4 May 2005 Fulham 1 (Radzinski 86) Newcastle 3 (Ambrose 18, Kluivert 62, Ameobi 75) Attendance : 19,003 Assists : Milner, N'Zogbia (ck), Milner (ck), Rosenior 2 May 2005 West Brom 0 Arsenal 2 (van Persie 66, Edu 91) Arsenal move four points clear in second place after a win at West Brom who remain well and truy in the relegation dogfight. After a drab and scrappy first half, the second livened up slightly and eentuallu saw Arsenal take the lead. Robert Pires was the provider as he set up Robin Van Persie on the edge of the area and although he slipped as he shot, his effort found the bottom corner. Jose Antonio Reyes should have doubled the lead shortly afterwards, however after rounding the keeper, his shot was cleared off the line. The hosts brought on three strikers from the subs bench for the final ten minutes, however when the goal arrived it was for Arsenal as Dennis Bergkamp set up Edu to shoot home despite keeper Russell Hoult getting hands to the ball. Attendance : 27,351 Assists : Reyes, Bergkamp 1 May 2005 Charlton 0 Manchester United 4 (Scholes 34, Fletcher 44, Smith 62, Rooney 67) More 'slaughter of the innocents' at The Valley as Man United moved to within a point of second placed Arsenal with a comfortable win at Charlton. The home side had the first chance ironically when Francis Jeffers forced a fine save from Roy Carroll, but after that, it was one way traffic. United finally broke through after the half hour mark when a deflected shot from Wayne Rooney was fumbled by debutant keeper Stephan Andersen and Paul Scholes tapped it in from close range. Scholes was then lucky to remain on the field when he was only booked for a rash two-footed tackle on Dennis Rommedahl and he took full advantage by setting up Darren Fletcher for the second, the finish a neat side-footed shot from the edge of the area. Again it was tough on the Danish keeper who made a fantastic reaction save from Alan Smith early on as well as other fine stops from Scholes and Rooney. The third goal came from a Charlton attack cleared by Rio Ferdinand. The ball bounced in the centre circle and should have been dealt with by Talal El-Karkouri, however as he hesitated, Smith nicked the ball away from him, bore down on goal and provided a confident finish from 20 yards. A fourth followed within five minutes as a superb one-touch move from United culminated in Kleberson sending Rooney through and he clipped the ball into the net. Late on, Charlton were reduced to ten men when Chris Perry hauled back Wes Brown as the centre-back broke clear, but it ultimately mattered little in the context of the game. Attendance : 26,789 Assists : n/a, Scholes, Ferdinand, Kleberson Tottenham 5 (Kanoute 6, 27, King 19, Reid 67, Kelly 90) Aston Villa 1 (Barry 45 pen) Spurs moved back into that final UEFA Cup place of seventh with a thumping win against Aston Villa whose defence looked all at sea throughout. Spurs were ahead early on when a long kick from Paul Robinson was helped on by Freddie Kanoute who then chased his own header before firing in off the keeper and the post. A second soon followed as a corner was cleared to Andy Reid on the edge of the area. His shot hit the post and after a six yard box scrambled, Ledley King tapped the ball in. Before the half hour mark, a third goal went in as Kanoute was on hand to fire into the roof of the net after Robbie Keane had been tackled in the area. Villa snatched a consolation on half time when Juan Pablo Angel's shot was handled at close range by Michael Dawson, allowing Gareth Barry to blast home the spot kick. Midway through the second half came the goal of the game as a Villa attack broke down, Sean Davis found Reid on the halfway line and after a solo run, he crashed in an unstoppable shot off the bar from 25 yards. The final nail came in the final minute as a neat back flick from Davis found Stephen Kelly in the area and after battling into the six yard box, he hooked the ball into the net. Attendance : 36,078 Assists : Robinson (gk), n/a, n/a, n/a, Davis, Davis 30 April 2005 Bolton 0 Chelsea 2 (Lampard 60, 76) Chelsea are the 2004/05 Premiership Champions after two second half Frank Lampard goals gave them victory, and the title, at Bolton. To be fair, the hosts had the better of a fairly drab opening hour, however Chelsea went ahead in their usual clinical fashion. A long kick forward from Petr Cech was headed on by Eidur Gudjohnsen and then Didier Drogba before being collected by Lampard. He shrugged off the challenge of two defenders before drilling the ball low into the net. Bolton were furious that a foul on the edge of the area by Juri Jarosik had gone unoticed, however the goal stood. Bolton almost equalised when Cech produced a superb reaction save to keep out a header by his own team mate, William Gallas, but it wasn't long before the points and the title were secured. It came as a Bolton set piece broke down and as the ball fell to Claude Makelele, his long pass sent Lampard clear on goal. He