12 April 2006 Portsmouth (0) 1 (Lua-Lua 66) Arsenal (1) 1 (Henry 36) Portsmouth collected a vital point in thir battle to escape the drop after coming from behind to hold Arsenal and dent their hops of grabbing fourth place in the process. Arsenal went ahead in a tight first half when Thierry Henry won the ball from Sean Davis and having played a neat one-two with Emanuel Adebayor, side-footed in off the post from the edge of the area. Adebayor then blew two glorious chances either side of half time, firstly when he miskicked in front of goal with the goal gaping and then he sent a fee header wide form four yards. They were made to pay when the hosts equalised when Andreas D'Allesandro's free kick was nodded in by Lomana Lua-Lua, however whilst doing his trademark somersailt celebration, he seemed to land heavily on on leg and was substituted injured within three minutes. Late on, Freddie Ljungberg had a shot saved and Johan Djourou missed another sitter as he headed wide as Arsenal looked to snatch a winner, however it didn't arrive, leaving them four points behind fourth placed Spurs. Attendance : 20,230 Assists : Adebayor, D'Allesandro (fk) 9 April 2006 Aston Villa (0) 0 West Brom (0) 0 The second city derby ended goalless as West Brom remain in trouble at the bottom, although equally Villa will be glad that the season is almost over as their poor recent run continues. Despite the lack of goals, it wasn't a bad game with Albion having the better of things and almost scoring when keeper Thomas Sorensen saved well from Diomansy Kamara's header. Villa's best chance fell to Kevin Phillips whose header was tipped against the bar by Tomasz Kuszczak who then reacted quickly to deny the Villa striker with his follow-up. Attendance : 33,303 Assists : n/a Chelsea (2) 4 (Drogba 28, Crespo 31, Terry 54, Gallas 69) West Ham (1) 1 (Collins 10) SENT OFF : Maniche (Chelsea) 16 Chelsea took another step towards retaining their title as they bounced back from a poor result last week to wallop West Ham, despite going a goal down and a man down in the early stages. West Ham took a shock lead early on when Yossi Beanyoun's corner was met by the head of James Collins at the near post and his effort flew past Petr Cech. Chelsea were stung and battled back as Michael Essien headed over and Maniche cracked a shot against the bar, however the latter, in his first league start, didn't last much longer as he caught Lionel Scaloni on the knee with a tackle over the top of the ball and was promptly shown a straight red card to stun the home crowd again. The ten men levelled matters when Frank Lampard's through ball sent Didier Drogba through and although Collins blocked his first shot, he found the net with the rebound despite a defender on the line. Three minutes later, they were ahead as Drogba's cross-shot was deflected to Hernan Crespo who had a simple tap in at the far post. The second half was more of the same from Chelsea as a third followed early in the second half as William Gallas struck a shot against the bar and John Terry's volleyed bounced across goal and inside the far post and Gallas then prodded in the fourth himself after Drogba's goalward header gave him the chance. Attendance : 41,919 Assists : Benayoun (ck), n/a, n/a, n/a, Drogba Liverpool (1) 1 (Fowler 45) Bolton (0) 0 Bolton's European hopes took another dent as they slumped to their fourth defeat in a row as Liverpool collected a narrow victory at Anfield. Liverpool went ahead with the last kick of the first half when Peter Crouch laid the ball back to Robbie Fowler whose drive found the bottom corner of the net from the edge of the area to cap his birthday in style. Attendance : 44,194 Assist : Crouch Middlesbrough (0) 1 (Boateng 79) Newcastle (2) 2 (Boateng (og) 29, Ameobi 44) George Boateng scored at both ends as his Middlesbrough side suffered a post UEFA Cup hangover as they lost at home to North-East rivals Newcastle. The visitors had the better of the first half and took the lead when Nol Solano's corner was nodded back across goal by Shola Ameobi only for Boateng to nod into his own net at the far post whilst under pressure. The lead was doubled before half time when Ameobi bobbled a shot inside the far post after Stephen Carr's set him up in the area. Boro pulled one back late on after Boeteng's fierce shot deflected in off Titus Bramble after Mark Viduka's chest pass gave him the chance but they couldn't find another dramatic late show this time. Attendance : 31,202 Assists : n/a, n/a, n/a Manchester United (0) 2 (Rooney 54, Park 78) Arsenal (0) 0 Man United's ninth win in a row keeps the pressure on Chelsea at the top after Arsenal were beaten 2-0 at Old Trafford. Both clubs had decent spells in the first half, however the best chance fell late on to United as Wayne Rooney skipped clear and after rounding keeper