6 MARCH 2002

Chelsea (2) 3 (Melchiot 18, Gudjohnsen 29, Forsell 82)
Fulham (1) 2 (Saha (pen) 20, 73)

Chelsea stay in touch for a UEFA Cup spot after a topsy turvy encounter with
West London rivals Fulham. The hosts took the lead when Mario Melchiot cut in
from the right and found the bottom corner from the edge of the area, however
within two minutes, Louis Saha slotted home a penalty after he'd been fouled by
William Gallas. Eidur Gidjohnsen restored the lead when he latched onto a
through ball by Petit before finishing well, however with seventeen minutes to
go, Saha levelled matters again when he bundled in a cross from Steve Marlet.
Chelsea finally clinched the points when Mickel Forsell fired home from ten
yards, however Fulham claimed that he had handled the ball when controlling it.


Leeds United (0) 2 (Fowler 46, Harte (pen) 77)
Ipswich (0) 0

Leeds ended their ten match run without a win with a home victory over
struggling Ipswich. Robbie Fowler put Leeds ahead 15 seconds into the second
half as his weak shot from the edge of the area was misjudged by the diving Andy
Marshall the ball bounced over his outstretched hands. The win was confirmed
when Ian Harte stroked home a penalty after Marshall had fouled Alan Smith who
had latched onto Jamie Clapham's weak header.


Liverpool (1) 3 (Murphy 32, 52, Hamann 75)
Newcastle (0) 0

Liverpool took a deserved lead just after the half hour mark when Nik Anelka
made a surging run down the right and although his cross was behind Michael
Owen, Danny Murphy made up ground at the far post and slotted home. Early in the
second half, Heskey found Murphy 30 yards out and as he tried to find a pass,
the ball rebounded back to him and he fired home via the keeper and the far
post. With fifteen minutes to go, Vladimir Smicer found Dietmar Hamann on the
edge of the area and the German slotted neatly into the bottom corner to add a
third.


Man United (2) 4 (Beckham 15, 64, Van Nistelrooy (pen) 43, 76)
Tottenham (0) 0
RED CARD: Taricco (Spurs) 42

Man United return to the top of the table with a comprehensive, yet
controversial win over Spurs. David Beckham started matters when he played a
neat one-two with Ruud van Nistelrooy, tore down the right before cutting inside
and finding the corner, however just before half time, Mauricio Taricco was
harshly sent off when he was judged to have pulled Paul Scholes shirt as he
looked to run into the area. Van Nistelrooy made it 2-0 from the spot although
the foul looked to be three yards outside the area. Beckham then added a third,
hamming into the roof of the net with Van Nistelrooy again the provider, before
the Dutchman completed the rout after Neil Sullivan failed to deal with a Roy
Keane cross.


Southampton (1) 1 (Svensson 38)
Middlesbrough (0) 1 (Whelan 57)
RED CARD: Festa (Middlesbrough) 61

Honours even at St Marys as both clubs remain in the relegation dog fight.
Anders Svensson gave Southampton the lead, slotting home a cross from Brett
Ormerod, however Noel Whelan equalised with a neat volley across goal that went
in off the post. Boro survived the last hour with ten men after Gianluca Festa
lost possession to Chris Marsden and then hauled him back at he bore down on
goal.


West Ham (0) 1 (Sinclair 59)
Everton (0) 0

Everton remain in deep trouble as West Ham eased their own fears with a hard
fought victory. The only goal had an element of luck about it as Trevor Sinclair
deflected Joe Cole's fierce shot into the corner.


5 MARCH 2002

Arsenal (0) 1 (Pires 69)
Derby (0) 0

Arsenal hit the top of the Premiership, albeit for 24 hours, after a hard fought
victory over Derby. The only goal, against a stubborn defence, came with just
over twenty minutes left, when Dennis Bergkamp held the ball up well before
slotting in Robert Pires, who slotted low past Andy Oakes into the bottom
corner.


Blackburn (1) 3 (Dunn 8, Duff 85, Cole 89)
Aston Villa (0) 0

Blackburn remain in the bottom three, but have done their chances of avoiding
the drop the power of good after thumping Aston Villa. David Dunn got the game
off to an explosive start as he collected a long cross-field pass by Hakan
Unsal, cut in from the left and crashed a shot into the back of the net from the
edge of the area. Five minutes from time, the points were secured when Dunn
found Damien Duff on the left and the proceeded to emulate Dunn as he dribbled
inside and found the bottom corner. Cole added a third late on, as former Man
United team mate Peter Schmeichel failed to properly control a hoofed ball
forward, gifting the ball to Andy Cole, who chipped neatly into an empty net
from 30 yards.


Sunderland (1) 1 (McAteer 42)
Bolton (0) 0

Bolton's relegation fears took a dive after defeat at Sunderland, who are
beginning to look a little safer. The only goal came shortly before half time
when Kevin Phillips set up Jason McAteer to drill home his first goal for the
Wearsiders.


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