PREMIERSHIP ROUND 26
 
7 FEBRUARY 2001

Everton (1) 2 (Ferguson 23, Campbell 73)
Leeds United (0) 2 (Harte 66, Dacourt 76)

Leeds move into the top six but had to come from behind twice to
earn a 2-2 draw at Goodison Park. Duncan Ferguson opened the scoring
for Everton when he latched onto a weak punch by Nigel Martyn to
prod the ball home from the edge of the box. It took Leeds until
midway through the second half to level matters when Ian Harte cut
in from the left and fired a right foot shot into the far bottom
corner. Everton regained the lead when Kevin Campbell bulldozed
through the Leeds backline and although his first effort was blocked
by Martyn, he got a foot to the loose ball and found the back of the
net. The lead lasted just three minutes when former Everton
favourite Olivier Dacourt drove forward from midfield and his 30
yard effort seemed to take a deflection off of a defender and
bobbled into the corner.


3 FEBRUARY 2001

Bradford (0) 0
Aston Villa (0) 3 (Vassell 50, 58, Joachim 87)

Bradford can get out the roads maps for Portsmouth and Wimbledon
ready for next season as they took another huge step towards the
Nationwide leagues after this crushing home defeat by Aston Villa.
After a goalless first half, Darius Vassell struck twice in nine
minutes early in the second half to effectively seal the points. His
first was clinically finished having been put through by Juan Pablo
Angel and the second, a fierce drive into the bottom corner after a
good run. Julian Joachim wrapped up the result with a late third,
curling home after Lee Hendrie had set him up.


Coventry (0) 0
Arsenal (0) 1 (Bergkamp 78)

Arsenal keep the pressure on Man United (if a 15 point lead can be
called `pressure`) with a slender victory at Coventry who are now
five points from safety in the bottom three. The only goal came late
in the game when Dennis Bergkamp produced a rare headed goal, neatly
dispatching Silvain Wiltord's cross.


Derby (1) 1 (Burley 42)
Sunderland (0) 0

Sunderland lose third place and Derby ease their relegation worries
after a Craig Burley goal just before half time decided the destiny
of the points. The Scot crashed home his shot from 12 yards after
Eranio had found a fine cross.


Ipswich (0) 1 (Venus 63)
Leeds United (2) 2 (Keane 27, 41)
RED CARD : Stewart (Ipswich) 75

Leeds move ominously up to seventh after their third successive
league victory as Robbie Keane scored his seventh goal in six games.
There was some doubt over his first however as his shot from Lee
Bowyer's cross appeared to go in via Mark Venus. The lead was
doubled four minutes before the break and there was no doubt over
the scorer this time as the Irishman shot home Danny Mills cut back.
Venus definitely got on the scoresheet in the second half, drilling
home a 25 yard free kick, however Ipswich's hopes took a dive when
leading scorer Marcus Stewart was shown a straight red card for a
late lunge on Ian Harte.


Leicester (1) 2 (Izzet 25, Rowett 76)
Chelsea (0) 1 (Hasselbaink 75)

Leicester ended their awful league record in 2001 and continued
Chelsea's awful away record all season with a tight home victory. Ex
Chelsea man Muzzy Izzet opened the scoring midway through the first
half, heading home powerfully from Steve Guppy's cross. Two goals in
a minute in the second half decided matters as first Jimmy Floyd
Hasselbaink equalised, looping his header from a Wise cross over the
keeper. Chelsea were still celebrating the possibility of a first
away league win in ten months, when the footballing gods slapped
them firmly in the chops. Almost straight from the kick off, Matt
Elliott headed on Robbie Savage's free kick and Gary Rowett pounced
for the winner.


Liverpool (2) 3 (Smicer 20, Fowler 44, 57)
West Ham (0) 0

Liverpool go third with a comfortable home win over West Ham in a
game where the margin of victory could have easily been double.
Vladimir Smicer opened the scoring in spectacular fashion, drilling
a 25 yard effort past Craig Forrest and into the corner. Enter
Robbie Fowler who scored the second a minute before half time,
driving home from the edge of the area inside the near post and then
secured the points from close range, knocking home Smicer's cross.


Manchester United (0) 1 (Watson (S) (og) 54)
Everton (0) 0

Manchester United stay 15 points clear at the top, however they were
made to fight by a determined Everton team and needed a slightly
lucky goal to earn the victory. Nine minutes into the second half,
Steve Watson could only watch in horror as Andrew Cole's half hit
shot struck him and looped into the net.


Middlesbrough (0) 1 (Cooper 62)
Manchester City (1) 1 (Vickers (og) 28)
RED CARD : O'Neill (Boro) 86

Honours even in the bottom of the table clash, but Manchester City
are the club that remain in the bottom three despite taking the lead
thanks to another goal that had an element of luck about it. Steve
Vickers was the unluckly player on this occasion, slotting an Andrei
Kanchelskis cross neatly past his own keeper. Boro's Colin Cooper
had scored just once for his club before this season, however in the
second half he scored his second in four days, firing home after
Hamilton Ricard's header was blocked. The game ended on a sour note
when Keith O'Neill was the resipitant of a red card for a wild
challenge on Gerard Wiekins


Tottenham (0) 0
Charlton (0) 0

Drab, dull and predictable - and so was the game! Most notable thing
to say is that Spurs have equalled the Premiership record of four
successive goalless draws in the league, originally set by Arsenal
in 1993-94, ironically when managed by current Spurs boss George
Graham. Charlton host Spurs in the FA Cup on Wednesday - this was
not a good advert for that game.


Gary Dowden
Chief Editor - Soccerage (UK)
http://www.soccerage.com
gary@soccerage.com