11 May 2005 Arsenal 7 (Van Persie 8, Pires 11, 50, Vieira 37, Edu 69 pen, Bergkamp 77, Flamini 85) Everton 0 Arsenal celebrated clinching second place in the league with a crushing 7-0 win over fourth placed Everton who looked shell-shocked from the constant barrage of attacks handed out against them. Everton began confidently enough, however they were rocked by two goals in a three minute spell. The first was direct from Holland as Dennis Bergkamp collected the ball in the final third, slotted it between defenders to send Robin Van Persie through and his first time, side-footed effort found the back of the net with ease. Bergakmp then sent a longer ball forward down the flank for Jose Antonio Reyes to run onto. His cutback found Robert Pires on the edge of the area and although his shot was well saved by Richard Wright, he was first to the rebound and looped a header home via the underside of the bar. A third goal followed eight minutes before the break, starting with a lovely series of one touch passing and culmnating with Bergkamp again at the heart of things as he found another chipped through ball to send Patrick Vieira clear and he flicked it over Wright and in. If that wasn't bad enough for Everton, the Gunners sent on Thierry Henry at half time for his first game since recovering from a groin injury and within five minutes, he set up a goal, alebit with an element of luck as his attempted pass struck Lee Carsley and fell perfectly for Pires to slot past Wright. They needed a bit more luck for the fifth as Carsley handled in the area, despite looking as though he was trying to get his arm away from henry's pass, and the ref awarded a penalty. The ball was handed to Edu - playing his final game at Highbury before leaving in the summer - and his shot found the bottom corner, although Wright was very close to keeping it out. Eight minutes later, a long punt forwrad by Jens Lehmann was nodded on by Reyes and as David Weir tried to clear, he hammered it against Bergkamp who was first to the dropping ball to bobble a shot past the stunned visiting keeper as Arsenal became the first side to score more than five in a Prem game this season. They still weren't finished though as a further eight minutes on saw Henry cross for Reyes to cut it back across goal at the far post and sub Mathieu Flamini fired home his first goal for the Gunners. Attendance : 38,073 Assists : Bergkamp, n/a, Bergkamp, n/a, n/a, n/a, Reyes 10 May 2005 Man United (1) 1 (Van Nistelrooy 8) Chelsea (1) 3 (Tiago 17, Gudjohnsen 61, Cole 82) Champions Chelsea showed their credentials by coming from behind at Old Trafford to become the first team to win away at Man United in the league this season. United began well and could have scored twice early on through Cristiano Ronaldo before taking the lead through the returning Ruud van NIstelrooy. The provider was Wayne Rooney whose corner was cleared back to him via a Paul Scholes shot blocked by Robert Huth. Rooney then drilled the ball across goal in an attempt probably meant as a shot, however Van Nistelrooy just stayed onside and tapped the ball in from close range. If United's goal was on the cards, Chelsea's equaliser was totally out of the blue (pun intended!). It came from Tiago who collected a pass from Claude Makelele in midfield and then unleashed a swerving, dipping shot from 30-yards that sailed in via the top of the post, leaving Roy Carroll to stand and admire it. Chelsea began the second half well as Joe Cole had a shot well saved, although United came desperately clos when Darren Ferguson cracked a shot against the bar from long range. Chelsea took the lead just after the hour mark when Tiago's through ball pur Eidur Gudjohnsen away and he cooly clipped it over Carroll and in, although thekeeper did go to ground rather quickly. United were all at sea at the back and almost went further behind when Wes Brown walloped a clearance against William Gallas and was relieved to see the ball rocket inches over. This was emphasised further with eight minutes to go when they gave the ball away in their final third and when Frank Lampard crossed, Joe Cole was at the near post to tap in the third, although replays did show that he was a yard offside. The win also breaks two United Prem records for 38 games in that Chelsea now have 29 wins and 94 points with still one more game to come! It equally confirms second place for Arsenal, giving United a two legged game to qualify for the group stages of the Champions League next season. Attendance : 67,832 Assists : n/a, Makelele, Tiago, Lampard 8 May 2005 Arsenal 3 (Pires 25 fk, Reyes 29, Fabregas 90) Liverpool 1 (Gerrard 51) Everton are guaranteed fourth place and a Champions League spot (UEFA & the FA permitting!) after local rivals Liverpool were beaten 3-1 at Arsenal who themselves effectively guaranteed second place barring a mathamatical freak show over their final two games. Two goals in five minutes set the Gunners up, firstly when Robert Pires clipped in a 20 yard free kick that left keeper Jerzy Dudek rooted to the spot and then he set up Jose Antonio Reyes to waltz through a static Liverpool defence to fire in the second. Liverpool battled back after half time and pulled a goal back when Dietmar Hamann tapped a free kick to Steven Gerrard to drill in from the edge of the area, however in stoppage time, Arsenal confirmed victory when Lauren and Dennis Bergkamp combined to put Cesc Fabregas through and he finished well to wrap up the points. Attendance : 38,119 Assists : Vieira (won fk), Pires, Hamann (fk), Bergkamp 7 May 2005 Manchester United 1 (Giggs 21) West Brom (Earnshaw 63 pen) Former Man United legend Bryan Robson returned to Old Trafford as boss of West Brom and haunted his former club by coming from behind to earn an unlikely draw. United totally dominated the first half and went ahead under controversial circumstances when Ryan Giggs took a leaf from Thierry Henry's book and took a quickly taken free kick on the edge of the area, albeit with the permission of the ref, and found the bottom corner past Russell Hoult who had been injured in an earlier incident. West Brom began the second half better and created a couple of half chances, however United should have doubled their lead only for Kleberson to blaze over from 12 yards. Cristiano Ronaldo then shot inches wide before more controversy, this time in favour of the visitors. John O'Shea's weak bcak header was chased by the United defender and Geoff Horsfield and although both seemed to be holding each other, the forward went down a little easily and the ref awarded a penalty. Robert Earnshaw kept his cool and sent Roy Carroll the wrong way to give the Midland side a lifeline. Within four minutes, United made a triple change with Paul Scholes, Louis Saha and Wayne Rooney all coming on and they had an impact as Saha had a shot well saved and Scholes fizzed a long range effort that thudded back off the post. Rooney forced a superb save from the keeper from a free kick and with it went United's final chance to snatch a win. The Baggies now need to win their final game against Portsmouth AND hope that other results go their way to stand any chance of beating the drop. For their part, United will fall six points behind second placed Arsenal if they beat Liverpool tomorrow, leaving United needing to win their final two games and hope that the Gunners lose theirs. Attendance : 67,827 Assists : Smith (won pen), Horsfield (won pen) Aston Villa 1 (Angel 62) Manchester City 2 (Wright-Phillips 5, Musampa 12) Man City kept up their unlikely late surge for a UEFA Cup spot with a win at fellow hopefuls Aston Villa who are rapidly falling away. City had it won inside twelve minutes, by which time they were two goals up. The first was a cracking solo run from Shaun Wright-Phillips, culminating in a shot into the bottom corner and the lead was doubled when Antoine Sibierski and Jonathon Macken set up Kiki Musampa whose shot from the edge of the area found the top corner. Villa pulled one back on the hour when Lee Hendrie's dummy found Juan Pablo Angel who engineered enough space to fire in at the near post, however the defeat officially put Villa out of the running for European football next season, unless they fancy the InterToto of course. Attendance : 39,645 Assists : Reyna, Macken, De La Cruz Blackburn 1 (Neill 6) Fulham 3 (Malbranque 20, 77, McBride 53) Four goals, a missed penalty and two red cards in a minute in a crazy game at Ewood Park, made all the more remarkable by the fact that neither club has anything to play for except pride and league position. Blackburn went ahead early on when Brett Emerton found Lucas Neill who skipped past a defender and slotted home with a neat finish, however Fulham were level less than fifteen minutes later when Lee Clark's cutback was slotted in easily by the unmarked Steed Malbranque. Early in the second half, the Londoners went ahead when a deep corner missed everyone except Brian McBride who drilled the ball in at the far post. Then the fun and games began! Firstly Blackburn were awarded a penalty when Luis Boa Morte wrestled Morten Gamst Pedersen to the ground in an off the ball incident - the sort that we see at many set pieces in every game on every weekend and they are rarely given. This time it WAS given (and rightly so!), however Robbie Savage stepped up only to see Edwin Van Der Sar make an excellent one handed save. It seemed to light the blue touch paper and ten minutes later, Boa Morte launched into a late tackle and was almost instantly shoved to the ground by a furious Craig Short. The Fulham man saw yellow, whilst Short was shown a straight red. He was barely down the tunnel when Liam Rosenior faced up to Savage and gave him a similar push which ultimately gained a similar straight red to level it out at ten a side. Fulham still weren't finished though and wrapped up the points when Clark found Malbranque to slot in the third. As a final aside to this game, if you get the chance to see the second red card (Rosenior), watch for his team mate Lee Clark just after he pushes Savage. Clark is absolutely furious with his colleague and pushes him away on a couple of occasions even before the red is brandished! Attendance : 18,991 Red Cards : Short 69 (Blackburn), Rosenior 70 (Fulham) Assists : Emerton, Clark, Pembridge (ck), Clark Crystal Palace 2 (Hall 34, Ventola 72) Southampton 2 (Crouch 37 pen, Higginbotham 93) Southampton are rapidly becoming the late show kings as, for the second week in a row, the earn vital extra points with a late strike. Again, as with last week, their opponents are fellow relegation possibles as the battle to beat the drop gets ever tighter. In truth, both Palace or Southampton looked nervy for the opening half an hour, however the game burst into life with two quick goals, starting with Palace taking the lead thanks to ex-Saints man Fitz Hall. Southampton were struggling to clear a corner and after Andy Johnson miscontrolled on the edge of the area, he was lucky that it fell to team mate Hall who curled in a beauty after a neat