 |
 |
|
4 May 2006 Manchester City (1) 1 (Sommeil 38) Arsenal (1) 3 (Ljungberg 30, Reyes 78, 83) Arsenal moved to within a point of fourth placed Spurs with one game to go after a fine 3-1 win at Man City. After a cagy opening, Arsenal went ahead on the half hour. It was made by Thierry Henry who looked to be running down a blind alley until producing a reverse pass to set up Freddie Ljungberg who made space in the area to fire across the keeper and inside the far post for his first goal of the season. City equalised eight minutes when a deep corner was headed goalwards by Trevor Sinclair and helped in by David Sommeil. On half time, a superb solo run from Henry almost led to a goal as he found Robin Van Persie who then returned the pass only for the Frenchman to side foot wide. Arsenal began the second half well as Van Persie forced two good saves out of David James whilst Ljungberg cracked a shot against the post. City had chances as Richard Dunne and Micah Richards came close, however the Gunners eventually regained the lead as Emanuel Eboue cut the ball back for Jose Antonio Reyes to fire goalwards and although James got a hand to the ball, it still trickled in. Five minutes later, a break from Henry set us Reyes again to curl in the third goal from just inside the area. Attendance : 41,875 Assist : Henry, Sinclair, Eboue, Henry Sunderland (1) 2 (Le Tallec 32, Brown 57) Fulham (0) 1 (Radzinski 76) Sunderland's first home league win of the season in their last home game of the season!! This was a re-arranged game from the one that was abandoned a few weeks ago with Fulham 1-0 up, however it was the home side that went ahead this time around as George McCartney's cross was met at the near post with a glancing header by Anthony Le Tallec. The lead was doubled when Nyron Nosworthy's powerful shot was only parried away and Chris Brown clipped in the loose ball. Fulham pulled one back late on when Thomasz Radzinski fired in a beauty into the top corner from the edge of the area, but it wasn't enough to stop Sunderland's celebrations! Attendance : 28,226 Assist : McCartney, n/a, John 3 May 2006 Bolton (0) 1 (Vaz Te 51) Middlesbrough (0) 1 (Johnson 47) Honours even at the Reebok as hosts Bolton came from behind to grab a draw against Middlesbrough. With one eye on the UEFA Cup Final, Boro fielded a virtual reserve team, however they went ahead with a superb solo effort as Adam Johnson cut in from the left to curl a shot inside the far post. Bolton were level within five minutes when Ricardo Vaz Te sent a brilliant diving header into the net from Jay-Jay Okocha's cross. Boro should have won it late on, however Ugo Ehigou somehow shot wide from close range. Attendance : 22,733 Assist : Wheater, Okocha 2 May 2006 Blackburn (1) 1 (Reid 43) Chelsea (0) 0 Blackburn clinched a UEFA Cup spot with a deserved win against newly crowned champions Chelsea. Rovers went ahead just before half time when Robbie Savage's free kick from the left appeared to sail straight past everyone and inside the far post, however team-mate Steven Reid also claimed the goal with the faintest touch off of his forehead. Both clubs had hit the woodwork prior to that as Craig Bellamy hit the underside of the bar for the hosts before David Bentley somehow nodded the rebound wide and Eidur Gudjohnsen's stretched effort struck the post from Geremi's cross. Attendance : 20,243 Assist : Savage (fk) 30 April 2006 Tottenham (0) 1 (Lennon 60) Bolton (0) 0 Spurs are within one victory of clinching fourth place after a hard fought win against Bolton whose own European hopes took a severe dent. Bolton had the better of the first half as Spurs struggled to get a grip on the game, however the home side were much improved after the break and took the lead on the hour when Michael Carrick slid in Aaron Lennon to nip past a defender and shoot across goal and inside the far post. Bolton threw everything at Spurs for the majority of the remainder of the game and felt that they should have had two penalties when Stelios Giannokopolous was fouled by Michael Dawson and late on, Dawson was again involved when he misjudged a jump and seemed to handle the ball. Jay-Jay Okocha had a shot well saved whilst Ivan Campo shot wide whilst well placed as Spurs clung on for a vital win. Attendance : 36,179 Assist : Carrick 29 April 2006 Charlton 0 Blackburn 2 (Reid 43, Powell 65 og) Blackburn remain on course for a UEFA Cup spot after a comfortable win at Charlton whose performance had mid-table mediocrity written all over it. Prior to the game, Charlton announced that boss Alan Curbishley would be leaving his post after this season, possibly for England, probably not, however by half time, his team were in a familiar position of late as they were a goal down. It was largely down to poor defending as a long throw from Morten Gamst Pedersen was headed in from inside the six yard box by Steven Reid. The lead was doubled in the second half as Florent Sinama-Pongolle's deflected cross looped towards Craig Bellamy in the area, however as he and keeper Stephen Andersen weng for, and missed, the ball, the unlucky Chris Powell was behind them both and could do little as the ball struck him and bobbled into the vacant net. Attendance : 26,254 Assists : Gamst Pedersen (throw in), n/a Birmingham 0 Newcastle 0 Whilst Portsmouth were winning at the JJB, Birmingham were trying in vain to beat UEFA Cup chasing Newcastle, a feat that ultimately ended in failure as a goalless draw sent them down. Nerves played a part