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 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 |