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1 February 2006 Arsenal (1) 2 (Henry 45, Pires 89) West Ham (2) 3 (Reo-Coker 25, Zamora 32, Flamini 79 og) Arsenal blew the chance to gain ground on fourth placed local rivals Spurs as they slumped to a shock home defeat against West Ham. Having dominated the early stages, Arsenal were stunned to concede two goals, both courtesy of awkward defending by Sol Campbell. Firstly, he sliced horribly at the ball as Hayden Mullins sent Nigel Reo-Coker clear to run through and score and then he was outmuscled by Bobby Zamora who latched onto a long ball from Paul Konchesky to curl the second into the far corner. Konchesky's poor control when allowed Arsenal to attack on half time and after Robin Van Persie's shot was cleared off the line, Robert Pires shot goalwards for Thierry Henry to divert the ball in. The Hammers regained their two goal cushion when Reo-Coker set to Matthew Etherington to drive home via a deflection and Pires on the line and although Pires himself pulled a late goal back with a volley after Dennis Bergkamp's shot was blocked, West Ham held on for a famous victory. Attendance : 38,216 Assists : n/a, n/a, Pires, n/a, n/a Aston Villa (0) 1 (Moore 77) Chelsea (1) 1 (Robben 14) Chelsea failed to win for only the fourth time in the league this season after Aston Villa came from behind to earn a well deserved draw. The Champions went ahead when a cross from William Gallas was controlled by Joe Cole and although he and Arjen Robben seemed to get in each other's way, the Dutchman fired the ball into the net. The equaliser came after a great run down the right from Mark Delaney and his cross was bundled in at the near post by Luke Moore. Attendance : Assists : Cole, Delaney Blackburn (3) 4 (Bentley 35, 41, 56, Neill (pen) 45) Manchester United (1) 3 (Saha 37, Van Nistelrooy 63, 68) SENT OFF: Ferdinand (Man United) 88 New Blackburn signing David Bentley scored a hat trick as Rovers beat Man United in a remarkable seven goal thriller at Ewood Park. It took over half an hour for the first goal to arrive as Bentley volleyed in after Morten Gamst Pedersen's free kick was pushed onto the post, however like London cabs, we then had three more in ten minutes. Firstly United equalised when Wayne Rooney's shot was saved and Louis Saha dispatched the ball back across goal and into the net, however Rovers went back ahead thanks to comical defending from United. Defender turned midfielder Rio Ferdinand, looped a back header toward his own goal, unaware that keeper Edwin Van Der Sar was coming off his line to collect the ball! It fell neatly into the path of Bentley who tapped into the empty net. On half time, Wes Brown handled a cross in the area, allowing Lucas Neill to slot home the resulting penalty. Bentley completed his treble when he collected a pass from Robbie Savage to fire in off the far post, however United fought back with two goals in six minutes. Firstly, Cristiano Ronaldo crossed for Ruud Van Nistelrooy to tap in and the Dutchman did it again when he slotted in after Brown had flicked the ball on. United finished with ten men as Rio Ferdinand was sent off for a high tackle on Savage that saw the Welshman stretchered off. Attendance : 25,484 Assists : n/a, n/a, n/a, n/a, Savage, Ronaldo, Brown Liverpool (0) 1 (Gerrard 62) Birmingham (0) 1 (Alonso (og) 88) SENT OFF: Johnson (Birmingham) 28 Liverpool slipped up against ten man Birmingham in a game notable for the return of prodigal son Robbie Fowler. Birmingham were reduced in numbers when Damien Johnson caught debutant Daniel Agger with a studs first tackle and was shown a straight red, however Liverpool didn't take full advantage until the second half when Fernando Morientes crossed for Steven Gerrard to find the net via a deflection. More comedy defending gifted Birmingham a point with two minutes to go as Emile Heskey's header fell to Xabi Alonso six yards out, however his intention to chest the ball back to his keeper backfired horribly when he only diverted it into his own net! Fowler almost completed a dream