27 March 2006

Tottenham (0) 2 (Keane 68, (pen) 89)
West Brom (1) 1 (Davies (C) 21)

Spurs came from behind to beat lowly West Brom, largely thanks to a late 
howler from away keeper Tomasz Kuszczak. The visitors were ahead at half 
time thanks to a set piece as Jonathon Greening's free kick was nodded 
in at the far post by Curtis Davies. Spurs surged back after the break 
and after almost constant pressure, equalised midway through the half. 
Michael Carrick was the provider with a lovely through ball that Robbie 
Keane collected and then clipped brilliantly over the keeper and in. A 
draw looked likely and fair, however with two minutes to go, Kuszczak's 
clearance was charged down by Jermain Defoe and as it bounced toward 
goal, the keeper hailed down the Spurs forward and although Ahmed Mido 
put the ball in, the referee had already blown for a penalty. The keeper 
was booked and could do nothing as Keane dispatched his spot kick into 
the top corner.

Attendance : 36,152
Assists : Greening (fk), Carrick, Defoe (won pen)


26 March 2006

Manchester United 3 (Giggs 3 fk, Giggs 15, Rooney 83)
Birmingham 0

Man United regained second place from Liverpool after a comfortable win 
against struggling Birmingham. United began in superb style and were two 
goals ahead inside fifteen minutes, both from Ryan Giggs. His first had 
an element of luck about it as his 20 yard free kick was tipped onto the 
post by keeper Maik Taylor, however it then rebound against his back and 
bobbled over the line. His second came from a through ball from Wayne 
Rooney that he neatly slotted in. Following their seven goal hammering 
at the hands of Liverpool, another Birmingham slaughter looked on the 
cards, however they rode their luck and improved after the break and 
only conceded once more, late on when Cristiano Ronaldo's header sent 
Rooney clear and having missed two similar chances earlier, he made no 
mistake the third time. 

Attendance : 69,070
Assists : ?, Rooney, Ronaldo


Charlton (2) 3 (Bent (D) (pen) 24, Bowyer (og) 37, Bothroyd 89)
Newcastle (1) 1 (Parker 35)

Charlton move above Newcastle in the table after a comfortable win 
against the Tyneside club. The home side went ahead from a firmly struck 
Darren Bent penalty after Craig Moore had tripped Jerome Thomas, 
although part of the blame should go to Peter Ramage for an awful 
clearance in the first place. Former Charlton star Scott Parker 
equalised with a stunning 30 yard shot into the top corner after being 
found by Alan Shearer, however within two minutes, Charlton were back 
ahead thanks to another of their former players. A long ball into the 
area was nodded on and as Moore blasted the ball away, it hit team-mate 
Lee Bowyer on the leg and rocketed back into the net for a freak own 
goal. The win was secured late on when Dennis Rommedalh's run and cross 
was headed in at the near post by Jay Bothroyd less than a minute after 
coming on as sub.

Attendance : 27,019
Assists : Thomas (won pen), Shearer, n/a, Rommedahl


Middlesbrough 4 (Hasselbaink 8 Pen, 47, Viduka 30, Parnaby 92)
Bolton 3 (Giannakopoulos 4, Okocha 58, Jaidi 81)

Stuart Parnaby scored a last minute winner as Middlesbrough edged out 
Bolton by the odd goal in seven after a remarkable game at the 
Riverside. It began as it was to go on as Bolton netted early when a 
long ball by Jay-Jay Okocha was headed on by Boro's Ugo Ehiogu, allowed 
Stelios Giannakpolous to collect and wriggle through challenges before 
firing in. Boro were level within five minutes as Joey O'Brien's 
handball allowed Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink to score from the penalty spot, 
although keeper Jussi Jaaskelainen almost saved it, the ball dribbling 
under his body and trickling over the line. The hosts then took command 
as Fabio Rochemback's chip was chested into the path of Mark Viduka by 
Hasselbaink and the Aussie made no mistake with his close range shot. 
Early in the second half it was 3-1 when a long ball found it's way 
through to Hasselbaink and he clipped the ball past the advancing keeper 
and in off the post. Bolton then battled back, aided by the luckless 
Ehiogu who hauled down Jared Borgetti in the area and although Okocha's 
weak penalty was saved by Mark Schwarzer, he was on hand to wallop in 
the rebound. Nine minutes from time and Bolton were level as Rahdi Jaidi 
lost his marker to head home Okocha's cross, however in stoppage time, 
Yakubu produced a brilliant cross from the left and Parnaby pounced at 
the far post to fire in the winner.

