10 FEBRUARY 2002

Charlton (0) 0
Manchester United (1) 2 (Solskjaer 33, 73)

United regain top spot thanks to a goal in each half from Ole Gunnar Solskjaer
to see off a determined Charlton side. The Norwegian struck first when he
collected a superb long pass from Roy Keane, cut across Mark Fish, and fired
crisply into the corner. Graham Stuart had a goal unluckily ruled out for
offside before Solskjaer added a second, hooking in after Ryan Giggs' shot was
parried by Dean Kiely.


Everton (0) 0
Arsenal (0) 1 (Wiltord 62)

Arsenal keep up the pressure on the top three after a hard fought victory at a
rain soaked Goodison Park. The only goal came when Patrick Vieira's chipped
ball into the area found Sylvain Wiltord and although his effort looked to be
mishit, it looped over Simonsen and inside the far post, similar to Danny
Murphy's effort at Old Trafford a few weeks ago.


9 FEBRUARY 2002

Aston Villa (1) 1 (Merson 28)
Chelsea (0) 1 (Lampard 65)

Chelsea stay in fifth after coming from behind to draw at Villa Park. Aston
Villa, under new boss Graham Taylor for the first time in his second spell,
opened the scoring when Paul Merson prodded home after Darius Vassell's shot
had been blocked, however midway through the second half, Frank Lampard
equalised, firing home after Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink's header had found him
in space.


Bolton (1) 1 (Gardner 38)
West Ham (0) 0

Bolton gave themselves a Premiership lifeline with a victory over West Ham
which lifted them out of the bottom three. Ricardo Gardner scored the only goal
late in the first half, shooting into the net after good work from Freddie Bobic and
Mike Whitlow.


Derby (0) 0
Sunderland (0) 1 (Quinn 80)

New Derby boss John Gregory was brought back down to earth today as his side
crashed at home to out of form Sunderland. Niall Quinn netted the vital goal ten
minutes from time, turning the ball into the net after Michael Gray's shot was
blocked.


Fulham (1) 2 (Hayles 31, Malbranque 63)
Blackburn (0) 0
RED CARD: Short (Blackburn) 89

Blackburn replace Bolton in the bottom three after losing at goalshy Fulham.
Barry Hayles put the hosts ahead on the half hour, although Blackburn were
angered that referee Mark Halsey played an advantage rather than award a
penalty against Henning Berg who cleared handled seconds before the goal.
Steed Malbranque doubled the lead in the second half, finishing well after a
fine one-two with Steve Marlet. Blackburn's misery was complete when Craig
was red carded late on for allegedly elbowing Marlet in the face.


Ipswich (0) 0
Liverpool (2) 6 (Xavier 15, Heskey 43, 90, Hyypia 52, Owen 62, 71)

Liverpool top the table on goal difference after crushing in form Ipswich at
Portman Road. Abel Xavier, without a goal in over 160 league games for
Everton, scored on his debut for the reds, his shot deflecting off of Chris Makin
before finding the net. Emile Heskey doubled the lead before half time, slotting
past Marshall after being sent clear by Steven Gerrard, before the second half
rout started. Sami Hyypia made it three, heading home a corner, and Michael
Owen added a fourth, chipping sweetly in after good work from Gerrard again.
Owen made it five with twenty minutes to go after Heskey had put him through,
before Heskey added his second of the game, and Liverpool's tenth in two
games, to conclude the demolition.


Middlesbrough (0) 2 (Ince 50, Windass 87)
Leeds United (1) 2 (Bakke 20, Fowler 53)

Leeds blew a golden chance to re-enter the top five after twice losing a lead at
Middlesbrough. Eirik Bakke put Leeds ahead with a tap in after good work from
Robbie Fowler, however a freak goal but the hosts level when Paul Ince's long
range shot hit a divot and bounced over Nigel Martyn as he went to gather the
ball (memories of Collymore/Flowers a few years ago!). Leeds then regained the
lead when Ian Harte's free kick was headed home by Fowler from practically on
the goalline, however with time running out, Dean Windass came off the bench
to head home a Beni Carbone corner and earn a vital point.


Newcastle (3) 3 (Robert 24, Shearer 29, (pen) 45)
Southampton (1) 1 (Pahars 39)

Newcastle rise above Man United, but stay second courtesy of Liverpool's goal
rush at Ipswich. To their credit, Newcastle did all that they needed to and took
the lead through Laurent Robert's belter of a free kick. Alan Shearer doubled
the lead with a trademark header from Nol Solano's corner, however Marion
Pahars pulled one back with a sweet strike after the home side failed to clear
a Paul Telfer cross. On half time, Shearer fired home a penalty after Claus
Lundekvam was judged to have fouled Craig Bellamy


Tottenham (1) 2 (Anderton 36, Davies 61)
Leicester (0) 1 (Oakes 79)

Bottom club Leicester took a step nearer the first division after a narrow
defeat at Spurs. Darren Anderton, playing his 250th league game for the club,
opened the scoring, hooking home after Stefan Iversen's nod down, before
Simon Davies doubled the lead after a cross from Anderton. Stefan Oakes
pulled one back for the Foxes, drilling home a long range free kick, but it
simply wasn't enough.


Gary Dowden
Chief Editor SoccerAge UK
http://www.soccerage.com
gary@soccerage.com
garydowden@blueyonder.co.uk