25 January 2005 Blackburn 0 Bolton 1 (Diouf 77) El Haji Diouf won a penalty with an outragerous dive. Friedel parried his spot kick but Diouf scored on the rebound in what was a dreadful encounter. Assist : n/a 23 January 2005 Arsenal (1) 1 (Bergkamp 19) Newcastle (0) 0 Arsenal regain second place and move to within ten points of leaders Chelsea after a narrow, but deserved, win at Highbury against Newcastle. The only goal came thanks to some typical finishing of Dennis Bergkamp who collected a clipped ball into the area by Mathieu Flamini, controlled it well and slotted it past Shay Given and into the net. They had chances in the second half to double the lead, notably when Thierry Henry hit the post whilst clean through, however despite a nervy finale, they held on. Assist : Flamini 22 January 2005 West Brom 2 (Campbell 5, Wallwork 81) Man City 0 West Bromwich Albion stay bottom despite a hard fought, yet deserved win against Man City. They began well and went ahead early on when Martin Albrectsen's cross was drilled into the bottom corner by Kevin Campbell on his home debut for the Baggies. The lead was doubled with nine minutes to go when Jonathon Greening's deep cross was nodded back by Geoff Horsfield for Ronnie Wallwork to stoop and head in from close range. City thought they'd sparked a late revival three minutes later when Richard Dunne unleashed a superb shot from a free kick that tore into the top corner, however it was disallowed as referee Graham Poll ruled that he'd not blown his whistle to allow the kick to be taken. Attendance : 25,348 Assists : Albrechtsen, Horsfield Birmingham 1 (Volz 51 og) Fulham 2 (Cole 78 pen, Diop 83) Fulham came from behind to win at St Andrews at Birmingham slumped to their fourth league defeat in a row. It looked good for the hosts when they took the lead early in the second half when a cross from Mario Melchiot was helped on by Clinton Morrison and as Emile Heskey tried to bundle the ball in at the far post, it rebounded off of the keeper and against the knee of Moritz Volz and into his own net. Fulham battled back and were level when Luis Boa Morte was bundled over in the area by Damien Johnson and the penalty was well converted by Andy Cole, however the hosts were angered by what they felt was a foul in the build up to the move and that the actual foul for the spot kick was outside the area. Their anger was increased five minutes later when a Mark Pembridge free kick was headed home majestically by Papa Bouba Diop for his second late winner in as many games. Attendance : 28,512 Assists : n/a, Boa Morte (won pen), Pembridge (fk) Chelsea 3 (Drogba 15, 39 fk, Robben 21) Portsmouth Chelsea continued their push for the title with a comfortable home win against Portsmouth to move them a full eleven points clear ahead of Arsenal playing on Sunday. The game was wrapped up by half time thanks to Didier Drogba and Arjen Robben as the latter dribbled to the goal- line before his low cross was tapped in by his strike partner. Six minutes later, Frank Lampard sent Robben clear and after rounding the keeper, he netted from a tight angle and the game was over as a contest when Drogba added a third with a superb 20-yard free kick which gave the keeper no chance. Attendance : 42,267 Assists : Robben, Lampard, Robben (won fk) Crystal Palace 3 (Leigertwood 66, Granville 70, Johnson 77 pen) Tottenham 0 On a good day for the strugglers, Crystal Palace did their survival prospects the power of good by walloping in-form Spurs. All three goals came in an eleven minute spell in the second half, starting with a first ever goal for Mikele Leigertwood who was on hand to volley in off the underside of the bar after Tom Soares had provided the cross. Four minutes later, Wayne Routledge sent Danny Granville clear to slot in the second and victory was clinched when Andy Johnson was tripped in the area by Pedro Mendes and drilled in the penalty himself. As a piece of trivia, Palace have now been awarded eight penalties in 24 league games this season, an average of one every three games! Attendance : 23,723 Assists : Soares, Routledge, Johnson (won pen) Everton 0 Charlton 1 (Holland 45) The battle of the European hopefuls saw Everton lose at home to Charlton, despite having the better of the play throughout. Ultimately though, it's goals that count and the sole strike of the game was a beauty as a mishit cross from Herman Hreidarsson fell perfectly for Matt Holland whose first time shot from 25 yards sailed over the keeper and into the roof of the net. Attendance : 36,041 Assist : Hreidarsson Manchester United 3 (Ronaldo 8, Ridgewell 69 og, Scholes 70) Aston Villa 1 (Barry 53) Man United moved into second place after two goals in a minute gave them victory at home to Aston Villa. They began well and took an early lead when Louis Saha played Cristiano Ronaldo in and he found the net well from the edge of the area, however early in the second half, Gareth Barry levelled matters when he scored from a similar range after being found by Nol Solano. The lead was regained when Wayne Rooney's cross was turned into the net by Saha, courtesy of a deflection and with Villa still recovering, United scored again as Paul Scholes nodded in from close range after Rolaldo's shot was saved. Attendance : 67,859 Assists : Saha, Solano, n/a, n/a Norwich 4 (Francis 18, Ashton 80, McKenzie 90, Drury 92) Middlesbrough 4 (Hasselbaink 34, 78, Quedrue 49, 55) Struggling Norwich produced one of the most astonishing comebacks in Prem history after they recovered from 4-1 down against Middlesbrough to draw 4-4, including scoring twice in the final minute. They actually took an early lead when Damien Francis was left with a tap in after Darren Huckerby's shot was spilled, however Boro then took total command either side of half time. The equaliser came from Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink who deflected a shot from Stuart Downing over the keeper and within ten minutes of the second half starting, the unlikely hero was Franck Queudrue who netted twice within six minutes. The first came as he nodded in a Downing corner at the near post and it was 3-1 when another Downing corner was headed on by Gareth Southgate and converted at the far post by the French defender. Hasselbaink then added his second and Boro's fourth with a 25 yard free kick into the bottom corner and although Dean Ashton pulled a goal back on his home debut, hooking a Huckerby cross away from the keeper and tapping into the empty net, it looked to be too little too late. However, with a minute of normal time left, Huckerby's cross found Leon McKenzie unmarked and his diving header made it 4-3 and in stoppage time, Huckerby was again the provider as his corner was met by the head of Adam Drury, again unmarked, who nodded firmly home to complete a truly amazing recovery. Attendance : 24,547 Assists : n/a, Downing, Downing (ck), Southgate, n/a, Huckerby, Huckerby, Huckerby (ck) Southampton 2 (Prutton 5, Crouch 22) Liverpool 0 Second from bottom Southampton won their first game under boss Harry Redknapp and ony their third of the season as Champions League hopefuls Liverpool flop to their third defeat in a week! Southampton had by far the better of the first half and took the lead inside five minutes. Mauricio Pellegrino was the villain as he was caught in possesion on the edge of his own area by David Prutton and after a quickfire one-two with Peter Crouch, he ran on and fired in from a tight angle. The lead was doubled when roles were reversed as Prutton crossed from the right for Crouch to power in a header from an unmarked close range position. After the break, Liverpool picked up a gear as both Steven Gerrard and Milan Baros came close, however ultimately their weren't good enough against a club battling against relegation. Attendance : 32,017 Assists : Crouch, Prutton 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 |