28 November 2004 Liverpool (1) 2 (Alonso 41, Mellor 90) Arsenal (0) 1 (Vieira 57) A stunning last minute strike by Neil Mellor gave Liverpool a deserved victory over Arsenal, leaving the champions a full five points adrift of Chelsea in the race for the title. Despite being played at a fast pace, there were few chances in the first half, however when it arrived, Liverpool took their's superbly. A long ball out wide was met by the head of Harry Kewell who found Steven Gerrard inside. He played in Xabi Alonso whose first time effort from the edge of the area tore into the roof of the net to cap a terrific move. Arsenal started the second half better and levelled matters with another well worked goal as Patrick Vieira found Thierry Henry who in turn set up Robert Pires. His ball through to Vieira was perfect, as was the clipped finish over the keeper which bobbled agonisingly over the line. Both clubs could have won it, however with just eight seconds of stoppage time remaining, a long clearance from Chris Kirkland was only partially cleared by Sol Campbell and Mellor unleashed a first time shot from 25 yards which found the bottom corner and left Arsenal shattered. Assists : Gerrard, Pires, n/a Newcastle (1) 1 (Bellamy 5) Everton (0) 1 (Carsley 56) Honours even at St James Park as Newcastle lost a lead at home to Everton, whose quest for a Champions League place continued. Newcastle were ahead early on with a slick one touch move, starting with a clearance from keeper Shay Given and culminating with a quick-fire one- two between Patrick Kluivert and Craig Bellamy, resulting in the Welshman breaking clear and firing home. Jermaine Jenas almost doubled the lead but hammered a shot against the bar, however after Everton ended the half well and began the second period in the same vein, they grabbed a deserved equaliser when Lee Carsley left Given totally stranded with a curling free kick into the top corner from 20 yards. Bellamy then thumped a shot against the post and late on was presented with a glorious chance to win it, but only hit his shot at Alessandro Pistone from twelve yards. Earlier, Everton had almost gone ahead when Marcus Bent was sent clear but having rounded the keeper, managed to shoot wide from the edge of the area. Assists : Kluivert, Bent (won fk) Spurs (0) 2 (Defoe 49, Kanoute 76) Middlesbrough (0) 0 SENT OFF: Queudrue (Boro) 40 Spurs ended their six match losing run with a home win against Champions League chasing Middlesbrough, whose cause wasn't helped by a straight red card shown to Franck Queudrue near the end of the first half. The Frenchman was dismissed for a two-footed tackle on Noe Pamarot and although they plan to appeal against the decision, it looked justified to me. Spurs went ahead early in the second half when Jermain Defoe swept in a cross from Pedro Mendes at the near post. The striker then receieved a yellow card for taking his shirt off in celebration, his fifth of the season, at least two of which have been for the same offence, resulting in a one match ban. The points were confirmed with a freakish second goal when Mark Schwarzer's clearance thudded against Freddie Kanoute and rebounded straight into the net. Assists : Mendes, n/a 27 November 2004 Fulham (0) 0 Blackburn (1) 2 (Gallagher 10, Dickov (pen) 77) SENT OFF: Knight (Fulham) 76 Blackburn move off of the foot of the table after a comfortable 2-0 victory away at ten man Fulham. The home side were dreadful in the first half and after Brett Emerton missed a great chance from a tight angle inside two minutes, it was no surprise to see Rovers take the lead when Paul Gallagher was left unmarked at the near post to fire in Steven Reid's crosa. Thomasz Radzinski was then sent clear but shot wide with only the keeper to beat as he looked to equalise, however Blackburn continued to look the better side as their hosts looked to self destruct, indeed Paul Dickov was sent through on goal courtesy of an awful header from Zat Knight, however he shot at keeper Mark Crossley when he should have done better. Fulham were jeered off at the break and things ween't much better in the second half as Andy Cole was denied by Brad Friedel whilst clean through and Papa Bouba Diop shot wide from a decent position. Rovers doubled the lead when Knight handled to deny Dickov a shot at goal, resulting in a second yellow and subsequent red card for the Fulham defender and a spot kick converted easily by Dickov. Within a minute, Brian McBridge headed straight at the keeper from close range, summing up Fulham's day perfectly. Assists : Reid, n/a Birmingham (1) 1 (Morrison 9) Norwich (0) 1 (Huckerby 64) Two of the Premiership's draw specialists met at St Andrews and it was no surprise to see honours even between Birmingham and Norwich. The hosts took an early lead when Darren Anderton's cross was headed against the bar by Emile Heskey, however Clinton Morrison was first to the rebound and nodded into the empty net. They were unable to kill off Norwich