kept his cool, rounded the keeper and slotted the ball home. Attendance : 27,653 Assists : Drogba, Makelele Birmingham 2 (Blake 61, Heskey 80) Blackburn 1 (Stead 13) Nothing but pride at stake at St Andrews with both clubs already safe, however Birmingham did move above Blackburn after coming from behind to win. The visitors went ahead when Jonathon Stead headed a rare goal at the far post after Brett Emerton had crossed well, however the home side equalised when Emile Heskey was tackled in the area and sub Robbie Blake slotted in the loose ball. Heskey grabbed the winner himself, latching onto an underhit back pass to volley home from the edge of the area. Attendance : 28,621 Assists : Emerton, Heskey, n/a Fulham 2 (John 15, McBride 39) Everton 0 Fulham effectively secured their Prem status at the expence of Everton who remain fourth despite the defeat. The match was over by half time by when the home club were two goals ahead. The first was a stinging shot from Collins John after Thomasz Radzinski's effort had been blocked and the lead was doubled when Luis Boa Morte's cross was met perfectly by the head of Brian McBride who planted his effort into the roof of the net. Papa Bouba Diop was sent off late on for two bookable offences, although the second - holding back James McFadden - seemed a little harsh. Attendance : 21,881 Red Card : Bouba Diop 76 (Fulham) Assists : n/a, Boa Morte Liverpool 1 (Gerrard 52) Middlesbrough 1 (Nemeth 4) Liverpool gained ground on fourth placed Everton, however only after coming from behind to draw against UEFA Cup hopefuls Middlesbrough. Liverpool were dire in the first half and Boro were deserving of their half time lead, given to them by Szilard Nemeth who latched onto Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink's chested pass and slotted in from the edge of the area. It was a decent goal, however better was to come early in the second half when Liverpool equalised. A crossfield pass from John Arne Riise found Steven Gerrard and after getting the ball under control, he crashed a sensational looping shot into the opposite top corner to earn his side a point. Attendance : 43,250 Assists : Hasselbaink, Riise Manchester City 2 (Distin 4, Fowler 16 fk) Portsmouth 0 It's all so simple for Stuart Pearce and Man City who could yet sneak an unlikely UEFA Cup spot after another win, this time against Portsmouth. City had it all wrapped up inside sixteen minutes and were ahead early when Robbie Fowler's corner was only half cleared by the keeper only for Sylvain Distin to loop a header back over him and into the net. Fowler then turned scorer with a superb 25-yard free kick, curled low into the bottom corner. Attendance : 46,454 Assists : n/a, S Wright-Phillips (won fk) Newcastle 0 Crystal Palace 0 Crystal Palace earned a vital point in their battle against the drop although it was more down to Newcastle's failings in front of goal. It was like 'attack v defence' for the vast majority of the game, yet Palale held firm as the hosts misfired. Jean-Alain Boumsong sent a close range header wide, whilst James Milner had a similar effort cleared off the line. Unluckiest though was youngster Stephen Taylor who did find the net with a far post shot from a free kick only for the referee to rule it out as he hadn't indicated that the kick could be taken! Attendance : 52,123 Assists : n/a Southampton 4 (Oakley 7, Crouch 20, Le Saux 39, Camara 88) Norwich 3 (Bentley 3, Higginbotham 31 og, McKenzie 45) Incredible game at St Marys as the bottom two shared six first half goals, setting the game up for a sensational late winner. Norwich went ahead early when Leon McKenzie's looped cross was volleyed in via the keeper at the far post by David Bentley, however within four minutes Saints were level when Nigel Quashie set up Matt Oakley to fire a shot across the area and inside the far post. The hosts then went ahead when Rory Delap's cross was finished well by Peter Crouch with a neat side footed volley, however parity was restored when Danny Higginbotham was unlucky to slide Darren Huckerby's cross into his own net. Eight minutes on and Quashie's neat touch found Graeme Le Saux on the edge of the area and the veteran did brilliantly to control the ball and then volley home into the bottom corner, however with stoppage time almost up, Dean Ashton's header sent McKenzie through and he flick the ball in past the advancing keeper. The second half couldn't keep up with the demands of the first as both manager's sent some defenders out, however a late winner always looked likely and it arrived for Saints when Oakley's header found sub Henri Camara and he fizzed a 25 yard shot into the bottom corner to end a sensational encounter. As a result of the game, Norwich go bottom, whilst Saints leap from bottom to 17th as just one point seperates the bottom four clubs! Attendance : 31,944 Assists : McKenzie, Quashie, Delap, n/a, Quashie, Ashton, Oakley 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 |