20 April 2005 Aston Villa (0) 0 Charlton (0) 0 Aston Villa and Charlton keep their faint European hopes alive after battling out a drab goalless draw at Villa Park. The hosts came closest to scoring when Nol Solano's curling effort was cleared off the line and against the bar by Danny Murphy, however both clubs seem to be looking toward next season. Attendance : 36,053 Assist : n/a Blackburn (1) 1 (Pedersen 45) Crystal Palace (0) 0 Blackburn eased their relegation concerns whilst heaping more of the same onto Crystal Palace who remain in the drop zone. The only goal came on the stroke of half time when Robbie Savage swung in a free kick for Morton Gamst Pedersen to slide in and find the back of the net via the underside of the bar. Attendance : 18,006 Assist : Savage (fk) Chelsea (0) 0 Arsenal (0) 0 Chelsea took another small step toward the title with a goalless draw against nearest rivals Arsenal at Stamford Bridge. Arsenal began well and had the better of the early exchanges, culminating in two glorious chances for Robert Pires who smashed one blistering shot against the bar and then sent an easier chance wide from eight yards out. Whilst the Gunners continued to dominate possession, Chelsea did create opportunities as the half wore on as Frank Lampard had a shot saved, Eidir Gudjohnsen headed wide and Didier Drogba was denied by the foot of keeper Jens Lehmann having been set up by Joe Cole. Roles were reversed shortly afterwards, however Drogba's pass was slightly ahead of Cole who failed to convert with the goal gaping. The second half was more of the same with Arsenal seeing plenty of the ball yet Chelsea coming close as Damien Duff crossed for Drogba to shoot inches wide ten minutes after the restart. It sparked a good spell of possession for Chelsea and they came desperately close when a Drogba dummy set up Lampard to again shoot just wide of the post. Lampard also fizzed a free kick wide as Arsenal introdued Saturday's supersub Robin Van Persie for the final ten minutes, however his impact was nothing like the weekend as the game petered out into a draw, leaving Chelsea still eleven points clear at the top. Attendance : 41,621 Assist : n/a Everton (0) 1 (Ferguson 54) Man United (0) 0 SENT OFF : Neville (G) 72, Scholes (90) both Man Utd Fourth placed Everton beat third placed Man United for the first time in ten years as United lost their heads in a controversial finale. In 1995, Duncan Ferguson's header won the game for Everton and it was like Groundhog Day as he did it again, stooping to send a diving header into the net from Mikael Arteta's free kick. United ploughed forward looking for an equaliser, however as they made a substitution, Gary Neville seemed to be goaded by a section of fans and thought it a good idea to kick the ball straight at them! Doing it in front of the ref wasn't the most intelligent idea and he was shown a straight red for his petulance. Equally experienced and equally dopey was Paul Scholes in stoppage time who, having already been booked, kicked out at Kevin Kilbane and was promptly shown a second yellow. Attendance : 37,160 Assists : Arteta (fk) Man City (0) 3 (Fowler 55, Dunne 80, Sibierski (pen) 86) Birmingham (0) 0 Man City's dwindling European aspirations remain alive after destroying Birmingham in the second half at the City of Manchester Stadium. They needed a fluke to get started as Kiki Musampa's cross was headed against the post by Robbie Fowler, however it struck keeper Maik Taylor as it came out and bobbled back into the net. Fowler set up the second as his chip was headed in by the unlikely figure of Richard Dunne and victory was complete when Antoine Sibierski calmly converted a penalty after Clinton Morrison had handled in the area. Attendance : 42,453 Assists : Musampa, Fowler (fk), n/a Norwich (0) 2 (Safri 68, Ashton 90) Newcastle (0) 1 (Kluivert 89) Dramatic stuff at Carrow Road as bottom club Norwich pulled themselves to within two points of safety with a last gasp winner against Newcastle. The home side went ahead with a stunning 30-yard effort from Youssef Safri who collected a pass from Thomas Helveg and let fly, the ball crashing in off the underside of the bar. It looked to be enough until the first minute of stoppage time when Patrick Kluivert equalised with a shot into the bottom corner after Alan Shearer, who had earlier missed an absolute sitter from five yards, had been tackled. However, as the game entered the final 60 seconds, a hopeful cross from Helveg found Dean Ashton whose towering header found the bottom corner to leave just two points seperating the bottom four clubs. Attendance : 25,503 Assists : Helveg, n/a, Helveg Portsmouth (1) 1 (Kamara 34) Liverpool (2) 2 (Morientes 4, Luis Garcia 45) Liverpool's Champions League hopes are back on track after a win at Portsmouth, although Everton's win against Man United keeps their city rivals in fifth. They took an early lead when John Arne Riise's cross was eventually bundled in by Fernando Morientes after his original effort had been blocked by the keeper, however Portsmouth drew level when Arjan De Zeeuw's header was cleared off the line, allowing Henri Kamara to scramble the loose ball in. Liverpool won it on the stroke of half time when Riise's cross was headed firmly home by Luis Garcia. Attendance : 20,205 Assists : n/a, n/a, Riise Spurs (0) 1 (Keane 52) West Brom (1) 1 (Gera 24) Honours even at White Hart Lane, although Europe chasing Spurs will see it as points dropped against relegation candidates West Brom. It was the strugglers who went ahead when a corner was only half cleared and as it fell to Zoltan Gera, he drilled a beauty inside the far post from the edge of the area. Spurs levelled matters early in the second half when Ledley King's long ball was only partially headed clear by Neil Clement, allowing Robbie Keane to drive the loose ball into the net. Attendance : 35,885 Assists : n/a, n/a 19 April 2005 Bolton (1) 1 (Giannakopolous 25) Southampton (0) 1 (Phillips 69) Southampton move out of the bottom three, at least until the Wednesday night games, after coming from behind to earn a creditable draw at Bolton. The hosts took the lead when Stelios Giannakopolous crashed in a close range header from El-Hadji Diouf's cross, however Saints earned a crucial point when a long ball from Rory Delap gave Kevin Phillips a sight of goal and he drilled in an equaliser which also denied Bolton a top four position. Attendance : 25,125 Assists : Diouf, Delap Middlesbrough (0) 1 (Zenden (pen) 90) Fulham (0) 1 (McBride 82) Late drama and controversy at the Riverside as Fulham were left furious by a last minute penalty awarded to the home side. Fulham went ahead with just eight minutes to go when Brian McBride drilled in a cross from Thomasz Radzinski, however with time running out, Boro striker Jimmy Flody Hasselbaink chased a long ball and as keeper Edwin van der Sar came out, he caught Hasselbaink as he attempted to clear the ball and although the forward fell into the area, replays showed that the contact was clearly outside. Cup Final referee Rob Styles pointed to the spot though and Bolo Zenden converted with ease, sparking angry scenes at the final whistle as Fulham boss Chris Coleman had to be restrained from approaching the official. Attendance : 30,650 Assists : Radzinki, Hasselbaink (won pen) 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 |