PREMIERSHIP ROUND 26
 
2 February 2003

West Ham (0) 0
Liverpool (2) 3 (Baros 6, Gerrard 9, Heskey 68)

Liverpool breezed to victory at Upton Park as West Ham's inability to defender
corner's worked horribly against them. All three Liverpool goals came from John
Arne Riise corner's, including two in the opening nine minutes, firstly when an
unmarked Milan Baros headed in off the post and then when Steven Gerrard
drilled a shot into the bottom corner from 25 yards after David James had
punched the original cross away. Midway through the second half, Emile
Heskey nodded a third as he reached the ball ahead of James after Sami
Hyypia headed Riise's ball back across goal.


Aston Villa (2) 3 (Dublin 2, 40, Barry 81)
Blackburn (0) 0

Aston Villa move above Blackburn in the table after a comfortable win at Villa
Park. Dion Dublin did the primary damage with two first half goals, the first a
fine header from a Joey Gudjonsson cross and then a firm shot from the edge of
the area after an error by ex-Villa striker Dwight Yorke handed possession to
Gareth Barry. Late on, Barry grabbed the third himself after collecting a pass
from Ulyses de la Cruz, he cut inside his marker and shot home.


1 February 2003

Arsenal (1) 2 (Pires 17, 90)
Fulham (1) 1 (Malbranque 29)

Arsenal left it late - very late - to finally kill off a resolute Fulham side
and consolidate top spot. Robert Pires gave the Gunners an early lead with a far
post header from a Thierry Henry cross, however on the half hour, Steed
Malbranque made it five goals in a week on a personal level as he thumped a
volley into the corner after Steve Marlet had headed on. With the final whistle
close, Arsenal snatched victory in stoppage time when Francis Jeffers diverted
the ball past the keeper, allowing Pires to slide in and scramble it over the
line.


Bolton (1) 4 (Cunningham (og) 12, Pedersen 46, Djorkaeff 84, Facey 87)
Birmingham (1) 2 (Savage 44, Morrison 60)

Bolton closed the gap on Birmingham at the bottom with a fine win over their
relegation rivals, although they were given an early helping hand when Kenny
Cunningham slid a Ricardo Gardner cross past his own keeper and into the net.
Robbie Savage equalised on half time, tapping in a Stan Lazaridis cross from
close range, however a minute after the restart, Henrik Pedersen restored the
lead after Youri Djorkaeff's shot was only partially saved. Parity was regained
on the hour when Clinton Morrison slotted in after Stephen Clemence found a
delightful chip over the back line, however Bolton won the game with two late
efforts. The first came from Djorkaeff who found the bottom corner after Ian
Bennett's poor kick had been collected by Jay-Jay Okocha and the Nigerian also
set up the fourth for Delroy Facey, who finished well after Okocha had hit the
post from long range.


Chelsea (1) 1 (Zola 40)
Spurs (1) 1 (Sheringham 18)

Honours even at Stamford Bridge as two golden oldies got on the score-sheet.
Teddy Sheringham gave Spurs the lead when he was on hand to tap home from
a yard out after Darren Anderton fired across goal, however a brilliant, curling
free kick from Gianfranco Zola levelled matters before half time.


Everton (0) 2 (Unsworth (pen) 56, Radzinski 68)
Leeds (0) 0

Things go from bad to worse for Leeds as they slumped to defeat at Everton.
The hosts took the lead with a David Unsworth penalty after Danny Mills had
bundled over Tomasz Radzinski in the area and the Canadian added a second
himself, latched onto Li Tie's pass to chip past Paul Robinson.


Man City (1) 1 (Gilchrist (og) 22)
West Brom (1) 2 (Clement 18, Moore 71)
RED CARD: Roberts (West Brom) 81

Man City fell to a shock home defeat against West Brom, despite the visitors
playing the latter stages with ten men. Neil Clement gave the Baggies the lead
when he nodded in a corner, however four minutes later, Phil Gilchrist headed a
Kevin Horlock cross into his own goal to make it 1-1. Darren Moore grabbed the
winner in the second half after City failed to clear a corner and Albion held on
despite Jason Roberts being red-carded for elbowing Davide Sommeil in the
stomach.


Middlesbrough v Newcastle - Match postponed

Southampton (0) 0
Man United (2) 2 (Van Nistelrooy 15, Giggs 22)

Manchester United kept up the pressure on Arsenal with a comfortable win at
Southampton. Ruud van Nistelrooy gave the away side the lead when he finished
well on the half volley from Gary Neville's cross and the game was effectively
over by half time when Ryan Giggs fired home when his original shot was
blocked after Juan Veron dummied an Ole Gunnar Solskjaer cross.


Sunderland (0) 1 (Phillips (pen) 81)
Charlton (3) 3 (Wright (og) 24, Proctor (both og's) 29, 32)

Sunderland conceded THREE own goals in nine astonishing first half minutes to
hand Charlton a victory in a masterclass of how not to defend. The first came
when Mark Fish's shot clipped Tore Andre Flo and then the heel of Stephen
Wright to leave keeper Thomas Sorensen flat-footed, however the best was
to come! Five minutes later, Sorensen saved well from Chris Powell, however
the ball rebounded against Michael Proctor and crept inside the near post and
a further three minutes on, Proctor was again the unfortunate player as a
Claus Jensen corner struck him on the back and again beat his own keeper.
The home side did grab a late consolation when Kevin Phillips scored from
the penalty spot after John Fortune had fouled Flo, but the headlines went
to Proctor and Co.

Gary Dowden - Joint Admin Topica Premier-L list
Leeds United and Scotland and proud of it
http://www.topica.com/lists/premier-L