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17 October 2005 Charlton (0) 1 (Murphy 48) Fulham (1) 1 (John 27) A point each in the London derby as high flying Charlton came from behind to draw with struggling Fulham. Dennis Ronnedahl hit the post early on for Charlton, however it was Fulham who went ahead with Collins John scoring for the game game in a row. A free kick was played down the right for Steed Malbranque and his cross was dispatched into the net by John with a sweet volley from just inside the area. Charlton levelled matters eraly in the second half when Chris Powell crossed for Danny Murphy to drill the ball in at the far post. Attendance : 26,310 Assists : Malbranque, Powell 16 October 2005 Birmingham (0) 0 Aston Villa (1) 1 (Phillips 19) Aston Villa won their first second-city derby in the top flight since 1987 after a Kevin Phillips goal gave them a narrow win at Birmingham. The home side had their best chance early on when Julian Gray fired a shot across goal and wide whilst unmarked at the far post and they were made to pay shortly afterwards when Villa took the lead. Although Phillips scored it, the goal was set up by a lovely touch in the area by Gareth Barry that put the ball into the path of the striker who drilled his shot into the bottom corner, although the keeper did get a hand to it. Attendance : 29,312 Assists : Barry Manchester City (1) 2 (Cole 18, 56) West Ham (0) 1 (Zamora 90) Manchester City move into fourth place after two Andy Cole goals gave them victory over West Ham. City had the better of the first half and were ahead at the break thanks to a peach of a goal from Cole. Having played the ball to Darius Vassell on the left edge of the area, Cole overlapped his striking partner and was given it back courtesy of a back heel, however there still look little danger until he curled a beauty across goal and into the far top corner, leaving keeper Roy Carroll stranded. The Hammers could have levelled matters early in the second half, however Matt Etherington shot straight against David James whilst clean through and within five minutes, both Cole and Vassell had similar situations at the other end with the same outcome. City doubled their lead when Vassell found Kiki Musampa and although his shot was saved, Cole was on hand to tap the rebound into the empty net. It should have been comfortable for the hosts, however they had a nervy last couple of minutes to endure after Bobby Zamora netted a late consolation, collecting a pass from Yossi Benayoun to round James and fire in his first ever Premiership goal. Attendance : 43,647 Assists : Vassell, n/a, Benayoun 15 October 2005 Middlesbrough 1 (Yakubu 54) Portsmouth (O'Neil 46) Honours even at the Riverside after Middlesbrough and Portsmouth shared two goals in the epitomy of a half of two halves. The first 45 minutes was drab and forgettable, however after just 45 seconds of the restart, Portsmouth went ahead. It began with a run to the by-line by Svetoslav Todorov and although his cutback was horribly mis-kicked by Zvonimir Vukic, it fell nicely for Gary O'Neil to score from close range. Boro equalised when the away defence fell asleep and allowed their former striker Yakubu to ghost in unmarked at the far post to head home Fabio Rochemback's corner. Attendance : 26,551 Assists : Vukic, Rochemback (ck) Chelsea 5 (Drogba 52, 61, Lampard 55, 59 (fk), Gudjohnsen 74) Bolton (Giaanakopulos 4) Chelsea's 100% record remains intact as they came from behind to blitz Bolton with five second half goals in a 22 minute spell at Stamford Bridge. The visitors went ahead early on when El-Hadji Diouf played the ball across the area to find Stelios Giannakopolous totally unmarked and the Greek star kept his cool and slotted the ball home. Then, for 49 minutes minutes of playing time, it looked as though the unlikely was possible, until a stunning nine minute spell when four goals and one red card was witnessed. Didier Drogba began the fun with an equaliser, pouncing to fire in after Frank Lampard's free kick was only parried away by keeper Jussi Jaaskelainen. Three minutes later, Lampard netted himself when Eidur Gudjohnsen found Drogba and his back heel fell nicely for the England international to slot home. Bolton were then reduced to ten men after Ricardo Gardner's deliberate handball on the edge of his own area earned him a straight red card and to rub salt into the gaping wound, Lampard made it three from the resulting free kick as he spotted a gap around the wall and calmly sidefooted the ball past the flat- footed