5 November 2006
TOTTENHAM 2 (Dawson 25, Lennon 52)
CHELSEA 1 (Makelele 15)
Spurs finally ended their Chelsea jinx as they won a league match against the Champions for the first time since 1990 and the first time at home since 1987 in
a game that provided fireworks on November 5th!
The first half was notable for two rare goalscorers in a pulsating end to end encounter. Spurs began well however Chelsea took command after the initial stages and had Arjen Robben not wanted all the time in the world whilst clean through, they should have taken the lead before he was tackled by Ledley King. From the resulting corner taken by Frank Lampard, the ball was cleared to the 'D' on the edge of the area where Claude Makelele hit a first time swerving volley that arrowed inside the post. It put the visitors into free flowing mode for a while as Lampard had two efforts saved and Didier Drogba had a header disallowed for something that only the referee saw. Makelele's goal was only his second ever for Chelsea so it was ironic that the equaliser was a first for Spurs for Michael Dawson who rose well to glance a free kick from Jermaine Jenas inside the far post. Suddenly Spurs looked most likely as King was denied by an Ashley Cole block following a scramble in the area and Robbie Keane sent a free header inches over from Aaron Lennon's cross, although at the other end, Didier Drogba was desperately unlucky to see his acrobatic effort sail just wide.
The second half was more of the same as Spurs went ahead inside seven minutes of the restart. Keane showed brilliant skill to set up Lennon whose first touch
beat his marker and second touch side footed the ball firmly into the far corner. It should have been three when Keane set up Dimitar Berbatov however he
scuffed his shot with the goal gaping. Tempers were getting heated with yellow cards branded around regularly to Chelsea players and it hit them hard when John
Terry scuffled with King at the far post whilst battling for a Chelsea corner and after the pushing and shoving settled down, Terry was shown a second yellow
and subsequent red card although replays showed little to warrant a booking. Despite the numerical disadvantage, Chelsea tore forward and sub Salomon Kalou forced an excellent save from Paul Robinson and Lampard blazed over from close range when he should have scored. Robben came even closer with four minutes left when his curling effort deserved to go in but thudded against the post instead. The final whistle brought wild celebrations for the home fans and ended one of the best games of the season so far.
Attendance : 36,070
Red Card : Terry 72 (Chelsea)
Assists : n/a, Jenas (fk), n/a
ASTON VILLA 2 (Barry 41 Pen, Angel 51)
BLACKBURN 0
Villa's good start continued as a goal in each half saw off Blackburn. The first goal was high on the controversy level when Chris Sutton's cross was blocked by
Andre Ooijer, however the linesman felt that a hand was used and a penalty awarded. Gareth Barry used his customary power to drill the spot kick straight down the middle of the goal. The win was clinched early in the second half when Zurab Khizanishvili was caught in possesion in his own area, allowing Juan Pablo Angel to drill in from a tight angle.
Attendance : 30,089
Assists : n/a, n/a
WEST HAM 1 (Harewood 89)
ARSENAL 0
Amazing late scenes at Upton Park as an 89th minute winner from Marlon Harewood gave West Ham an unlikely win over Arsenal, causing both managers to square up
against each other. It all began innocently enough with chances at a premium in the first half as Yossi Benayoun headed wide for the hosts and Tomas Rosicky
drilled wide from a good position for Arsenal. Both clubs felt they should have had a penalty in the second half and whilst William Gallas's challenge on Lee
Bowyer would have been harsh, the Gunners were denied a clear spot kick when Jonathon Spector hacked at Alexander Hleb in the box. A grand finale looked possible as Kolo Toure fired inches wide for Arsenal and Harewood was only denied by keeper Jens Lehmann whilst clean through, however with a minute left, things erupted. Matty Etherington combined well with Teddy Sheringham and his low cross was powered in from close range by Harewood, sparking wild celebrations both on and, apparently off, the pitch, leaving Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger seemingly angered by the delight of his opposite number Alan Pardew, resulting in words and then pushes being exchanged between the pair! More followed after the final whistle with Cesc Fabregas clearly angered by something and Wenger refusing to shake Pardew's hand. Good to see some passion shown in football these days!!