though and the visitors battled back after half time and earned a valuable point when David Bentley's cross wasn't cleared and was eventually tucked away at the far post by Darren Huckerby. Assists : n/a, n/a Bolton (0) 0 Portsmouth (1) 1 (De Zeeuw 45) After a week of turmoil for Portsmouth which saw the departure of boss Harry Redknapp and sidekick Jim Smith, the players bounced back with a fine win at Bolton. The only goal came in first half stoppage time when Gary O'Neil's free kick was headed powerfully in by Arjan De Zeeuw. Assist : O'Neill (fk) Charlton (0) 0 Chelsea (1) 4 (Duff 4, Terry 47, 50, Gudjohnsen 59) Chelsea continued their surge toward the title with a crushing win at Charlton to put the pressure onto Arsenal who play at Anfield on Sunday. As with last week, Chelsea were off to a flyer as Damien Duff again scored early on, collecting a through ball from Eidur Gudjohnsen and scoring from a tight angle with a neat flick with the outside of his foot. Charlton held out until half time and then capitulated after the break as they conceded three goals in a fourteen minute spell. It began with John Terry scoring his first league goal of the season, nodding in a corner from Duff and within three minutes later, he did it again from the same source, this time Carvalho nodded the ball across goal for Terry to prod past Dean Kiely who did manage to get hands to the ball, but couldn't keep it out. A fourth soon followed as Frank Lampard sent Gudjohnsen through and he finished with ease to wrap up another three points. Assists : Gudjohnsen, Duff, n/a, Lampard Southampton (0) 2 (Phillips 50, Jakobsson 76) Crystal Palace (0) 2 (Johnson 48, Jakobsson 54 og) Southampton twice came from behind to earn a vital point against fellow strugglers Crystal Palace at St Marys. After a goalless first half, Palace came out with all guns blazing and after keeper Kasey Keller had twice denied Andy Johnson, it was third time lucky for the striker as he met a cross from Aki Riihilahti with a superb glancing header to find the net inside the far post. Saints were level within two minutes as a cross from Fabrice Fernandes was missed by Dexter Blackstock, however fellow forward Kevin Phillips was behind him to find the net from close range. Palace came straight back again and regained the lead four minutes later when Riihilahti found Wayne Routledge on the right flank and after cutting inside, his shot was heading for the far post before a deflection from Andreas Jakobsson took it inside the near post. He made amends later though with the second equaliser for his club, slotting home after Peter Crouch had nodded on a Graeme Le Saux free kick. Assists : Riihilahti, Fernandes, n/a, Crouch West Brom (0) 0 Man United (0) 3 (Scholes 53, 82, Van Nistelrooy 72) Man United's good recent form continued with a cruise of a victory at struggling West Brom, who were hampered by first half injuries to Moore and Contra. United took control after half time and took the lead when Gabriel Heinze and Ryan Giggs combined to set up Paul Scholes who drilled the ball into the bottom corner. The lead was doubled when Giggs crossed for Heinze to ead across goal and Ruud van Nistelrooy was on hand to nod into the net and late on, Scholes added a third when Giggs' cross was met by Wayne Rooney and although his header was blocked, Scholes completed the job with a close range header. Assists : Giggs, Heinze, Rooney Man City (2) 2 (Macken 29, Wright-Phillips 37) Aston Villa (0) 0 MISSED PEN: Angel (Villa) 88 - Saved SENT OFF: Hendrie (Villa) 90 Man City ended Aston Villa's five game unbeaten run with a comfortable home win, courtesy of two first half goals on what was generally a bad day at the office for the visitors. City went ahead when Robbie Fowler sent Jon Macken away and after turning well in the area, he found the bottom corner with a crisp shot. Eight minutes later, Villa could only half clear a cross to the edge of the area where Shaun Wright-Phillips drill the ball home superbly. Villa were a little better after the break but rarely looked like staging a comeback until they were handed a late lifeline when Richard Dunne fouled Luke Moore and although contact did look to be just outside the area, the ref awarded a penalty. Justice was done when David James kept out Juan Pablo Angel's kick and although the rebound fell back to the Columbian, he then headed over the empty net from six yards. Villa's misery was complete in stoppage time when Danny Mills and Lee Hendrie squared up to each other after Mills took exception to a tackle and kick out by the Villa man. Hendrie then attempted to headbutt Mills and although no contact was made, the red card was swiftly out for the visiting midfielder. Assists : n/a, n/a Gary Dowden - Joint Admin Topica Premier-L list http://www.topica.com/lists/premier-L Leeds United and Scotland and proud of it http://www.peanutsfan.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk/footiemad The Unofficial Premiership Site |