4 January 2006 Manchester City (0) 0 Tottenham (1) 2 (Mido 31, Keane 83) Spurs moved to within a point of third placed Liverpool with a good victory at Man City. Spurs had the better of the opening half an hour and they took a deserved lead thanks to a howler of epic proportions from Sylvain Distin. The City defender tried to allow a through ball to go out for a goal kick, however having left it, in nipped Aaron Lennon to just keep it in and cut back for Ahmed Mido to slot in past Richard Dunne on the line. City did dtep up a gear in the second half as Andy Cole blazed over and Bradley Wright-Phillips shot inches wide and a minute afterwards, Spurs doubled their lead as Mido headed on a long kick forward and Robbie Keane controlled well and drilled home from the edge of the area. Attendance : 40,808 Assists : Lennon, Mido 3 January 2006 Arsenal (0) 0 Man United (0) 0 Arsenal and Man United battled out a goalless draw at Highbury in a game that is unlikely to go down in the memory for too long. The first half saw little of the blood and thunder that is usually associated with these two clubs meeting and few chances either. For the home side, Robert Pires had a shot saved whilst Thierry Henry drilled a free kick just wide. United's best chance came late when Ruud Van Nistelrooy shot at the keeper and Cristiano Ronaldo walloped the rebound well over. The second half began better although United's finishing remained poor as Ryan Giggs and Van Nistelrooy blazed off target from good positions, whilst Henry and Gilberto had shots blocked at the other end. United keeper Edwin Van Der Sar did well to save at close range from Pires as the tackles, and the yellow cards, started to arrive midway through the half with three bookings in a five minute spell. With five minutes left, Gary Neville almost grabbed a winner when he slid in to shoot into the side netting and in stoppage time, Wes Brown's header was cleared off the line as United always looked most likely to win. All told though, this was an encounter that missed the likes of Vieira and Keane. Attendance : 38,313 Assist : n/a 2 January 2006 West Ham (0) 1 (Harewood 46) Chelsea (1) 3 (Lampard 25, Crespo 61, Drogba 80) Chelsea move fourteen points clear at the top after a comfortable win in a London derby at West Ham. They went ahead when a long throw by Geremi resulted in a poor defensive header by Yossi Benayoun which allowed Frank Lampard, jeered by the home fans all game, to volley in against his former club. The second half began in sensational fashion with the Hammers levelling inside 21 seconds! Nigel Reo-Coker made it with a lovely reverse pass for Marlon Harewood and although his shot was partially saved by Petr Cech, it looped goalwards and would probably have gone in anyway had Harewood not made sure on the line. Chelsea sent on Hernan Crespo on the hour and within a minute he put his side back into the lead as he was sent clear by Arjen Robben, rounded the keeper and fired in. It was an eventually game for Crespo who later missed two golden chances to increase the score before being subbed himself due to injury. By then, Chelsea had scored a third as Didier Drogba this time beat the offside trap to latch onto a long pass from Eidur Gudjohnsen and then smash home a brilliant effort from the right edge of the penalty area. Attendance : 34,758 Assists : n/a, Reo-Coker, Robben, Gudjohnsen West Brom (0) 1 (Watson 76) Aston Villa (0) 2 (Davis 47, Baros (pen) 80) A controversial late penalty gave Aston Villa all three points at locals rivals West Brom in a cracking clash at the Hawthorns. Villa went ahead early in the second half when James Milner's cross was headed in at the far post by Steve Davis, however an old boy returned to haunt them with an equaliser as Steve Watson drove a loose ball into the net after Jonathon Greening's free kick wasn't cleared. Watson then turned villain as he stuck out his arm to handle a free kick on the edge of the area to give Milan Baros the chance to score the winner from the penalty spot which he took with a shot straight down the middle. Attendance : 27,073 Assists : Milner, n/a, n/a Birmingham (2) 2 (Pennant 20, Melchiot 33) Wigan (0) 0 Birmingham collected a vital win in their battle against relegation as high flying Wigan were beaten at St Andrews. Both goals came in the first half, firstly from Jermaine Pennant's excellent header back across goal and in off the far post after Jiri Jarosik had crossed and then Pennant's corner saw the ball bouncing around like a pinball machine before Muzzy Izzet's shot was blocked and Mario Melchiot tapped