in his second and Everton's fourth from eight yards. Attendance : 36,507 Assists : Beattie, n/a, Arteta, Hendrie, McFadden Arsenal (2) 3 (Pires 13, Adebayor 32, Hleb 49) Charlton (0) 0 Arsenal moved into fourth place ahead of the evening match after a comprehensive victory over London rivals Charlton. The result was rarely in doubt after they took an early lead through Robert Pires who tapped in from close range after Thierry Henry cut the ball back. Henry was also involved in the second as his pass was poorly controlled by Hermann Hreidarsson which allowed Emanuel Adebayor in to stab the ball into the net. The third and final goal came just after half time as Adebayor had two shots blocked and the ball fell to Alexander Hleb who blasted it in. Attendance : 38,223 Assists : Henry, n/a, n/a Blackburn (2) 3 (Bellamy 11, 68, Pedersen 29 fk) Middlesbrough (1) 2 (Viduka 16, Rochemback 62) SENT OFF : Savage (Blackburn) 54 Blackburn's European quest remains on course after a narrow win against Middlesbrough who twice came from behind at Ewood Park. Rovers went ahead when Brett Emerton found Craig Bellamy on the right. The Welshman then cut inside and curled a beauty into the far corner of the net. It took Boro just five minutes to equalise as James Morrison picked out Mark Viduka after Rovers lost possession cheaply and the striker struck a firm shot that beat the keeper at the near post. Just before the half hour, Morten Gamst Pedersen took a free kick from near the right corner flag and it deceived everyone before finding the net inside the far post. Early in the second half, Robbie Savage was booked for a foul and within a minute, booked again for deliberate handball. The red card was his first ever at club level which was somewhat surprising considering his reputation. Boro took full advantage of their numerical boost and equalised with a firm shot from Fabio Rochemback after Morrison had cut the ball back, however Rovers took a winning lead six minutes later as Pedersen found Bellamy on the right and he hit another superb shot that arrowed inside the far post. Attendance : 18,681 Assists : Emerton, Morrison, Ballamy (won fk), Morrison, Pedersen Bolton (0) 2 (Davies 47, Nolan 85) Sunderland (0) 0 Bolton are also on course for Europe after two second half goals saw off bottom club Sunderland. Kevin Davies opened the scoring with a simple near post header from a Stelios Giannakpolous corner and with five minutes left, Gary Speed's header was saved and Kevin Nolan pounced to hook in the second. Attendance : 23,568 Assists : Giannakpolous (ck), n/a Manchester City (0) 0 Wigan (0) 1 (McCulloch 55) Wigan's terrific season continued with a fine win at Eastlands as Man City had one eye on Monday's FA Cup clash with West Ham. The visitors deserved the win, clinched by Lee McCulloch who headed in a Jimmy Bullard corner. Attendance : 42,444 Assists : Bullard (ck) West Brom (0) 1 Ellington 78) Manchester United (1) 2 (Saha 16, 64) Man United continued their forlorn chase of Chelsea with a win at West Brom who remain just three points above the drop zone. Louis Saha was the United hero with a goal in each first, starting with an unmarked header into the net from Ryan Giggs's corner and then completed with a low shot after Cristiano Ronaldo had sent him through. The Baggies pulled one back when Nathan Ellington headed in a corner from Jonathon Greening. Attendance : 27,623 Assists : Giggs (ck), Ronaldo, Greening (ck) West Ham (0) 2 (Sheringham 69, Benayoun 90) Portsmouth (3) 4 (Lua-Lua 19, Davis 25, Mendes 42, Todorov 77) West Ham made six changes as they also prepared for Monday's Cup clash and were made to pay as struggling Portsmouth ripped them apart at Upton Park to give them a fighting chance of avoiding the drop. Harry Redknapp - returning to his former club - saw his current side go three up by half time, starting with a thumping far post finish by Lomana Lua-Lua after Matt Taylor had drilled the ball across goal. Six minutes later, Brian Priske crossed for Sean Davis to prod in after his orginal header was saved and on half time, Pedro Mendes did his party piece again with a long range effort after Andres D'Allesandro had found him. West Ham pulled one back when veteran Teddy Sheringham finished well after Paul Konchesky's shot had hit the post, however the three goal cushion was regained when Lua-Lua showed excellent skill to beat two men and cross for former Hammer Svetoslav Todorov to tap in. The Hammers grabbed another late consolation when Yossi Benayoun finished well after Bobby Zamora had put him through but it was largely a day to forget for the hosts. Attendance : 34,837 Assists : Taylor, Priske, D'Allesandro, n/a, Lua Lua, Zamora Birmingham (0) 0 Tottenham (0) 2 (Lennon 65, Keane 77) Spurs regained fourth place after two second half goals were enough to keep Birmingham in the bottom three. The first came as Mario Melchiot lost possession on the left and after an excellent run from Jermain Defoe, his cross found Aaron Lennon who cut back across the area and fired in a low shot for his first goal at first team level. The lead was doubled and points secured when Jermaine Jenas found space on the right and his low cross was perfect for Robbie Keane to tap in at the far post. Attendance : 26,398 Assists : Defoe, Jenas 15 March 2006 Liverpool (2) 5 (Fowler 16, Brown (og) 34, Morientes 71, Crouch 89, Warnock 90) Fulham (1) 1 (John 25) Liverpool's strikers finally found their scoring touch as three of the goal-starved players got on the mark as the Anfield side destroyed bad travellers Fulham. Returning hero Robbie Fowler got the first - and his first since re-signing - with a far post header after Luis Garcia had flicked on a Harry Kewell corner. Fulham equalised when Mark Pembridge sent Collins John clear and his shot went under the keeper and in, however that was as good as it would get for Fulham as, nine minutes later, they were behind again when Michael Brown turned a cross from Kewell into his own net. Liverpool went into overdrive in the last twenty minutes, firstly when Fernando Morientes fired in after an almighty scramble following a header from Djibril Cisse that the keeper blocked. Peter Crouch then added a fourth as he touched in Steven Gerrard's shot and in stoppage time, Srephen Warnock drilled a shot in after Steve Finnan saw his effort saved. Attendance : 42,293 Assists : Garcia, Pembridge, n/a, n/a, Gerrard, 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 |