Attendance : 25,971
Assists : n/a, n/a, Hasselbaink, Quedrue, n/a, Yakubu


25 March 2006

Aston Villa 0
Fulham 0

Fulham collected a rare away point against Aston Villa whose boss David 
O'Leary is coming under increasing pressure from the fans. Villa came 
close to opening the scoring in a poor game when Lee Hendrie's skimmed 
the bar, but in truth this was nothing to write home about.

Attendance : 32,605
Assist : n/a


Chelsea 2 (Drogba 30, 33)
Manchester City 0

Chelsea edged closer to back-to-back titles with a comfortable win 
against Man City, however Didier Drogba was involved in a hand ball 
controversy for the second successive match. His first goal was legal 
enough as he collected a pass from Eidur Gudjohnsen, cut back inside a 
defender and blasted a shot past David James, however three minutes 
later after James had saved brilliantly from John Terry's header, Joe 
Cole volleyed the ball back into the area and after Asier Del Horno 
headed across goal, Drogba controlled with his arm and fired in. Heavy 
City protests resulted in Kiki Musampa and Sylvain Distin being booked 
and at half time, the latter continued his protests and was shown a 
second yellow card and subsequent red.

Attendance : 42,321
Red Card : Distin 45 (Manchester City)
Assists : Gudjohnsen, Del Horno


Sunderland 0
Blackburn 1 (Reid 15)

Blackburn's European hopes remain on target after a victory at bottom 
club Sunderland. The only goal was a solo effort from Steven Reid who 
was allowed to run from his own half to the edge of the area before 
drilled a fine shot into the net.

Attendance : 29,593
Assist : Nelsen


Wigan 1 (McCulloch 45)
West Ham 2 (Harewood 52, Reo-Coker 90)

West Ham came from behind to put a dent in Wigan's European dreams. The 
hosts went ahead when Jimmy Bullard found Lee McCulloch and his long 
range shot found the corner with keeper Shaka Hislop rooted to the spot. 
The Hammers equaliser when Paul Scharne's weak back header was nicked 
past the keeper by Marlon Harewood and tapped into the empty net and in 
stoppage time they won it when Nigel Reo-Coker turned in Teddy 
Sheringham's cross at the near post.

Attendance : 18,736
Assists : Bullard, n/a, Sheringham


Liverpool 3 (Neville 45 og, Luis Garcia 47, Kewell 84)
Everton 1 (Cahill 61)
Red Cards : Gerrard 18 (Liverpool), van der Meyde 74 (Everton)

Four goals, nine yellow cards and two red cards as Liverpool won the 
Merseyside derby at Anfield with a 3-1 win over arch rivals Everton. The 
first half was a bit of an oddity in that it was littered with fouls, 
pettyness and bookings, yet produced two hugely significant moments to 
talk about. The first came when Liverpool captain Steven Gerrard was 
booked for kicking the ball away after a decision when against his side 
and then within a minute, he caught Kevin Kilbane with a late scything 
challenge and was shown a second yellow and subsequent red. It looked to 
be heading for a goalless half time teaktalk, but in stoppage time, Xabi 
Alonso swung in a vicious near post corner that Phil Neville, in an 
attempt to clear, only headed it into his own net to the delight of the 
home fans who'd been giving the former Man United star plenty of stick 
throughout. The second half began as the first ended with a goal for 
Liverpool as Jose Reina's long kick was headed on by Peter Crouch and 
after Luis Garcia put himself through with a neat header, he lobbed the 
advancing keeper to double the lead. Everton battled back and reduced 
the lead when Tim Cahill wasn't pick up to head a corner from Leon Osman 
in off the far post, however it spurred on Liverpool more than the 
visitors as Alonso hit the bar with a free kick and Harry Kewell ws 
denied by a brilliant save from Richard Wright. Among all this, Everton 
brought on Duncan Ferguson and Andy Van Der Meyde, however the latter 
lasted less than six minutes as his arm was a little too high when 
challenging Alonso for a header and having caught the Liverpool man with 
his elbow, he was shown a straight red card. Liverpool wrapped up a 
remarkable game late on when Steven Finnan found Kewell in space and his 
fierce shot swerved inside the far post from 20 yards. 

Attendance : 44,923
Assists : n/a, Crouch, Osman (ck), Finnan

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