turn and shot. Literally from the kick off, the visitors were awarded a penalty after a blatant handball from Tony Popovic. It took over two minutes to get the kick taken, largely due to the strong wind blowing the ball from the spot, however eventually Peter Crouch kept his nerve and found the bottom corner, although the keeper did go the right way. Just before the hour, Crouch turned to villain after clashing with Gonzalo Sorondo. The lanky striker tried, and failed, to kick his opponent and then pushed him instead, an act that saw him red carded. Sorondo was also dismissed and initially it appeared that he'd done absolutely nothing wrong, however TV replays caught him swinging a hand at Graeme Le Saux, so the decision was vindicated. Palace then went ahead with a goal out of nothing as a long ball forward from Tom Soares found Nicola Ventola in stacks of space and he finished with ease. Three minutes of stoppage time was almost up when Saints had one last attack and as Kevin Phillips sliced an effort across goal, the unlikely figure of Danny Higginbotham was at the far post to find the back of the net. Attendance : 26,066 Red Cards : Crouch 58 (Southampton), Sorondo 59 (Crystal Palace) Assists : n/a, n/a, Soares, Phillips Everton 2 (Weir 43, Cahill 59) Newcastle 0 Everton all but clinched that final Champions League spot (unless Liverpool beat Milan on 25 May, but that's another story) with a win over Newcastle. The visitors had the better of the first half but went behind just before half time when Mikael Arteta's free kick was met at the far post by a diving header from David Weir. Their caused was helped when Shola Ameobi was sent off for pushing Tim Cahill in the back of the head, although I had some sympathy for the Newcastle man as Cahill had clearly been pulling his shirt seconds before. It mattered little though as Cahill then doubled the lead, finishing well after Arteta's shot had fallen straight to him. Attendance : 40,438 Red Cards : Ameobi 56 (Newcastle) Assists : Arteta (fk), Arteta Middlesbrough 1 (Boateng 11) Tottenham 0 Middlesbrough need a point from their final game to clinch the last UEFA Cup spot after a narrow win against fellow hopefuls Spurs. The only goal came early after Szilard Nemeth found George Boateng on the edge of the area and his shot found the net, helped by a slight deflection. Attendance : 34,776 Assist : Nemeth Norwich 1 (Ashton 45 pen) Birmingham 0 A win for Norwich in their final game will see them stay up after their fourth succesive home win, this time against Birmingham. They were helped hugely by a rush of blood to the head from Damien Johnson who punched Thomas Helveg in the stomach after the pair had tussled for the ball. The winning goal came on half time when Darren Huckerby was tripped in the area by Kenny Cunningham and Dean Ashton converted the spot kick with ease, sending the keeper the wrong way. Could Delia yet stay up? A win at Fulham next Sunday would confirm it. Attendance : 25,477 Red Card : Johnson 31 (Birmingham) Assist : Huckerby (won pen) Portsmouth 1 (Yakubu 72) Bolton 1 (Diouf 11) Bolton clinched a UEFA Cup place next season, but after only drawing at Portsmouth, the unlikely Champions League dream has gone. They went ahead at Fratton Park through El-Hadji Diouf who was jeered throughout after a spitting incident earlier in the season when the clubs met at the Reebok. The Seneglese striker briefly silenced the crowd with a solo run and shot which went in under the keeper. Portsmouth did snatch a draw when Yakubu bundled in a cross from John O'Neill, however their Prem safety was confirmed for another season last week and they can look forward to the summer. Attendance : 20,188 Assists : n/a, n/a Chelsea 1 (Makelele 90) Charlton 0 Chelsea's final home game of this Championship winning season ended with a remarkable finish that saw Claude Makelele score his first ever goal for the club after his initial penalty kick had been saved! Chelsea had the better of a goalless first half, although this was not the free-flowing Champions performance that their fans expected. Joe Cole came as close as anyone before the break with a shot which was tipped onto the bar by keeper Stephane Andersen, although at the other end, Charlton almost took a shock lead when Jonathon Fortune bobbled an effort just wide. The second half began in much the same manner with Chelsea dominent but with little urgency, although John Terry did hit the bar with a looping header, however the home fans kept themselves entertained with the Chelsea tradition of throwing pieces of celery at each other!! Charlton almost capitalised on a midfield mix-up when Matt Holland's low shot was superbly fingertipped away by home keeper Carlo Cudicini, whilst Cole kept plugging away at the other end with a shot across goal and another from long range which drifted wide. As the game entered stoppage time, Frank Lampard tried to burst through into the area and was brought down by Fortune, although contact looked very minimal and outside the box. Makelele, who'd been urged to 'shooooooot' with every touch by the home fans throughout, stepped up only to see his kick saved by Andersen, however he was alert enough to be first to the loose ball and bobble it in. On the day that they were presented with the Premiership trophy, the win also equalled two Prem records as they reached 91 points and 28 wins (from a 38 game season), both of which were set by Man United in 1999-2000. Attendance : 42,065 Assist : 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 |