Attendance : 34,969
Assist : Etherington
4 November 2006
NEWCASTLE 0
SHEFFIELD UNITED 1 (Webber 68)
By the time this evening kick off began, the afternoon results had put both Newcastle and Sheffield United in the bottom three and in the first half, it
showed! Poor stuff with Charles N'Zogbia coming closest for the hosts with a shot that hit the bar, although ironically it was more of a mis-hit cross. The
second half was better although chances were still at a premium, however midway through the half, the visitors stunned their hosts by taking the lead. Nick
Montgomery did well to find space and run at goal. He then clipped the ball into the area for Danny Webber to send a firm header low past Steve Harper and into
the net. You expected a surge forward from Newcastle as they searched for an equaliser but it never really came and the loudest noise from the home fans came
with the jeers at the final whistle.
Attendance : 50,188
Assist : Montgomery
FULHAM 1 (Carsley 66 og)
EVERTON 0
Fulham recorded a narrow win against Everton who were made to rue a failure to convert possession into goals. Everton dominated the first half with Andy
Johnson in particular missing a couple of decent chances, notably just before half time when he hooked over from close range. After the break, Fulham came
more into it and after Ian Pearce had forced a brilliant save from Tim Howard, the hosts went ahead. Claus Jensen collected a throw in from Franck Queudrue and
as he cut in from the left, held off a challenge from Tim Cahill and found the far post superbly, aided considerably by a deflection off of the boot of Lee
Carsley. The visiting fans showed their disappointment a few minutes later when a well aimed coin thrown from the Everton fans section caught Jensen in the face
as he prepared to take a corner. Johnson broke clear at the other end with ten minutes left only to be denied by a double save from Antti Niemi and it sparked
a frantic spell until the end of the game with Everton throwing everything forward and Fulham catching them on occasional counter-attacks. Ultimately
Fulham held on for a vital three points, leaving them just a point behind their opponents.
Attendance : 23,327
Assist : n/a
WATFORD 2 (Woodgate 6 og, Young 60)
MIDDLESBROUGH 0
Watford move out of the bottom three after collecting their first league win of the season against Middlesbrough. There was some dispute over the opening goalscorer as Hameur Bouazza's shot seemed to be going wide before the slightest deflection from Jonathon Woodgate sent the ball just inside his own post. No
doubts over the second though as George Boateng's awful back header was intercepted by Ashley Young who drilled in from the edge of the area.
Attendance : 18,951
Assists : n/a, n/a
MANCHESTER UNITED 3 (Saha 3 Pen, Ronaldo 10, Vidic 66)
PORTSMOUTH 0
Man United celebrated Sir Alex Ferguson's 20 years in charge with a comfortable win over high flying Portsmouth to lift them three points clear of Chelsea who
play at Spurs on Sunday. United were off to a flyer with two goals in the first ten minutes, firstly when Louis Saha drove home a penalty after Wayne Rooney was
judged to have been fouled by Dejan Stefanovic and then through a stinging 30 yard free kick by Cristiano Ronaldo. United looked capable of scoring a hat full
but only managed one more as Gary Neville cross was nodded in by Nemanja Vidic.
Attendance : 76,004
Assists : Rooney (won pen), Saha (won fk), Neville
LIVERPOOL 2 (Kuyt 14, 73)
READING 0
A goal in each half from Dirk Kuyt gave Liverpool their second home win over Reading in two weeks following their 4-3 win in the Carling Cup recently. Kuyt
is beginning to find his feet at Anfield and showed a predatory touch in front of goal as he latched onto a header from Peter Crouch to tap in the opener. The
second showed sharp reactions as Crouch saw his header parried away allowing Kuyt to sweep in the loose ball.
Attendance : 43,741
Assists : Crouch, n/a
CHARLTON 1 (Bent 28)
MANCHESTER CITY 0
Charlton moved off the bottom with victory against Man City only for later results to go against them and put them back at the foot of the table. The goal
which clinched victory was a lovely glancing header by Darren Bent after Jerome Thomas curled a great cross into the area.
Attendance : 26,011
Assist : Thomas
BOLTON 0
WIGAN 1 (McCulloch 79)
Poor game at the Reebok as hosts Bolton lost for the third game in a row and have failed to score in each of them with Wigan the victors on this occasion.
The only goal came late on as Kevin Kilbane set up Lee McCulloch to drill in a terrific shot from the edge of the area that was out of character for the game
itself.
Attendance : 21,255
Assist : Kilbane
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