PREMIERSHIP ROUND 12
 
10 November 2003

Blackburn (2) 2 (Babbel 5, Yorke 13)
Everton (0) 1 (Radzinski 49)

Blackburn moved out of the bottom three at the expense of opponents Everton
after a hard fought 2-1 win at Ewood Park. Blackburn dominated the first
half and were two up before Everton knew what had hit them. The unlikely
scorer of the opener was Marcus Babbel, ironically on loan from Liverpool,
as he headed firmly past Nigel Martyn after Gresko's header back across goal
took a slight deflection off a defender. Within eight minutes the lead was
doubled, this time Dwight Yorke exposing the soft-centre of the away
defence, heading a Brett Emerton cross into the net. Early in the second
half, Everton pulled one back with their first effort at goal as Tomasz
Radzinski headed into a empty net after Brad Friedel had only pawed James
McFadden's cross away. Late on, David Unsworth missed a glorious chance to
snatch a point when he somehow skied the ball over the bar from two yards.


9 November 2003

Liverpool (0) 1 (Kewell 76)
Man United (0) 2 (Giggs 59, 70)

Ryan Giggs scored twice as Manchester United became the third of the top
three clubs to win 2-1 at Anfield. The visitors took the lead following a
good, patient spell of possession as Giggs found space on the right to swing
in a cross, however after both Ruud Van Nistelrooy and Diego Forlan failed
to connect, the ball nestled directly into the far corner. Eleven minutes
later, the lead was doubled as Forlan's cross found Giggs at the far post
who had time to control and fire home, via the legs of Jerzy Dudek and the
crossbar. Cue the Liverpool revival, largely sparked by sub Florent
Simama-Pongolle who somehow managed to hook a cross into the area for Kewell
to side-foot home on the half volley. Emile Heskey blew a glorious chance to
equalise in the final minute as had a clear shot on goal having been found
by Murphy, however as he turned and shot, he slipped and his shot dribbled
harmlessly wide.


Chelsea (3) 5 (Johnson 24, Crespo 39, Lampard (pen) 42, Duff 77, Gudjohnsen 84)
Newcastle (0) 0
RED CARD : O'Brien (Newcastle) 40

Chelsea kept up their surge for the title with a 5-0 hammering of ten man
Newcastle, a result which keeps them second sandwiched between Arsenal and
Man United. Two of the English summer arrivals combined to open the scoring
as Wayne Bridge drilled a cross to the far post where Glen Johnson
controlled well before hammering into the roof of the net. Two goals and a
red card in a four minute spell then effectively ended the game as a
contest. Firstly the lead was doubled as Johnson's cross found Damien Duff
who shot across goal for Crespo to tap home and just a minute later, Andy
O'Brien was robbed by Adrian Mutu and as the Romanian broke clear, O'Brien
tugged him back and was promptly sent off. Replays showed contact to be
outside of the area, however a penalty was awarded and Frank Lampard crashed
home the third. The fourth finally arrived with a little help from visiting
keeper Given. His loose clearance fell to Duff, who bore down on goal, beat
his man before blasting his shot inside the near post. The rout was almost
over for Newcastle and the fina nail was hammered in when Gudjohnsen headed
home a cross from Bridge with six minutes remaining.


Man City (0) 0
Leicester (1) 3 (Stewart 12, Dickov (pen) 53, Bent 58)

Leicester moved out of the bottom three with a convincing win at Man City.
Jordan Stewart opened the scoring with a fine solo run culminating in a
crisp shot from 25 yards which found the bottom corner. Early in the second
half, Sylvain Distin was judged to have shoved Paul Dickov in the area,
allowing the former City man to get up and convert the penalty. Five minutes
later, Marcus Bent crashed home a header to complete the victory.


8 November 2003

Arsenal (0) 2 (Pires 69, Ljungberg 79)
Spurs (1) 1 (Anderton 5)

Arsenal consolidated top spot after coming from behind to beat local rivals
Spurs, however they needed a considerable stroke of luck to clinch all three
points. The visitors took a shock lead early on when an attempted clearance
struck Robbie Keane and fell perfectly into the path of Darren Anderton who
poked the ball past Jens Jehmann. The Gunners levelled matters when Thierry
Henry latched onto a long ball from Ray Parlour and although his effort was
saved by Kasey Keller, Robert Pires thumped home the rebound. Ten minutes
later, Freddie tried his luck from long range, the ball took an strong
deflection off of Stephen Carr and looped over Keller into the net.


Aston Villa (0) 0
Middlesbrough (1) 2 (Zenden 30, Ricketts (pen) 49)

Middlesbrough's revival continued at the hands of Aston Villa who remain too
close to the relegation zone for comfort. Bolo Zenden had a hand - or a
head - in both goals as he firstly met Franck Queudrue's cross with a superb
near post diving header to open the scoring and then early in the second
half he was tripped in the area by Lee Hendrie, allowing Michael Ricketts to
cooly convert the penalty.


Bolton (0) 0
Southampton (0) 0
RED CARD : Svensson (M) (Southampton) 87

No goals at the Reebok, although for the second game in a row, Jay-Jay
Okocha tried single-handedly to break the deadlock. Three times the Nigerian
forced superb saves out of Antti Niemi before Saints were reduced to ten men
late on when Michael Svensson was shown a second yellow card for pushing
Mario Jardel, although the Bolton man collapsed as though he'd been hit by a
tank.


Charlton (1) 3 (Stuart 10, Johansson 69, 76)
Fulham (0) 1 (Davis 89)

Charlton moved into fourth place after comfortably beating Fulham in the
London derby. They took an early lead when Graeme Stuart was on hand to
score after Jonaton Johansson's shot saw saved. Johansson then took over the
reigns with two goals in seven minutes, firstly with a crisp shot after
Jason Euell's chested past set him up and then he latched onto Andy
Meville's backpass to prod past Edwin van der Sar. Fulham grabbed a late
consolation when Sean Davis scored from close range after Sylvain
Legwinski's shot had hit both posts, however it was too little, too late.


Portsmouth (2) 6 (Stefanovic 17, O'Neil 45, 71, Foxe 63, Berger 75, Yakubu 86)
Leeds United (1) 1 (Smith 19)

Leeds remain rock bottom after being well and truth thrashed at Portsmouth.
Despite a delayed kick off due to floodlight failure, the hosts were quick
off the mark when Dejan Stefanovic headed home a Patrik Berger corner,
however within two minutes Leeds were level when Seth Johnson sent Alan
Smith through to finish well. However, that was as good as it got for Leeds
as Portsmouth regained the lead on half time when Gary O'Neil scored from
the edge of the area courtesy of a slight deflection. Hayden Foxe added a
third from a similar distance having been set up by Berger and Teddy
Sheringham, however keeper Paul Robinson will be disappointed as the ball
seemed to go through his hands. O'Neil then added his second and Pompey's
fourth at the near post having collected a through ball from Berger, before
the Czech star got onto the scoresheet when, having been sent clear by
Sheringham, he rounded Robinson and slotted into the empty net. The rout was
completed four minutes from time when Yakubu prodded in off the post after
his original effort had been saved.


Gary Dowden
Chief Editor SoccerAge UK

Gary Dowden - Joint Admin Topica Premier-L list
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