28 August 2005

Newcastle 0
Manchester United 2 (Rooney 66, van Nistelrooy 90)

Three wins from three games now for Man United as two second half goals
gave them all three points at Newcastle. The first half ended goalless,
although both sides had decent spells with Newcastle starting well and
having a goal disallowed when Alan Shearer's shot was saved by Edwin Van
Der Sar and although debutant Albert Luque buried the rebound, he was
miles offside. Man United's best chances fell to Cristiano Ronaldo who
had one effort blocked by Shay Given and then lashed a second shot well
wide after an error from Lee Bowyer gave him the opportunity. The
visitors dominated the second half and took the lead from a clearance by
Van Der Sar. Jean-Alain Boumsong allowed the ball to bounce past him and
in nipped Wayne Rooney to take control and crash the ball home.
Newcastle were lucky to keep all their men on the field as Stephen Carr
held Ronaldo back as he burst through and minutes later, Ruud Van
Nistelrooy was clipped by keeper Shay Given, however both incidents went
unpunished aside from the Dutchman being booked for diving. Classic
examples of incidents being partially judged on reputations maybe?
Ultimately, it made little difference as Man United wrapped up the
points in stoppage time when Rooney's surge down the right resulted in a
cross, missed again by Boumsong, and drilled in at the far post by Van
Nistelrooy. Luque missed a glorious chance in the final seconds,
shooting across goal and wide having made space well, but Newcastle
still search for their first goal, whilst Man United are still yet to
concede.

Attendance : 23,993
Assists : n/a, n/a


Middlesbrough 0
Charlton 3 (Rommedahl 38, Perry 81, Bent 93)

Charlton remain 100% after three games with a comfortable away win at
out of sorts Middlesbrough. The London side deservedly went ahead late
in the first half when Danny Murphy's through ball found the run of
Dennis Rommedahl and his first time finish found the bottom corner. Boro
did have a couple of efforts cleared off the line, but in general they
were poor and the home fans jeered their team on a number of occasions
during a frustrating second half. The lead was doubled with nine minutes
left when Danny Murphy's low free kick was driven into the near post and
dispatched inside the near post by the unlikely figure of Chris Perry.
In the final seconds came the final blow for the home side as Rommedahl
sent Darren Bent clear and he finished clinical to earn Charlton a
superb away victory.


Attendance : 26,206
Assists : Murphy, Murphy (fk), Rommedahl


27 August 2005

West Brom (1) 2 (Horsfield 12, 64)
Birmingham (3) 3 (Heskey 10, 32, Jarosik 26)

Birmingham bounced back from their midweek horror show against
Middlesbrough to record their first win of the season at the expence of West Midlands
rivals West Brom. The game was a masterclass in crossing from the
visitors as all three goals came from that route, the first of which arrived
inside ten minutes when Jamie Clapham's left wing cross was headed powerfully
home by Emile Heskey. The Baggies equalised almost straight away when
Birmingham failed to clear a Darren Carter corner and after a scramble, Geoff
Horsfield slotted in at the far post. The visitors then took control with two
goals in seven minutes, firstly when Jermaine Pennant's free kick was headed in
off the inside of the post by Jiri Jarosik and then after Mario Melchiot and
Pennant combined on the right, the latter crossed for Heskey to score
with a fine diving header. West Brom gave themselves hope midway through the
second half when Damien Johnson sliced the ball toward his own goal, allowing
Horsfield to slide in with his second, but the equaliser wouldn't arrive.

Attendance : 23,993
Assists : Clapham, Gaardsoe, Pennant (fk), Pennant, n/a


Aston Villa (1) 1 (Baros 11)
Blackburn (0) 0

Aston Villa also won for the first time this season, courtesy of a debut
strike from Milan Baros. The Czech star, signed from Liverpool this
week, was sent through by Kevin Phillips and finished well with a neat shot
into the bottom corner.

Attendance : 31,010
Assists : Phillips


Fulham (0) 1 (McBride 57)
Everton (0) 0
SENT OFF : Neville (Everton) 90

Everton's up and down start continued as they lost at Fulham, another
club recording their first win of the new campaign. The only goal came from
an excellent run and cross from Moritz Volz which was fired in at the near
post by Brian McBride. Everton's dismal day got worse in stoppage time when
Phil Neville was sent off for a second bookable offence, a trip in midfield
on Thomasz Radzinski, although he clearly felt that the Canadian made a
meal of the tackle.

Attendance : 17,169
Assist : Volz


Manchester City (0) 2 (Reyna 66, Cole 69)
Portsmouth (0) 1 (Viafara 52)

Man City moved into second after coming from behind to beat Portsmouth.
After a goalless first half, the visitors went ahead when Laurent
Robert's free kick was headed in at the near post by John Viafara, however two
goals in four minutes turned the game around as City's excellent start
continued. They were level when Joey Barton's cross was fumbled by Sander
Westerveld, allowing Claudio Reyna to find the net with a volley and shortly
afterwards, Trevor Sinclair crossed for Andy Cole to control, turn and shoot inside
the post.

Attendance : 41,022
Assists : Robert (fk), n/a, n/a


Tottenham (0) 0
Chelsea (1) 2 (Del Horno 39, Duff 71)
SENT OFF : Mido (Spurs) 25

Four wins from four and no goals conceded for Chelsea now as Spurs's
terrible Prem record against the Champions continues. Two decisions went
against the home side in the first half and could well have made a
difference all told as firstly Edgar Davids was tripped by Michael
Essien as he looked to break through on goal, however only a yellow card was
forthcoming where other officials may have produced a red. Then, five
minutes later, Ahmed Mido jumped with Asier Del Horno and caught the
back of the Spaniard's head with his forearm, sparking a red card from the
referee on this occasion, to the shock of the Spurs players. Up against ten men,
Chelsea took control and went ahead when Del Horno headed home from 12
yards after Frank Lampard's corner found him perfectly. The win was confirmed
in the second half when Shaun Wright-Phillips cut the ball back and
although Damien Duff mishit his shot, it wrong-footed Paul Robinson and bobbled
into the corner.

Attendance : 36,077
Assists : Lampard (ck), Wright-Phillips


West Ham (0) 1 (Sheringham (pen) 90)
Bolton (0) 2 (Nolan 59, Campo 85)

Bolton rose into the top three with a fine win at West Ham. They took
almost an hour to break through but eventually it came after Jay-Jay Okocha's
bullet shot was blocked on the line and after a scramble, Kevin Nolan
was there to prod it home. Late on, Okocha sent Ivan Campo clear and the
veteran did well to slot the ball past Roy Carroll. In stoppage time, Teddy
Sheringham drilled in a consolation penalty after Hayden Mullins had
been tripped by Andy Hunt, but it was too little, too late.

Attendance : 31,629
Assists : Davis, Okocha, Mullins (won pen)


Wigan (1) 1 (Roberts (pen) 2)
Sunderland (0) 0

Wigan scored their first ever top flight goal and in the process notched
up their first ever win at this level as Sunderland lost at the JJB to
become the only side in the Prem without a point. The only goal will be
officially timed at inside two minutes, but the foul that led to Jason Roberts
sending the keeper the wrong way from the penalty spot came after just 12
SECONDS as Roberts was tripped by Gary Breen in the area.

Attendance : 17,223
Assists : Roberts (won pen)


Gary Dowden
Chief Editor SoccerAge UK

Gary Dowden - Joint Admin Topica Premier-L list
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