second debut only to have a late overhead kick disallowed for offside. Attendance : 43,851 Assists : Morientes, n/a Manchester City (2) 3 (Riera 14, Cole 38, Vassell 62) Newcastle (0) 0 Man City increased the pressure on Newcastle boss Graeme Souness with a comfortable win at the City of Manchester stadium. Wantaway star Joey Barton was jeered by his own fans initially, however his cross helped set up the first goal, as did Andy Cole's miskick which fell nicely for Albert Riera who found the net from the edge of the area. No such problems later for Cole who headed the second after Darius Vassell had crossed and in the second half, Cole's through ball sent Vassell clear to finish neatly past keeper Shay Given. Attendance : 42,413 Assists : n/a, Vassell, Cole Portsmouth (0) 1 (Karadas 85) Bolton (0) 1 (Fadiga 69 fk) MISSED PEN: Fadiga (Bolton) 45 - Over A late goal gave Portsmouth a useful point in their battle to avoid the drop as they came from behind against Bolton. The visitors wasted a great chance to go ahead on half time after keeper Dean Kiely had fouled Stelios Giannakopolous in the area, however Khalilou Fadiga blazed the penalty high, wide and not very handsome. He made amends though with a freakish opening goal as his free kick from near the right corner flag deceived everyone in the area and bounced across goal to nestle inside the far post. Portsmouth levelled late on when Wayne Routledge crossed for Azar Karadas to send a volley in via keeper and crossbar. Attendance : 19,128 Assists : Giannakopolous (won fk), n/a 31 January 2006 Charlton (0) 0 West Brom (0) 0 No goals at the Valley as West Brom earned a vital point in their quest to stay in the Prem. The visitors came as close as anyone to breaking the deadlock late on when Geoff Horsfield's far post header was pushed onto the woodwork by keeper Thomas Myhre. Attendance : 25,921 Assists : n/a Fulham (0) 1 (Bocanegra 90) Tottenham (0) 0 SENT OFF: Dawson (Tottenham) 72 Fourth placed Spurs lost the chance to go level with Liverpool after losing to a late goal at Fulham. Their cause wasn't helped when they were reduced to ten men inside the last twenty minutes when Michael Dawson hauled back Heidar Helguson to collect his second yellow card of the match. It looked to be heading for a goalless draw until stoppage time when Carlos Bocanegra rose to head home Simon Elliott's free kick. Attendance : 21,081 Assists : Elliott (fk) Sunderland (0) 0 Middlesbrough (2) 3 (Pogatetz 19, Parnaby 31, Hasselbaink 71) Middlesbrough ended their recent awful run with a comfortable win - their first in two months - at bottom club Sunderland who took another massive step towards the Championship. The game was effectively over by half time as Emanuel Pogatetz headed a Stuart Downing free kick in off the bar and then Stuart Parnaby combined with Mark Viduka to drill in the second. Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink completed the scoring after the break when he was found by Gaizka Mendieta and fizzed a shot home from the edge of the area. Attendance : 31,675 Assists : Downing (fk), Viduka, Mendieta Wigan (1) 1 (Scharner 45) Everton (1) 1 (Thompson (og) 9) SENT OFF: Ferguson (Everton) 80, Roberts (Wigan) 83 Wigan and Everton shared the points at the JJB in a game that ended with two red cards. The visitors went ahead early when Tim Cahill's shot was blocked and as David Thompson tried to clear, he only bobbled the ball into his own net under pressure from Leon Osman. Wigan levelled matters on half time when Paul Scharner volleyed in at the near post after Pascal Chimbonda had headed on a free kick. With ten minutes to go, Scharner and sub Duncan Ferguson exchanged words in the penalty area, resulting in the fiery Scot punching the Wigan man in the stomach and earning a deserved red card. He'd hardly got down the tunnel when he was followed by Jason Roberts who also saw a straight red for an elbow on David Weir, although unlike Ferguson it was more clumsy than malicious. Attendance : 21,731 Assists : n/a, Chimbonda 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 |