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3 February 2008

FULHAM 2 (Davies 73, Bullard 86 fk)
ASTON VILLA 1 (Hughes 69 og)

Fulham moved to within three points of safety after coming from behind to beat Aston Villa. For the opening three-quarters of the game it was dire stuff with barely a chance created however a freakish own goal jolted the match into life as Shaun Maloney's corner was helped on by Olaf Mellberg and put into his own net by the knee of former Villa man Aaron Hughes. Fulham were level three minutes later as Jimmy Bullard's cross was swept home by Simon Davies and with four minutes to go, Bullard capped an excellent day for the hosts with a curling free kick from 20 yards which sailed into the net.

Attendance : 24,760
Assists : n/a, Bullard, Kamara (won fk)


NEWCASTLE 1 (Owen 60)
MIDDLESBROUGH 1 (Huth 87)

Honours even in the Tyne-Tees derby as Middlesbrough came from behind at Newcastle. The hosts had two Michael Owen goals disallowed in the opening 20 minutes, firstly for a foul on the keeper although what little contact there was minimal and then due to a corner floating out and back in before Owen nodded home. On the hour, the striker did find the net legally for Newcastle's first goal since the return of Kevin Keegan as Owen's near post header from Emre's free kick flew in. Boro levelled late on when Julio Arca's free kick was met at the far post by Robert Huth and his looping header floated over Shay Given and dropped in. Indeed Boro almost won it late on when Stuart Downing's free kick thudded against the post and although Dong-Gook Lee volleyed in the rebound, he was judged to have been offside.

Attendance : 51,105
Assists : Emre (fk), Arca


2 February 2008

LIVERPOOL 3 (Crouch 57, Torres 69, Gerrard 89 Pen)
SUNDERLAND 0

Liverpool won in the league for the first time in 2008 although they were made to work hard by Sunderland. Liverpool looked nervy and disjointed during a scrappy first half as they struggled to break down Sunderland and created little. What chances there were fell late on to Fernando Torres as he sent a header straight at Craig Gordon and then had a fierce shot well blocked by Jonny Evans. Things had to improve for the hosts after the interval and it did when Jamie Carragher crossed for Peter Crouch to head in at the far post. Crouch's header then sent Torres clear to clip in the second and late on, Jermaine Pennant was fouled in the area by Nyron Nosworthy and Steven Gerrard drilled home the penalty despite Gordon getting a firm hand to the ball.

Attendance : 43,244
Assists : Carragher, Crouch, Pennant (won pen)


BIRMINGHAM 1 (Larsson 68)
DERBY 1 (Villa 89)

Arsenal regain top spot after sweeping aside Man City at Eastlands. They went ahead early as Bacary Sagna's run and cut back was converted at the near post by Emmanuel Adebayor although it did bobble in off of a defender. The lead was doubled as Adebayor's header was controlled on the chest by Eduardo before his acrobatic volley found the net. He may have been marginally offside but it was extremely tight. City pulled one back as Gael Clichy lost possession on his own goal line, allowing Vedran Corluka the chance to find Gelson Fernandes to sweep the ball in. Arsenal clinched the win late on with a classic breakaway as Cesc Fabregas set up Adebayor to find the net. Credit to the referee who allowed play to continue in the build up despite a blatant foul on the eventual goalscorer.

Attendance : 25,924
Assists : Murphy, Leacock


BLACKBURN 0
EVERTON 0

No goals at Ewood Park although Everton had a controversial late goal ruled out. Blackburn keeper Brad Friedel came well out of his goal as James Vaughan burst through and as the Everton man won the ball and found Andy Johnson, the striker rounded two remaining defenders to slot into the empty net only to be denied by an incorrect offside flag.

Attendance : 27,946
Assist : n/a


PORTSMOUTH 1 (Defoe 64)
CHELSEA 1 (Anelka 55)

Chelsea lost ground on the leaders as Jermaine Defoe netted an equaliser on his Portsmouth debut. Chelsea were ahead as a Pompey move broke down and they broke quickly and after Florent Malouda crossed for Joe Cole, his cushioned pass was volleyed in first time by Nik Anelka. The leveller was pure Route One as a long kick from David James was nodded on by Milan Baros and Defoe took advantage of dismal marking to slot in.

Attendance : 20,488
Assists : J Cole, Baros


READING 0
BOLTON 2 (Nolan 33, Helguson 58)

Bolton eased their relegation fears with victory at fellow strugglers Reading. Initially they blew a golden chance to go ahead when Matt Taylor's firmly struck penalty was kept out well by keeper Marcus Hahnemann after Marek Matejovsky had tripped Gretar Steinsson, however it was only a stay of execution as Kevin Nolan latched onto a header by Kevin Davies to fire in the opener. Bolton doubled the lead in the second half as Taylor's shot was blocked but fell nicely for Heidar Helguson to fire in. The home crowd and players felt that the scorer was offside but replays proved the officials to be spot on.

Attendance : 21,893
Assists : Davis, n/a


TOTTENHAM 1 (Berbatov 21)
MANCHESTER UNITED 1 (Dawson 94 og)

Man United drop to second after needing a stoppage time equaliser to avoid defeat at Spurs. In a pulsating game, the hosts took the lead with a breakaway goal as Jermaine Jenas found Aaron Lennon whose cut back was spilled by keeper Edwin Van Der Sar and tapped in by Dimitar Berbatov. Van Der Sar was booked for protesting about a handball by Jenas, however the Spurs man fell on the ball as he slipped in the build up and really didn't warrant the 'toys out of the pram' reaction from the United keeper. With time almost up, a corner from Nani was swept in at the near post by a combination of Michael Dawson and Carlos Tevez with the United striker getting the credit.

Attendance : 36,075
Assists : n/a, n/a


WIGAN 1 (Kilbane 45)
WEST HAM 0

Wigan recorded a vital win over West Ham to ease their fears of the drop. The only goal came in first half stoppage time as a free kick from Ryan Taylor was met with a header from Kevin Kilbane which looped over keeper Robert Green and in. Antonio Valencia came desperately close to making it two but his drilled effort hit both posts before rebounded into the arms of Green.

Attendance : 20,525
Assist : Taylor (fk)


MANCHESTER CITY 1 (Fernandes 28)
ARSENAL 3 (Adebayor 9, Eduardo 26, Adebayor 88)

Arsenal regain top spot after sweeping aside Man City at Eastlands. They went ahead early as Bacary Sagna's run and cut back was converted at the near post by Emmanuel Adebayor although it did bobble in off of a defender. The lead was doubled as Adebayor's header was controlled on the chest by Eduardo before his acrobatic volley found the net. He may have been marginally offside but it was extremely tight. City pulled one back as Gael Clichy lost possession on his own goal line, allowing Vedran Corluka the chance to find Gelson Fernandes to sweep the ball in. Arsenal clinched the win late on with a classic breakaway as Cesc Fabregas set up Adebayor to find the net. Credit to the referee who allowed play to continue in the build up despite a blatant foul on the eventual goalscorer.

Attendance : 46,426
Assists : Sagna, Adebayor, Corluka, Fabregas

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