4 October 2004 Crystal Palace (0) 2 (Johnson 53, Riihilahti 69) Fulham (0) 0 RED CARD: Pearce (Fulham) 6 Crystal Palace won for the first time in the league this season against a Fulham side playing with only ten men for the majority of the game. Palace began well and could have scored inside two minutes when Andy Johnson's shot was blocked by the legs of keeper Edwin van der Sar, however the striker was involved in the incident which led to the sending off of Ian Pearce just four minutes later when he latched onto an underhit backpass from the Fulham defender, only to be hauled back as he bore down on the penalty area. Johnson was then shown a yellow card on the half hour as he launched into a two-footed tackle on Moritz Volz, the fact that he failed to make contact with his opponent was the sole reason that he wasn't shown red as well. The striker was involved in everything and shortly afterwards missed a sitter as he sent an unmarked header wide from six yards out. He made amends early in the second half when he finally broke the deadlock as he latched onto a clipped pass from Aki Riihilahti to slot the ball past Van Der Sar from close range. The lead was doubled when Riihilahti went from provider to scorer as he thumped home a header from a Wayne Routledge corner, the pace beating both keeper and defender on the line. More should have followed as Johnson missed another sitter, shooting wide from 12 yards whilst through, and sub Ivan Kaviedes hammered a shot against the post. 3 October 2004 Birmingham (1) 2 (Yorke 23, Upson 57) Newcastle (1) 2 (Jenas 3, Butt 67) Honours even at St Andrews as both Birmingham and Newcastle saw a promising lead disappear in an entertaining match. Newcastle took an early lead when Jermaine Jenas slotted calmly into the net after Patrick Kluivert saw his shot blocked, however the home side levelled matters when David Dunn sent Dwight Yorke through and his shot beat the keeper via a slight deflection. Birmingham went ahead in the second half when Robbie Savage swung a free kick toward the far post and Matthew Upson rose to head the ball in, however just ten minutes later, a cross from Andy O'Brien was only half cleared to the edge of the area when Nicky Butt smashed in a superb acrobatic volley to equalise. Man United (0) 1 (Smith 81) Middlesbrough (1) 1 (Downing 33) After the Lord Mayors Show for Man United and Wayne Rooney as they were tamed by Middlesbrough following their midweek demolition of Fenerbache in Europe. Boro, who've won twice in the last three seasons at Old Trafford, took a first half lead when James Morrison's far post cross was thumped in by Stuart Downing. For United, Rooney was largely ineffective thanks to the close marking of George Boateng and it was left to sub Alan Smith to grab his third late equaliser of the season as he headed home a cross from Cristiano Ronaldo to earn the hosts a point. Chelsea (0) 1 (Cole 64) Liverpool (0) 0 Sub Joe Cole scored a neat winner as Chelsea beat Liverpool to move to within two points of Arsenal at the top. Cole, on for the injured Didier Drogba, found the net when he helped on a low free kick from Frank Lampard to guide the ball inside the near post. Liverpool were, at best, ineffective and rarely looked like scoring and only a stoppage time shot from Steve Finnan gave Petr Cech in the home goal anything to do. 2 October 2004 Southampton (0) 0 Man City (0) 0 No goals at St Marys as Southampton and Man City showed why goals have been at a premium for them this season, having in excess of thirty attempts on goal between them without finding the net. City had by far the better of the first half as Richard Dunne had two efforts cleared off the line and Sylvain Distin had a header blocked by David Prutton. Sun Jihai shot wide whilst clean through when he should have done better, whilst at the other end, only a header from Kevin Phillips caused any concerns for keeper David James who saved well. More of the same followed after half time as Sun Jihai and John Macken forced saves from Antti Niemi, whilst at the other end, Phillips shot just wide and James saved well from Peter Crouch and from close range by his own defender, Distin. Arsenal (1) 4 (Ljungerg 33, Henry 48, 69, Reyes 70) Charlton (0) 0 Arsenal consolidated top spot with a thumping win against Charlton, their 48th successive league game without defeat. The Gunners never quite hit top gear in the first half but took the lead when Dennis Bergkamp was sent clear and after keeper Dean Kiely came off his line and was forced wide, Bergkamp cut the ball back for Freddie Ljungberg to tap into the empty net. Early in the second half came a moment of total cheek from Thierry Henry who collected a cross from Jose Reyes, shielded the ball from Jonathon Fortune and with his back to goal, backheeled powerfully into the bottom corner of the net. Twenty minutes later, the same pair combined with a combination of passes around the edge of the area, Henry eventually cracking the ball home off the bar. The victory was completed a minute later when Bergkamp set up Reyes to smash into the far corner with a crisp first time effort. Blackburn (1) 2 (Ferguson 30, Emerton 63) Aston Villa (1) 2 (Angel 25, Mellberg 80) Both Blackburn and Aston Villa took, and then lost, the lead at Ewood Park before settling for a share of the points. The visitors took the lead when Ulises De La Cruz sent Juan Pablo Angel clear to shoot into the bottom corner, however within five minutes Blackburn were level when Barry Ferguson tapped in at the near post from Paul Dickov's cross. The home side then went ahead when debutant Youri Djorkaeff's pass set up Brett Emerton who netted inside the near post with a fine shot with the outside of his right foot, however with ten minutes remaining, a deep corner from Gavin McCann was nodded back across goal by Mark Delaney and fired home by Olof Mellberg. Everton (0) 0 Spurs (0) 1 (Pamarot 53) Everton lost for the first time since the opening weekend thanks to a goal from new Spurs signing Noe Pamarot, lifting the London side to the dizzy heights of fourth. Having dominated the first half, the home side went behind early in the second when Pamarot rose high to nod home a cross from Robbie Keane. Norwich (0) 2 (Huckerby 63*, Charlton 67) Portsmouth (1) 2 (Yakubu 37, Berger 65) * - scored from the rebound after his penalty was saved. Norwich are still seeking their first win of the season, however they did claw back twice against Portsmouth to earn a valuable point. The visitors went ahead after Robert Green could only parry a long range effort from Nigel Quashie, allowing Yakubu to control the loose ball and fire home. Norwich were then awarded a penalty after Darren Huckerby was bundled over by Matt Taylor, however his poor spot kick was saved by Shaka Hislop only for Huckerby to score from the rebound. It sparked a mad spell of three goals in five minutes as Portsmouth regained the lead almost immediately as David Unsworth tapped a free kick to Patrick Berger who found the top corner with a brilliant 25 yard shot. Norwich refused to lie down though and levelled matters again when Adam Drury crossed for Simon Charlton to glance in his first goal in NINE YEARS! The home side almost won it late on when Gary Holt almost broke the crossbar with a stinging effort from the edge of the area. West Brom (0) 2 (Kanu 56, Gera 64) Bolton (0) 1 (Giannakopolous 73) West Brom recorded their first win of the season, although they were made to sweat late on after Bolton threatened to come back from two goals down. After a goalless first half, the Baggies took the lead when Zoltan Gera cut inside to cross for Nwankwo Kanu to bundle the ball in at the far post. Eight minutes later, Gera turned scorer as he nodded in a near post corner from Jonathon Greening. Bolton battled back and pulled a goal back when Stelios Giannakopolous sent in a free kick from 25 yards which deceived everyone in the area, including keeper Russell Hoult, and nestled inside the far post, however an equaliser wouldn't come for the visitors. 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 |