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


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