Jens Jehmann, took his time and hammered a shot against the post. He wanted a handball and only after a couple of replays was it apparent that Kolo Toure, despite being on the ground, had handled the ball against the post. Rooney got the opener early in the second half as he collected a superb cross from Mikael Silvestre and after getting the ball under control, walloped it past the keeper. He was also involved in the second as he escaped the challenge of Phillipe Senderos to cross low for Ji-Sung Park to smash in at the far post. Attendance : 70,908 Assists : Silvestre, Rooney 8 April 2006 Tottenham (1) 2 (Stalteiri 44, Carrick 49) Manchester City (0) 1 (Samaras 52) Spurs consolidate fourth place with a narrow win against Man City. Spurs had the better of the first half and went ahead just before the break. Robie Keane should have scored after making space for himself on the edge of the area, however his shot was parried by David James only for POual Stalteiri, following up, to fire in the loose ball. Keane was equally unlucky earlier when his fierce shot was brilliantly tipped against the bar by James. The laed was doubled early in the second half when City failed to clear a corner and after Teemu Taino played the ball back into the area, Michael Carrick controlled the ball well on his chest and blasted in at the near post. Within three minutes, City were back in it as Spurs fell asleep at the back and failed to deal with a long throw by Sylvain Distin, allowing Georgios Samaras to bobble an effort inside the post. Keane then had a goal disallowed for offside although replays suggested that he was level when the ball was played, however City wee now having the better of things as Micah Richards had a shot blocked on the line whilst Albert Reira had a shot well saved by Paul Robinson. Spurs were still creating chances though and James made two brilliant saves from an Anthony Gardner shot and then he tipped a cross against the post after it took a wicked deflection off of Ben Thatcher. Attendance : 36,167 Assists : n/a, Taino, Distin (throw in) Charlton (0) 0 Everton (0) 0 Oh dear, this was poor from two clubs with little to play for as the season fades out for them both. James Beattie came as close as anyone when the Everton striker forced a fine save from keeper Thomas Myhre with a long range volley but overall this was instantly forgetable. Attendance : 26,954 Assists : n/a Portsmouth (1) 2 (Lua-Lua 41, Todorov 78) Blackburn (1) 2 (Bellamy 32, 62) Two brilliant strikes from Craig Bellamy weren't enough for Blackburn as they were held away at Portsmouth who remain in the bottom three. The Welshman's first came after a tackle in midfield by Robbie Savage on Dejan Stefanovic. Bellamy then ran half the length of the pitch before firing a sensational angled shot from the left edge of the area that tore into the opposite top corner. The hosts equalised with another fine strike as a corner was cleared to Lomama Lua-Lua who ran across the edge of the area to make space for a drilled shot into the bottom corner. Bellamy then struck again when he controlled David Bentley's cross before turning and volleying into the net, however Pompey earned a deserved point when Sveloslav Todorov thundered in a header from Matt Taylor's cross. Attendance : 20,048 Assists : n/a, n/a, Bentley, Taylor Sunderland (0) 0 Fulham (1) 1 (McBride 9) Match Abandoned after 22 minutes. Fulham took an early lead against bottom club Sunderland in a game that began in a snowstorm and ended with a waterlogged pitch halfway through the first half. The goal was a side-footed effort by Brian McBride after Steed Malbranque's cross found him, however the game soon degenerated into an impromptu water-polo encounter and with the ball failing to roll more than a few yards, ref Mike Riley had little choice but to call it off. It will now be replayed at a later date. Attendance : - Assists : n/a Wigan (0) 1 (Johansson 49) Birmingham (0) 1 (Dunn 77) Honours even at the JJB as Birmingham came from behind to earn a vital point that keeps them out of the drop zone. After a goalless first half, Wigan went ahead when Jimmy Bullard's free kick was partially cleared to Paul Scharner whose header across goal was nodded in by Andreas Johansson. Birmingham battled back and grabbed an equaliser when sub David Dunn slotted in Emile Heskey's cross. The result effectively relegates Sunderland who now need to win all six of their remaining games to have any chance of staying up. Their next match is at Old Trafford! Attendance : 18,669 Assists : Scharner, Heskey Gary Dowden - Joint Admin Topica Premier-L list http://www.topica.com/lists/premier-L/ Leeds United and Scotland and proud of it http://footiemad.95mb.com http://www.peanutsfan.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk/footiemad The Unofficial Premiership Site |