11 April 2004

Newcastle (0) 0
Arsenal (0) 0

No goals at St James Park as Arsenal remain unbeaten in the league this
season and regain their seven point lead at the top, whilst Newcastle go
level on points with fourth placed Liverpool. Newcastle began well and Craig
Bellamy had a cheeky effort well saved by Jens Lehmann, however after that,
the chances fell to the Gunners. Sylvain Wiltord latched onto a poor back
pass to shoot wide and into the second half, Thierry Henry was clear on
goal, however having rounded the keeper, the angle was too tight and he shot
against the outside of the post. Late on, Jose Reyes sent a free header
straight at Shay Given and in stoppage time, Kolo Toure had a similar chance
only to head wide.


10 April 2004

Birmingham (1) 1 (Grainger 39)
Man United (0) 2 (Ronaldo 60, Saha 78)

Man United kept their faint title dreams alive after coming from behind to
win at Birmingham. The hosts took the lead with a well struck 25-yard free
kick from Martin Grainger which found the net despite keeper Roy Carroll
getting hands to it. Sub Cristiano Ronaldo equalised with a glancing header
from a Ryan Giggs cross and the Welshman was provider again later on when
another cross was thundered in by the head of Louis Saha.


Blackburn (0) 1 (Short 90)
Leeds (1) 2 (Caldwell 2, Viduka 89)

Leeds remain in the bottom three but are now level on points with Portsmouth
and Blackburn after beating the latter at Ewood Park. They were off to a
dream start when Stephen Caldwell headed home Gary Kelly's cross at the far
post inside the first 90 seconds, however they had to wait until the final
minute to wrap it up. Jermaine Pennant embarked on a solo run down the right
and although Alan Smith couldn't convert his cross at the near post, Mark
Viduka was on hand at the far post to find the roof of the net. In stoppage
time, Rovers pulled one back when Craig Short was left unmarked to head home
Paul Gallager's cross.


Bolton (0) 2 (Pedersen 48, Davies 86)
Aston Villa (1) 2 (Crouch 18, Hendrie 53)

Bolton twice came from behind against Aston Villa to earn a draw and put a
dent in their opponents European hopes. Villa took the lead when
man-beanpole Peter Crouch headed home Gareth Barry's cross at the far post,
however early in the second half Henrik Pedersen blasted in the equaliser at
the near post after Jay-Jay Okocha charged down a clearance. Five minutes
later Barry's through ball sent Lee Hendrie clear and he found a perfect lob
from 25 yards which gave the keeper no chance. It looked to be enough until
the final four minutes when Stelios Gianokopolous crossed for Kevin Davies
to volley in at the far post.


Charlton (1) 1 (Bartlett 8)
Portsmouth (0) 1 (Yakubu 65)

Portsmouth stay out of the drop zone on goal difference after coming from
behind to earn a point at Charlton. The hosts took the lead when Jason
Euell's near post header was met by Shaun Bartlett whose diving header found
the net. Pompey equalised midway through the second half when Matthew
Taylor's cross gave Yakubu a tap in.


Chelsea (0) 0
Middlesbrough (0) 0

No goals at Stamford Bridge as Chelsea lose ground on leaders Arsenal. The
home side had the better chances, however Frank Lampard in particular was
guilty of two glaring misses, notably in the first half he prodded the ball
goalwards with his studs, allowing it to dribble wide of an empty net after
Eidur Gudjohnsen had hit the post.


Leicester (0) 0
Fulham (0) 2 (John 66, 89)

High controversy at Leicester after the home side lost 2-0 at home to Fulham
to stay rooted in the bottom three. With the scores goalless on the hour,
Muzzy Izzet blocked a clearance from keeper Edwin van der Sar and then
rolled the ball into the empty net only to have the effort disallowed
although quite what he did wrong was anyone's guess as the keeper no longer
had the ball under control. They were made to suffer further six minutes
later when Steed Malbranque's lob forward sent Collins John clear and he
clipped the ball over the keeper and inside the far post. John the doubled
the lead in the final minute when Luis Boa Morte broke on the left and
crossed for him to drill in.


Man City (2) 3 (Anelka 25, Sibierski 39, Wright-Phillips 90)
Wolves (2) 3 (Kennedy 13, Cort 23, Camara 78)
MISSED PEN : Cameron (Wolves) 67 (Keeper saved)

Wolves remain bottom after a last second equaliser gave Man City the share
of the points, although City themselves are only two points ahead of the
relegation zone. The visitors stormed into a two goal lead when firstly Mark
Kennedy belted the ball in from the edge of the area after a corner was half
cleared and then Carl Cort took advantage of more uncertainty at the back to
tap in after Lee Naylor's cross sparked a far post scramble. Two minutes
later, Nik Anelka nodded in Michael Tarnet's cross to half the deficit and
Tarnat was again the provider for Antoine Sibierski to score at the far post
with a diving header. After the break, Wolves were awarded a penalty when
Richard Dunne bundled over Henri Camara, although it did look to begin
outside the area. Colin Cameron stepped up only for David James to make a
superb save. Remarkably, Wolves continued to go for the jugular and went
back ahead when Kennedy's free kick was saved, allowing Camara to tap in the
rebound. It looked all over until the final seconds of stoppage time when a
cross was headed away to Shaun Wright-Phillips whose firm shot found the
bottom corner having travelled through a mass of players. Cracking game!


9 April 2004

Arsenal (1) 4 (Henry 31, 50, 78, Pires 49)
Liverpool (2) 2 (Hyypia 5, Owen 42)

Arsenal regain their seven point lead at the top, at least until Saturday,
after twice coming from behind to beat Liverpool largely due to a hat-trick
from Thierry Henry. The visitors took an early lead when Stephen Gerrard's
far post header was nodded in by Sami Hyypia at close range. The Gunners
equalised when Robert Pires chipped the ball into the path of Henry who made
no mistake from the edge of the area, however before half time, Liverpool
were back ahead when Gerrard's through ball set up Michael Owen who slotted
under the keeper. Two goals in a minute early in the second half turned the
game around as firstly Henry and Freddie Ljungberg played in Pires to fire
in at the near post and almost straight from the kick off, Henry collected
the ball a few yards inside his own half, dribbled past two defenders and
pace before side-footing in a brilliant solo goal. The Frenchman completed
his hat trick late on when he latched onto Dennis Bergkamp's pass and
although his first shot struck the keeper, the ball rebounded into the net
off of Henry's shin.


Everton (3) 3 (Unsworth 17, Naysmith 24, Yobo 40)
Spurs (0) 1 (Carr 75)
RED CARD : Carr (Spurs) 77

Everton move above Spurs on goal difference after their first win over the
North London side since 1997. Everton destroyed Spurs before half time as
the visitors defence collapsed under the pressure. They took the lead when a
cross from the left was nodded on by Steve Watson and helped in by David
Unsworth at the far post, although he did look just offside. Seven minutes
later, a superb 25-yard curling free kick from Gary Naysmith doubled the
advantage and five minutes from half time, another free kick, this time from
Thomas Gravesen, was parried by Kasey Keller, allowing Joseph Yobo to score
with a simple close range tap in. Stephen Carr netted his first goal in
three years as time began to run out for Spurs, shooting home after Rohan
Ricketts set him up, however within two minutes Carr was shown a second
yellow card and sunsequent red for a tug on the arm of James McFadden.


Gary Dowden - Joint Admin Topica Premier-L list
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