keeper. Two minutes later, Drogba doubled his own personal tally for the game with a neat, close range volley into the roof of the net as Lampard turned provider with a cross. Chelsea eased off thereafter, although they did add a fifth when Michael Essien, lucky still to be on the pitch after an awful, studs first tackle in the first half on Tal Ben Haim, threaded the ball through for Gudjohnsen to curl his effort inside the far post. Attendance : 26,551 Red Card : Garnder 58 (Bolton) Assists : Diouf, n/a, Drogba, n/a, Lampard (ck), Essien Liverpool 1 (Cisse 75) Blackburn 0 Liverpool left it late to see off a resillient Blackburn side who played for the best part of an hour with ten men. Zurab Khizanishvili was the unlucky player to see red as he brought down Djibril Cisse as he burst through on goal. Initially the referee awarded a penalty, however he downgraded to a free kick after the linesman decided, correctly, that contact was outside the area. Although it came to nothing, it was another edge of the area free kick that won the game for Liverpool as the ball was tapped to Cisse who drilled it home from 25 yards. Khizanishvili wins my vote for not only being almost unpronouncable, but equally being bloody difficult to spell. Attendance : 44,697 Assist : Xabi Alonso (fk) Sunderland 1 (Elliott 82) Manchester United 3 (Hoyte 40 og, van Nistelrooy 76, Breen 87 og) Man United continued their forlorn chase of Chelsea with a hard fought win at Sunderland who drop back into the bottom three after this defeat. Sunderland had the better of the first half yet went behind when Ji-Soon Park sent Wayne Rooney clear and after rounding the keeper, he found the net despite a half-block from a defender on the line. The lead was doubled when Rooney found Ruud Van Nistelrooy and after holding off two defenders, he fired in from the edge of the area. Sunderland pulled one back with a goal of the game as Dean Whitehead set up Stephen Elliott who shot into the top corner from the edge of the area, however any hopes of an equaliser were shattered within five minutes when Rooney found sub Giuseppe Rossi and he found the net from 25 yards with the considerable help of a deflection. Attendance : 39,085 Assists : n/a, Rooney, Whitehead, n/a Tottenham 2 (Mido 58, Jenas 63) Everton 0 Two headed goals in five second half minutes put Spurs into second place at the expense of bottom club Everton, who have now lost seven of their eight league games this season. They held out for almost an hour until Jermaine Jenas crossed for Ahmed Mido to head home at the far post. Five minutes later, provider turned scorer as Jenas headed in at the near post from Jermain Defoe's cross. Attendance : 36,247 Assists : Jenas, Defoe West Brom 2 (Kanu 38, Carter 76) Arsenal 1 (Senderos 17) A stunning late winner from Darren Carter gave West Brom a priceless win as they came from behind to beat Arsenal, whose stuttering start to the season continued. The Gunners went ahead when Phillipe Senderos netted with a close range volley after Jose Reyes had swung a corner into the six yard box, however a former Arsenal man came back to haunt them before half time when Nwankwo Kanu equalised with a crisp shot across goal after the visitors had only half cleared a cross from Martin Albrechtsen. The Baggies clinched the point with a superb goal, set up by Diomansy Kamara and finished with a terrific 25 yard volley from Carter that left keeper Jens Lehmann clawing at thin air. Attendance : 26,604 Assists : Reyes (ck), n/a, Kamara Wigan 1 (Roberts 40) Newcastle 0 Wigan move into second place ahead of the traditional 3pm kick offs after a narrow win over Newcastle whose season continues at one pace forward and two back. The only goal came late in the first half when Damien Francis put Jason Roberts through on goal and although his shot was partially saved by the legs of Shay Given, it had enough power to dribble over the line and in. Newcastle had the better of the second half and felt that they should have had a penalty when Shola Ameobi was fouled by keeper John Filan. Equally unlucky was an Alan Shearer header from Emre's corner that was bundled away from the line by Leyton Baines, however replays suggested that the ball had gone in before being cleared. Late on, Wigan's Lee McCulloch was sent off for a high tackle on Emre and then had the indignity of being shown the red card whilst received treatment. Attendance : 22,374 Red Card : McCulloch 85 (Red Card) Assist : n/a Gary Dowden Chief Editor SoccerAge UK 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 |