early, however as they game wore on and the proverbial kitchen sink was thrown forward, the chances came with arguably the best one falling to Mikael Forssell late on, however having found space, his shot was well saved by Shay Given who then also kept out the rebound from Emile Heskey. Attendance : 28,331 Assist : n/a Liverpool 3 (Morientes 4, Gerrard 61, 66) Aston Villa 1 (Barry 58) Liverpool moved level on points with Man United after a convincing win against Aston Villa whose season promised much but delivered little. The home side wasted no time in getting started and were ahead inside four minutes when Xabi Alonso's through ball sent Fernando Morientes clear and having cut back inside his marker, slotted home well. Villa levelled in the second half when Aaron Hughes's cross missed everyone until Gareth Barry converted at the far post, however Steven Gerrard then took control with two excellent strikes in five minutes. His first came from an Alonso corner that he sent into the net with a near post volley and the win was confirmed when he collected a pass from Morientes to drive a shot into the top corner from 25 yards. Attendance : 44,479 Assists : Xabi Alonso, Hughes, Xabi Alonso (ck), Morientes Manchester City 1 (Dunne 69) Fulham 2 (John 84, Malbranque 90) Two late goals gave Fulham their first away win of the season at the expence of Man City whose recent form would have seen them in the bottom three had they not have had a decent start and middle to the campaign. City went ahead thanks to a Richard Dunne half volley after Micah Richards had nodded the ball down, however Fulham were level when Luis Boa Morte's cut back was converted off the post by Collins John. Fulham won it in stoppage time with Boa Morte again the provider, this time setting up Steed Malbranque to score with a crisp shot. Attendance : 41,128 Assists : Richards, Boa Morte, Boa Morte Middlesbrough 0 Everton 1 (McFadden 89) After the Lord Mayor's Show for Middlesbrough as their remarkable Lazarus-style UEFA Cup semi final win was followed by a home defeat against Everton. The only goal came late as Leon Osman's long ball tempted keeper Brad Jones out of his area, however it was an awful misjudgement as James McFadden got to the ball first and sent a long range lob into the net. Attendance : 29,224 Assists : Osman Wigan 1 (Camara 34) Portsmouth 2 (Benjani 63, Taylor 71 Pen) Portsmouth secured their Premiership survival after coming from behind to win thanks to a late penalty for the second game in a row, this time at Wigan. The hosts began well and having had what looked a good goal disallowed from Henri Camara, went ahead when David Thompson's cross was headed goalwards by Matt Jackson and although Dean Kiely kept it out, it fell nicely for Camara who netted with a simple tap in. Portsmouth were level after the break when Matt Taylor bobbled a shot across goal and against the post and Benjani was on hand to nod in his first goal for his new club. He was also involved in the winner as his far post header was handled by Gary Teale and after the ref had sent the Wigan man off for stopping a goalscoring chance, Taylor drilled the penalty into the bottom corner to keep his side up and send Birmingham and West Brom down. Attendance : 21,126 Red Card : Teale 70 (Wigan) Assists : n/a, n/a, n/a Chelsea 3 (Gallas 5, Cole 61, Carvalho 73) Manchester United 0 Chelsea joined the illustrious list of clubs to retain the league title after clinching the point they needed by beating closest rivals Man United 3-0 at Stamford Bridge, however England fans will be concerned by what appeared to be a serious injury to Wayne Rooney. Chelsea were ahead early on thanks to poor marking from United at a corner. Frank Lampard took the kick and after Didier Drogba nodded the ball goalwards, William Gallas lost his marker and was allowed to head into the net unmarked two yards out. United took a while to get started and after Cristiano Ronaldo tested Petr Cech with a long range free kick, Rooney missed a glorious chance as he burst between three defenders to go through on goal only to drag his effort well wide. Chances were largely at a premium throughout the half however Rooney did come close again before half time with a low drive from the edge of the area that Cech just got his hand to and John O'Shea headed over in stoppage time. The hosts started the second half well with Joe Cole close to doubling the lead with a neat chip that drifted just wide and Arjen Robben was widely off target with a couple of efforts. United began to push more and more players forward, however they were caught out from a long kick by Cech that was helped on by Drogba. It fell to Cole who showed some wonderful footwork on the edge of the area to squirm away from three defenders and then fire a shot past Edwin Van Der Sar that flew inside the near post. Cole was again volved ten minutes later when his run culminated in a pass to Ricardo Carvalho and his fierce drive fizzed past the keeper for the third goal. As the celebrations began for Chelsea, the fears began for England fans everywhere with ten minutes to go as Rooney was stretchered off with what looked a serious foot injury following a tackle from Paulo Ferreira, although he did win the ball fairly. With the World Cup six weeks away, it remains a huge worry and in many ways, overshadowed the rest of the game which included a glaring miss from Drogba. Attendance : 42,219 Assists : Drogba, Drogba, Cole 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 |