16 March 2005 Liverpool (0) 0 Blackburn (0) 0 No goals at Anfield in what can politely be called a poor game. Liverpool, chasing a Champions League place, simply could not break down a resolute Blackburn side in a match which saw just ONE shot on target in the entire game. The best chance came early in the second half when Milan Baros found space in the area, but his shot was widely off target. Liverpool face fourth placed Everton on Sunday in a game which they simply must win. Attendance : 37,763 Charlton (1) 2 (Thomas 4, Murphy 85) Spurs (0) 0 Charlton moved to within a point of Liverpool after a goal at each end of the game gave them victory in their London derby against Spurs. Jerome Thomas gave the hosts a great start inside four minutes when he collected a pass from Paul Konchesky before curling a beauty into the top corner. Spurs made, and missed, chances and with five minutes to go, they paid for it. Danny Murphy was the scorer this time with a twenty- five yard free kick which found the net via the fingertips of keeper Paul Robinson and the inside of the post. Attendance : 26,870 Assists : Konchesky, Hreidarsson (won fk) 15 March 2005 Chelsea (1) 1 (Drogba 26) West Brom (0) 0 Chelsea inched closer to winning the title after a narrow home win against struggling West Brom. To their credit, the visitors began with three up front rather than adopt a 'defend in numbers 'tactic, although it was no surprise when Chelsea took the lead just before the half hour mark with a slick, incisive move. Frank Lampard collected the ball in midfield and played a superb through ball to send Damien Duff away on the left. His first time cross found an unmarked Didier Drogba who made no mistake with the goal at his mercy. After the break, the game often resembled an 'attack v defence' training excersise with Drogba missing a series of chances to double the lead, however ultimately Chelsea move eleven points clear at the top. Attendance : 41,713 Assist : Duff 7 March 2005 Man City (0) 0 Bolton (1) 1 (Diouf 45) Bolton move into sixth place after a narrow win at Man City. Bolton went ahead on the stroke of half time when City failed to properly clear a free kick and after the ball was played back into the area, Stelios Giannakopolous drove it across goal for El Hadji Diouf to tap in at the far post. Robbie Fowler had earlier missed a good chance for City when he clipped the ball over from close range and that was as close as they were to come as they failed to muster a single shot on target all game. Attendance : 43,050 Assist : Giannakopolous 6 March 2005 Everton 0 Blackburn 1 (Stead 71) Attendance : 32,406 Assist : Reid West Brom 2 (Clement 53, Campbell 64) Birmingham 0 Attendance : 25,749 Assist : Richardson, Greening Norwich 1 (McKenzie 64) Chelsea 3 (Cole 22, Kezman, Carvalho) Chelsea move eight points clear at the top with a game in hand as struggling Norwich were put to the sword at Carrow Road. The Champions elect went ahead when Joe Cole burst through two crunching tackles before smashing a superb shot into the roof of the net from the edge of the area, however just after the hour mark, Darren Huckerby crossed for Leon McKenzie to head home an equaliser - the first goal Chelsea had conceded in the league since Thierry Henry scored against them in December! Normal service was resumed just seven minutes later when a chip from Eidur Gudjohnsen was diverted past the keeper by Frank Lampard and Mateja Kezman was left with a close range tap in. The win was secured when Ricardo Carvalho headed home a Lampard corner as the defence stood and watched. Attendance : 24,506 Assists : n/a, Huckerby, Lampard, Lampard (ck) Arsenal 3 (De Zeeuw 39 og, Henry 53, Chalkias 85 og) Portsmouth 0 A Thierry Henry hat trick kept Arsenal's faint title hopes alive, although the battle for second between the Gunners and Man United looks to be the one to watch now. The Frenchman's opener against Portsmouth came from a cross by Lauren which he controlled well before firing into the corner and he doubled his tally with a neat chipped effort having been sent clear by Patrick Vieira. The triple was completed late on with a superb 20-yard free kick, however keeper Kostas Chalkias originally saved the shot before dropping it against his leg and over the line. An own goal? Only for the cynics! Attendance : 38,079 Assists : n/a, Vieira, n/a Crystal Palace 0 Manchester United 0 Man United lost ground on leaders Chelsea after failing to break down a Crystal Palace side reduced to ten men for the final half an hour. The best chances fell to Ruud van Nistelrooy's whose first half header was well saved by Gabor Kiraly and then after the sending off of Vassilis Lakis for a second bookable offence, a foul on Roy Keane, Van Nistelrooy seemed to kick into the ground having found space in the area and then shot over on the stretch from just four yards. Maybe a sign of lack of match fitness? Ryan Giggs then missed a late effort, his shot spinning over the bar having struck a Palace defender on the chest. Attendance : 26,021 Assist : n/a Fulham 0 Charlton 0 No goals either at Craven Cottage, although the better chances fell to Charlton's Shaun Bartlett. Early on, he had a great opportunity at the far post but seemed to step on the ball from just two yards out with the goal gaping. Later, his near post effort was saved on the line by the feet of Edwin Van Der Sar. Attendance : 18,290 Assist : n/a Newcastle 1 (Robert 70 fk) Liverpool 0 Liverpool's Champions League hopes are hanging by a thread after a defeat at Newcastle which leaves them well adrift of fourth placed Everton. The only goal came with twenty minutes left as Laurent Robert unleashed a stunning free kick from the right edge of the area which tore into the far corner giving keeper Scott Carson no chance. Attendance : 52,323 Assist : Shearer (won fk) Southampton 1 (Quashie 51) Tottenham 0 Southampton moved to within two points of Crystal Palace after a narrow win against Spurs as the relegation dogfight hots up. The points were clinched early in the second half when Nigel Quashie rose well to head home his first goal for the club, courtesy of a pinpoint cross from Mikael Nilsson. Spurs threw everything forward late on, but couldn't snatch an equaliser. Attendance : 31,903 Assist : Nilsson Aston Villa 2 (Laursen 64, Moore 79) Middlesbrough 0 Oh dear, this was poor and probably one of the worst games I've seen this season. No shots on target until the 50th minute between two clubs playing a 4-5-1 formation and who seemed more interested in avoiding defeat. Ultimately Villa came out on top against a Middlesbrough side with one eye on Sporting Lisbon on Thursday, although the hosts did treat us to a miss of the season contender when Nol Solano turned on the edge of the six yard box but only scooped the ball over the empty net. The Peruvian redeemed himself though by setting up both goals, firstly when his corner was helped on by Olof Mellberg and turned in at the far post by Martin Laursen for his first Villa goal, the ball clearly over the line before being hacked clear. Fifteen minutes later, Solano's free kick was parried by Carlo Nash and Luke Moore hooked the rebound into the net for what was also his first goal for the club. Attendance : 34,201 Assists : Solano (ck), 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 |