in from close range. Attendance : 29,189 Assists : Jarosik, n/a Bolton (1) 2 (Jaidi 10, Diouf 71) Liverpool (0) 2 (Gerrard (pen) 67, Garcia 82) Liverpool's ten game winning run came to an end, one shot of equalling the club record, as they twice came from behind to draw at Bolton. The normally rock solid Liverpool defence gifted their opponents an early goal as Stelios Giannakopolous swung in a free kick which keeper Jose Reina dropped at the far post, however as Sami Hyypia went to hoof the ball clear, Reina again got in his way and looped it up for Rahdi Jaidi to nod in. Liverpool equalised when Steven Gerrard was tripped in the area by Joey O'Brien and then converted the penalty cooly into the bottom corner. Bolton took less than four minutes to regain the lead as Kevin Davies crossed from the left for ex-Liverpool striker El-Hadji Diouf to shoot at Reina as he came out, however the ball bounced back against the Senegalese star and bobbled into the net. Liverpool wouldn't lie down and levelled again when Xabi Alonso found Luis Garcia in the area and after controlling the ball on his chest, he blasted his effort inside the near post. Attendance : 27,604 Assists : n/a, Gerrard (won pen), Davies, Xabi Alonso Everton (2) 3 (Beattie 9*, Cahill 41, 59) Charlton (1) 1 (Holland 18) * - rebound after his penalty was saved. Everton's bid to pull clear of the drop zone gained momentum with a home win against Charlton who continue to struggle to put a run together. They went ahead early on when Dennis Rommedalh pulled back Kevin Kilbane in the area to concede a penalty and was a little lucky only to receive a yellow card. James Beattie's kick was well saved by ex-Everton keeper Thomas Myhre only for Beattie to dispatch the rebound. Charlton pulled level after Luke Young's cross was headed to the edge of the area when Matt Holland struck a superb volley into the bottom corner, however the home side went back ahead when a quick free kick from Mikel Arteta found Tim Cahill at the far post to head into the roof of the net. The same pair combined again to make it three with Cahill again sending a firm header past the keeper from a free kick. Attendance : 34,333 Assists : n/a, n/a, Arteta (fk), Arteta (fk) Fulham (1) 2 (John 43, 61) Sunderland (1) 1 (Lawrence 7) SENT OFF: Caldwell (Sunderland) 58 Luckless Sunderland stay bottom after a narrow defeat at Fulham. They did have the satisfaction of scoring a stunning opening goal as a cross from Danny Collins was not properly cleared and Liam Lawrence sent a brilliant volley tearing into the net from 20 yards. Fulham were level when Sylvain Legwinski's cross was headed on by Brian McBride and Collins John stretched at the far post to head home. Sunderland were then reduced to ten men when Stephen Cladwell clipped the heels of Heidar Helguson as he burst through and within three minutes, the visitors fell behind when Helguson's cross was headed in by John again. Attendance : 19,372 Assists : n/a, McBride, Helguson Newcastle (1) 2 (Solano 27, Clark 90) Middlesbrough (0) 2 (Yakubu 54, Hasselbaink 87) A Newcastle equaliser with the final kick of the game earned them a point after they blew a lead against north-east rivals Middlesbrough. They were ahead at half time thanks to Nol Solano's superbly struck free kick, however early in the second half, James Morrison crossed for Yakubu to tap in at the far post. With time running out, Mark Viduka sent Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink clear and he slotted past the keeper from the edge of the area but with stoppage time ticking away, Newcastle keeper Shay Given came up for a corner and saw opposite number Mark Schwarzer only punch the ball to the edge of the box when Lee Clark drilled a shot through a crowd of players and in. Attendance : 52,302 Assists : Ameobi (won fk), Morrison, Viduka, n/a Blackburn (2) 2 (Pedersen 9, Dickov 38) Portsmouth (1) 1 (Taylor 3) Three wins in a row for Blackburn as they came from behind to see off lowly Portsmouth at Ewood Park. The visitors went ahead early on when Matt Taylor curled in a superb free kick from 25 yards, however within six minutes, Rovers equalised with an almostt carbon copy effort from Morten Gamst Pedersen, although his was just slightly nearer the edge of the penalty area. Seven minutes before half time, the home side went ahead when Steven Reid's long range shot was parried away by Sander Westerveld, allowing Paul Dickov to loop a header across goal and just inside the far post. Attendance : 19,521 Assists : n/a, Dickov (won fk), 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 |