24 August 2005

Blackburn 0
Tottenham 0

Tottenham's 100% record is gone, although they are still yet to concede
after a goalless draw at Blackburn. The home side had by far the better
of things, however they almost blew it late on after the dismissal of
Lucas Neill. The Australian had already been booked when a disagreement
with Andy Reid led to Neill butting him! All the officials missed the
incident, so not to be outdone, Neill launched into a late tackle on
Edgar Davids and received the red card that he deserved from minutes
earlier.

Attendance : 26,375
Assists : n/a
Red Card : Neill 76 (Blackburn)


Bolton 2 (Diouf 37, Giannakopoulos 50)
Newcastle 0

As Newcastle fans hope for the arrival of Michael Owen, the players on
the pitch continue to struggle as they crashed to defeat at Bolton. The
hosts deservedly went ahead when Nicky Hunt's cross was heading in at
the far post by El Hadji Diouf and in the second half, the victory was
comfirmed when Diouf's cross was nodded on by Gary Speed and finished at
the far post by Stelios Giannakopolous.

Attendance : 25,904
Assists : Hunt, Speed


Arsenal 4 (Cygan 32, 90, Henry 53, 82)
Fulham 1 (Jensen 22)

Thierry Henry moved to within a goal of equally Ian Wright's all time
scoring record for Arsenal as the Gunners came from behind to
comprehensively beat Fulham. They even wasted an early chance when Henry
was tripped in the area by Zat Knight only for Lauren's penalty to be
well saved by Tony Warner. Midway through the first half, Fulham stunned
the home side by taking the lead when Claus Jensen chipped a beauty into
the far corner after Thomasz Radzinski's cross was only half cleared. It
did little except galvanise the home side and they were level inside ten
minutes when Dennis Bergkamp's free kick was glanced in at the near post
by the head of Pascal Cygan. Henry then took over after the break as he
put Arsenal ahead with a crisp finish after Jose Antonia Reyes had sent
him clear and then made it 3-1 when he again found space, this time to
collect Mattieu Flamini's pass, and clipped the ball home. Cygan - an
unlikely scorer early in the game - then added his second and Arsenal's
fourth late on when Kolo Toure mishit Bergkamp's cross, allowing him to
volley into the empty net.

Attendance : 37,867
Assists : n/a, Bergkamp (fk), Reyes, Flamini, Toure


Chelsea 4 (Lampard 23, 80, Cole 43, Drogba 68)
West Brom 0

Chelsea top the table with three wins out of three as they finally hit
form against West Brom. Frank Lampard opened the scoring with a neat
control and finish after Michael Essien had dummied a cross from Didier
Drogba. Lampard celebrated the birth of his daughter on Monday with the
traditional Brazil 94 `rock the baby` goal celebration. The lead was
doubled when Lampard's long ball was just kept in by Shaun Wright-
Phillips and he cut it back for Joe Cole to slot in. Cole's corner then
led to the third as he found Asier Del Horno at the far post and his
shot was nodded in by Drogba and with ten minutes to go, we had another
baby celebration as Lampard fired in a volley after good work on the
left by Arjen Robben.

Attendance : 41,201
Assists : Drogba, Wright-Phillips, Del Horno, n/a


24 August 2005

Birmingham 0
Middlesbrough 3 (Viduka 14, 45, Queudrue 71)

Mark Viduka hit form with two superb goals as Middlesbrough won for the
first time this season as they swept Birmingham aside at St Andrews. The
Australian's first goal was a crisp near post shot after a fine cross by
James Morrison, however it was the second, just before half time, that
really caught the eye. Just inside the left edge of the penalty area, he
collected a throw in from Franck Queudrue and after some neat control
and ball juggling, wrong-footing three defenders, he cracked a brilliant
volley across the keeper and into the far corner from a tight angle. The
victory was confirmed in the second half when Queudrue slotted in at the
far post from Stuart Downing's free kick to leave the hosts in the
bottom three.

Attendance : 27,998
Assists : Morrison, Downing? (throw-in), Downing (fk)


Portsmouth 1 (Lua Lua 42)
Aston Villa 1 (Hughes 11 og)

Controversy at Fratton Park in a crazy two minute spell early on as Nol
Solano was red carded for Aston Villa in the 1-1 draw against
Portsmouth. The Peruvian was having his shirt pulled by Richard Hughes
as he tried to break clear when he caught the defender with his elbow
and although the foul was awarded to Villa, the ref had little choice
but to send Solano off. Irony was then heaped on the incident as, from
the resulting free kick taken by Gareth Barry, Hughes headed the ball
past his own keeper! The equaliser was sheer class from Lomano Lua-Lua,
who collected a weak defensive header, made space and then curled a
superb shot from the edge of the box into the top corner.

Attendance : 19,778
Assists : n/a, n/a
Red Card : Solano 11 (Aston Villa)


Sunderland 1 (Le Tallec 41)
Manchester City 2 (Vassell 10, Sinclair 35)

Man City top the Premiership - at least for 24 hours - after a narrow
2-1 win at Sunderland who still await their first point of the season.
The home side wasted a host of chances in the first half, whereas City
took theirs well and were two-up within 35 minutes. The first came early
as Joey Barton sent Darius Vassell clear and he finished clinically with
a clipped shot with the outside of his boot. The second saw Trevor
Sinclair combine on the edge of the area with Andy Cole and then drill
the ball firmly home. Sunderland pulled one back before half time when
Anthony Le Tallec headed home a Dean Whitehead corner, but that elusive
first point is still yet to arrive.

Attendance : 33,357
Assists : Barton, Cole, Whitehead (ck)


Gary Dowden
Chief Editor SoccerAge UK

Gary Dowden - Joint Admin Topica Premier-L list
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