30 November 2005

Sunderland (0) 0
Liverpool (2) 2 (Luis Garcia 30, Gerrard 45)
RED CARD: Sissoko (Liverpool) 65

Liverpool increased the misery piling around bottom club Sunderland with
a comfortable 2-0 win at the Stadium of Light which moved them into
fourth place. They took a while to get into their stride but went ahead
of the half hour when Xabi Alonso sent Luis Garcia through to slot the
ball home and on the stroke of half time, Alonso found another perfect
pass, this time for Steven Gerrard to collect, round the keeper and tap
into the empty net. The second half dismissal of Mohamed Sissoko for a
foul of Dean Whitehead, his second yellow card in fourteen minutes, did
little to encourage the home side as the slumped to another defeat.

Attendance : 32,697
Red Card : Sissoko 65 (Liverpool) 
Assists :  Xabi Alonso, Xabi Alonso


27 November 2005

West Ham 1 (Harewood 2)
Manchester United 2 (Rooney 47, O'Shea 56)

Wayne Rooney was the star of the show as Man United moved into second
place after coming from behind at West Ham. The hosts took the lead with
the quickest goal of the Prem season so far as Matthew Etherington's
cross was swept in by Marlon Harewood after just 52 seconds. United
equalised early in the second half when Park Ji-Sung found Rooney who
side-stepped a defender and fired the ball in via the keeper and it was
Rooney's corner that led to the winner as John O'Shea rose highest to
head in.

Attendance : 34,755
Assists : Etherington, Park, Rooney (ck)


Middlesbrough 2 (Viduka 12, Yakubu 66 pen)
West Brom 2 (Ellington 18, Kanu 57)

Honours even at the Riverside as both Middlesbrough and West Brom were
guilty of losing a lead. Boro went ahead early when Mark Viduka drilled
a shot in from the edge of the area after his original effort had been
blocked, however the Baggies levelled when Nwankwo Kanu sent Nathan
Ellington clear to fire home and went ahead in the second half when Paul
Robinson found Kanu and after beating his marker, slotted past the
keeper. Robinson was then involved in the Boro equaliser after he was
adjudged to have pushed Szilard Nemeth as they jumped for a high ball.
Yakubu calmly sent the keeper the wrong way from the spot to earn a
point.

Attendance : 27,041
Assists : n/a, Kanu, Robinson, Nemeth (won pen)


Fulham 2 (McBride 4, 18)
Bolton 1 (Legwinski 90 og)

Two early goals gave Fulham a much needed win against Europe chasing
Bolton in a game that saw six away players booked and El Hadji Diouf red
carded for dissent after the final whistle. Brian McBride did the damage
with two goals in the opening eighteen minutes, the first from Thomasz
Radzinski's cross and then a crisp finish after a long clearance by
veteran keeper Mark Crossley. Bolton did grab a late consolation when
Sylvain Legwinski put through his own net under pressure from Kevin
Nolan but their European trip to Portugal seemed to take it's toll.

Attendance : 27,041
Red Card : Diouf 90 (Bolton)
Assists : Radzinski, Crossley, n/a


Everton 1 (Yobo 46)
Newcastle 0

Everton moved out of the bottom three amid controversy over their
victory against Newcastle. The visitors should have had a first half
penalty when Shola Ameobi's shot was handled by James McFadden, however
despite strong protests, the officials didn't see it and waved away the
Newcastle players. Salt was rubbed in when Everton won the game early in
the second half when Mikael Arteta's corner was headed in powerfully by
Joseph Yobo.

Attendance : 36,207
Assist : Arteta (ck)


26 November 2005

Portsmouth 0
Chelsea 2 (Crespo 27, Lampard 67 pen)

Chelsea moved eleven points clear on Saturday evening with a comfortable
win at managerless Portsmouth. Hernan Crespo opened the scoring with a
close range effort as he cleverly diverted a shot from Paulo Ferriera
into the net. Midway through the second half, Joe Cole was fouled in the
area by Dejan Stefanovic and despite protests that he'd dived, the
referee pointed to the spot. Replays proved that Cole was caught on his
foot and that the decision was correct. Frank Lampard sent the keeper
the wrong way from the spot to clinch the points.

Attendance : 20,182
Assists : Ferreira, Cole (won pen) 


Arsenal 3 (Fabregas 4, Henry 45, van Persie 90)
Blackburn 0

Arsenal crept into second place with a convincing home win against
Blackburn. The Gunners began well and were rewarded early on with the
opening goal, scored by Cesc Fabregas with a 25 yard shot into the
bottom corner after Jose Reyes had been tackled. The lead was doubled on
half time when Thierry Henry fired a first time shot having been sent
clear by Robert Pires and in stoppage time, Robin Van Persie provided
the icing on the cake with a crisp finish off the far post having beaten
two men when he cut in from the right touchline.

Attendance : 38,192
Assists : n/a, Pires, n/a 


Aston Villa 1 (Davis 69)
Charlton 0

Aston Villa earned a much needed win at the expence of faltering
Charlton in what was a drab encounter at Villa Park. The sole goal came
from youngster Stephen Davis who found the top corner from the edge of
the area after Milan Baros had somehow hammered a shot against the bar
from four yards.

Attendance : 30,023
Assist : n/a


Manchester City 0
Liverpool 1 (Riise 61)

Another poor game saw Liverpool's good recent run continue as they eased
past Man City. The winner was out of context for the game as it came
from a cracking strike from John Arne Riise who drilled his shot inside
the near post from the edge of the area after playing a one-two with
Dietmar Hamann.

Attendance : 47,105
Assist : Gerrard


Sunderland 0
Birmingham 1 (Gray 68)

The battle at the bottom saw basement club Sunderland lose at home to
Birmingham, the club one place above them. Another solitary goal decided
the destination of the points as Jermaine Pennant's cross was headed
goalwards by Walter Pandiani and although keeper Ben Alnwick saved well,
Julian Gray was on hand to tap the loose ball home.

Attendance : 32,442
Assist : n/a


Wigan 1 (McCulloch 88)
Tottenham 2 (Keane 8, Davids 77)

Spurs got back to winning ways at Wigan, who are beginning to see the
harsh realities of the top flight. The visitors went ahead courtesy of
an error from Arjan De Zeeuw who failed to intercept a through ball by
Teemu Tainio, allowing Robbie Keane to break clear, round the keeper and
slot into the empty net. The lead was doubled thanks to a first goal for
Spurs from Edgar Davids who collected a pass from Keane in his own half
and set out on a solo run, culminating in a crisp finish. Wigan had some
late hope when Henri Camara's shot was saved and Lee McCulloch tapped in
the rebound but Spurs held on for the win.

Attendance : 22,611
Assists : n/a, Keane, n/a


Gary Dowden
Chief Editor SoccerAge UK

Gary Dowden - Joint Admin Topica Premier-L list
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