25 August 2004 Arsenal (0) 3 (Henry 50, Fabregas 58, Reyes 79) Blackburn (0) 0 Arsenal break Nottm Forest's record of 42 games unbeaten in the top flight as they recorded their 43rd such match with a comfortable win against Blackburn. It wasn't always plain sailing though as it took the Gunners 50 minutes to break through when Dennis Bergkamp's cross was prodded into the roof of the net by Thierry Henry. There was no looking back after that as Henry's corner was headed powerfully home by Gilberto and then late on, Henry was sent clear only for his shot to be saved by Brad Friedel, however the Frenchman was first to the rebound and set up Jose Antonio Reyes for a tap in. Charlton (2) 3 (Jeffers 29, 34, Young 58) Aston Villa (0) 0 Two goals in five minutes from Francis Jeffers helped Charlton record a fine victory against a fancied Aston Villa side at the Valley. His first came on the half hour when Hermann Hreidarsson's fine cross was nodded into the corner well and he doubled the lead when Radostin Kishishev's long ball was miskicked by Olof Mellberg, allowing Jeffers through to slot in. Kishishev also had a hand in the third as his through ball was prodded home by Luke Young, his first Charlton goal in his 100th appearance. Fulham (0) 0 Middlesbrough (0) 2 (Viduka 54, Nemeth 79) Fulham were brought down to earth after their weekend return to Craven Cottage as Middlesbrough netted two second half goals to collect all three points. New signing Mark Viduka scored the first on his debut as he finished well at the near post from Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink's cross and with eleven minutes left, Franck Queudrue's cross was converted at the far post by Slizard Nemeth. Newcastle (1) 2 (Bellamy 40, Hughes 50) Norwich (0) 2 (Bentley 52, Doherty 79) Norwich came from two goals down to earn a superb point at Newcastle who are struggling to kick their season into gear. The hosts took the lead when Stephen Carr's cross was nodded back by Alan Shearer for Craig Bellamy to volley in at the far post. The lead was doubled when an unmarked Aaron Hughes found space to nod home a Laurent Robert corner, however within two minutes, Paul McVeigh found David Bentley whose run and shot found the bottom corner after keeper Shay Given allowed the effort to squirm under him. The recovery was complete when Gary Doherty fired in from close range after Darren Huckerby's shot was saved. Southampton (0) 1 (Crouch 85) Bolton (2) 2 (Pedersen 7, Okocha (pen) 27) Having sacked manager Paul Sturrock on Monday, Southampton's week didn't improve with a home defeat against Bolton. The visitors took the lead when Bruno N'Gotty's long ball found Henrik Pedersen whose crisp shot found the corner from the edge of the area. Twenty minutes later, Stelios Giannokopoulos was tripped in the area by Darren Higginbotham, allowing Jay-Jay Okocha to send the keeper the wrong way from the penalty spot. Saints pulled a late goal back when Peter Crouch bundled in a cross from Paul Telfer at the far post, however it was too little, too late. West Brom (1) 1 (Gera 3) Spurs (1) 1 (Defoe 34) Honours even at the Hawthorns as West Brom and Spurs shared two goals. The home side went ahead early on when Ricardo Scimeca's header fell to Zoltan Gera who controlled well and then shot into the bottom corner, however Spurs earned a draw when Jermain Defoe played a one-two with Fredi Kanoute and drilled into the net from the edge of the area, although keeper Russell Hoult did seem to allow the ball to go under his body. 24 August 2004 Birmingham (1) 1 (Heskey 8) Man City (0) 0 Emile Heskey's first goal for Birmingham gave the Midlanders their first win of the new campaign as Man City still look for their opening three-pointer. The only goal came early on as Stan Lazaridis did well on the left to find space to cross and Heskey out-muscled two defenders to head powerfully home. Crystal Palace (0) 0 Chelsea (1) 2 (Drogba 28, Tiago 73) Played three, won three, conceded zero! Not a bad start to the Mourinho era at Chelsea after their comfortable 2-0 win at Crystal Palace sent them top of the table. In truth, Chelsea rarely looked like getting anything but a win as Palace were content to concede possession and hope to catch their opponents on the break. It was never likely to work and so it proved. Two of the expensive summer arrivals got on the scoresheet as firstly £24m Didier Drogba rose superbly to head home Celestine Babayaro's cross and in the second half, Tiago made space on the edge of the area before drilling his effort into the bottom corner. As comfortable a two-goal win as you're ever likely to see. Gary Dowden Chief Editor SoccerAge UK 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 |