With many thanks to Brian Judson, without whom this feature would not be possible.
Saturday, December 28th, 2002
Aston Villa v Middlesbrough 1-0
Dublin scored the only goal of the match in the 11th minute when Angel's
centre from the right was deflected off Wilson into the Middlesbrough
goal. The visitors were shocked when the referee sent Wilson off for two
bookable offences. But they very nearly snatched an improbably equaliser
when Job, Geremi and Ehiogu all went close in the dying moments of the
game.
Blackburn Rovers v West Ham United 2-2
Graeme Souness was furious with his team after they had dropped two points
to the worst team in the League. Duff had put Blackburn ahead in the 4th
minute when his weak shot somehow squirmed out of 'Calamity' James' grasp
and trickled over the line. But the Hammers equalised when Taylor put
through his own goal in the 24th minute after deflecting Lomas' cross into
the net. Andy Cole looked to have settled the issue in the 78th minute
when he shook off the attentions of Gary Breen to fire the ball beyond
James. But Defoe had the last word in the 86th minute when he snatched the
equaliser after Pearce had headed the ball down to his feet.
Charlton Athletic v West Bromwich Albion 1-0
Lisbie grabbed the only goal of the match in the 6th minute when he
flicked in Jensen's corner. Hoult tried to punch the ball away but could
only fist it into his own goal. The Baggies fought back but could not
convert their chances. They left themselves open to counter-attacks but
Charlton were unable to convert their chances.
Everton v Bolton Wanderers 0-0
Wayne Rooney produced another fine performance but Bolton's defence did
not allow him to score. In fact, it was Bolton who came closest to winning
at Goodison Park when, with twelve minutes left, Okocha hit the bar with
Wright hopelessly beaten.
Fulham v Manchester City 0-1
Both sides had chances to win this match before Anelka struck in the 84th
minute. Indeed Anelka had earlier contrived to miss from two yards at one
point. But there was no mistake when he was put through by substitute
Wright-Phillips to crack the ball beyond the unlucky Taylor.
Leeds United v Chelsea 2-0
The Tykes newest star, James Milner, ensured that Leeds continued to climb
the table. Woodgate had put the Yorkshire side ahead in the 30th minute
when a Wilcox corner saw Kewell head the ball on for Woodgate to stab
home. Kewell then went off to be replaced by Milner. Just before the
break, Milner made it 2-0 when a pass from Wilcox saw Milner elude
Desailly to curl the ball around de Gooey. Smith was lucky to still be on
the field at that point as he should have been dismissed for elbowing Le
Saux. He was later booked for tangling with Stanic. Chelsea rarely showed
any trace of the form that has taken them to the higher reaches of the
League.
Manchester United v Birmingham City 2-0
Beckham returned to the side following his absence from injury. Forlan put
the Reds ahead in the 37th minute when he volleyed a header from Beckham
into the Blues goal. Manchester United then proceeded to waste a string of
chances. Finally, Beckham added a second goal in the 73rd minute when he
raced on to a Veron pass and unleashed a shot from 25 yards out. But there
must be concern that they spurned so many chances to improve their goal
difference.
Southampton v Sunderland 2-1
Sunderland looked to have saved a point from this match before they
finally conceded the points in the fourth minute of added time. Beattie
had fired the Saints ahead in the 73rd minute when he headed home a
Marsden centre. Flo equalised in the 77th minute when McCann took a corner
and Flo outjumped everyone else to head the ball into the goal net. Tessem
grabbed the winner in the fourth minute of added time at the height of a
goalmouth melee, though Fernandes looked to have got the final touch to
the ball.
Sunday, December 29th, 2002
Arsenal v Liverpool 1-1
Gerard Houllier accused Francis Jeffers of diving to win a penalty. Both
goals came from penalty kicks rather than open play. Liverpool have not
won a match since November 2nd and are seriously in danger of being unable
to qualify for next season's Champions League. Murphy put Liverpool ahead
from the penalty spot after Baros had been bought down by Campbell. But in
the 79th minute, Henry equalised from the spot after Jeff Winter decided
that Riise had tugged Jeffers back, who made a meal of doing so. Both
sides missed chances that they would have normally scored and Campbell had
a goal disallowed in the first half.
Newcastle United v Tottenham Hotspur 2-1
Read the full match report here
FA Barclaycard Premiership
Pos. Pl. W. D. L. F-A. GD Pts
1 Arsenal 21 13 4 4 42-22 20 43
2 Chelsea 21 10 8 3 34-17 17 38
3 Man Utd 21 11 5 5 33-21 12 38
4 Newcastle 20 11 2 7 34-29 5 35
5 Everton 21 10 5 6 23-22 1 35
6 Liverpool 21 9 7 5 30-21 9 34
7 So'pton 21 8 8 5 24-21 3 32
8 Spurs 21 9 5 7 30-30 0 32
9 Man City 21 9 3 9 28-29 -1 30
10 M'brough 21 8 5 8 25-20 5 29
11 Blackburn 21 7 8 6 28-25 3 29
12 Charlton 21 8 5 8 24-25 -1 29
13 Leeds 21 8 3 10 28-27 1 27
14 A. Villa 21 7 4 10 19-23 -4 25
15 B'mingham 21 6 7 8 20-25 -5 25
16 Fulham 21 6 5 10 23-27 -4 23
17 Bolton 20 4 7 9 23-35 -12 19
18 S'derland 21 4 6 11 14-30 -16 18
19 West Brom 21 4 4 13 16-32 -16 16
20 West Ham 21 3 7 11 21-38 -17 16
Cheers, Brian
