With many thanks to Brian Judson, without whom this feature would not be possible.
Tuesday, January 28th, 2003
Bolton Wanderers v Everton 1-2
The Trotters were poor and looked to be definite relegation candidates. It
was not hard to see why Ricketts wants to leave the Reebok Stadium as he
did not receive any service at all. Watson put Everton ahead in the 33rd
minute when he headed home a cross from Unsworth. It was Naysmith's header
that N'Gotty failed to clear that enabled Watson to score again in the
39th minute. Bergsson's consolation goal in the 90th minute came from a
corner when Everton's defenders failed to mark him.
Chelsea v Leeds United 3-2
They Yorkshire side were unlucky to lose this match as they played very
well. Kewell put them ahead in the 18th minute when Viduka held off a
challenge from Gallas to put Kewell through, catching Terry in two minds
as to what to do. Kewell's shot left Cudicini with no chance to retrieve
the situation. Gudjohnsen equalised for Chelsea in the 57th minute when
Lampard centred the ball for Gudjohnsen to toe the ball beyond Robinson.
Lucic put Leeds back in front in the 66th minute when Smith took a corner,
Cudicini parried Kewell's shot and Lucic was quickest to fasten on to the
loose ball. Lampard equalised in the 80th minute when Zenden crossed the
ball from the wing, Matteo failed to clear the ball properly and Lampard
was nicely placed to put the ball into the net. Matteo was unable to
prevent himself scoring an own goal in the 83rd minute which gave Chelsea
victory. Gudjohnsen whipped the ball into the goal area and Lampard's shot
struck Matteo on the way into his net.
Middlesbrough v Aston Villa 2-5
At long last, Aston Villa have won away in the League! Vassall put them
ahead in the 24th minute when he took advantage of some sloppy defending
to fire the visitors ahead. Gudjonsson added a second in the 31st minute
when Schwarzer fumbled to hold a 30-yard shot from the midfielder only to
see the ball squirm out of his grasp and drop over the goal line.
Maccarone reduced the arrears in the 33rd minute when Job centred the ball
for him to tap home. Greening equalised in the 35th minute when Mellberg
failed to challenge him, leaving him with a simple chance to score. Job
should have put Boro ahead just before half-time from a corner by Quendrue
but failed to connect with the ball. Barry fired Villa head in the 48th
minute when he intercepted a shot from Hitzlsperger that was going wide
and turned it into Schwarzer's goal. Vassall extended Villa's lead in the
81st minute when he controlled a centre from Samuel before firing it past
Schwarzer from 6 yards. Dublin completed the rout in the 90th minute when
he headed another cross from Samuel.
Sunderland v Southampton 0-1
Beattie scored the only goal of the game in the 50th minute when Svensson
played a long ball out of defence which caught the Sunderland defence
square. They vainly appealed for offside but Beattie was allowed to go on
and had all the time in the world to slip the ball beyond Sorensen.
Sunderland were very poor and look certainties for relegation on this
form.
Wednesday, January 29th, 2003
Liverpool v Arsenal 2-2
The Gunners failed to increase their lead at the top of the table. Pires
fired Arsenal ahead in the 9th minute when Henry burst into the Liverpool
penalty area only to be foiled by Dudek, The ball ran loose to Pires, who
buried his shot deep in the Liverpool net. The equaliser that Riise scored
in the 52nd minute was the best goal of the night. Heskey won a ball off
Lauren and laid it back to Riise, who hammered the ball behind Seaman.
Bergkamp put Arsenal back in front in the 63rd minute when a shot from the
Dutchman took a deflection of Henchoz to deceive Dudek, who had no chance
to prevent the ball flying into his net. Heskey grabbed a 90th minute
equaliser when a corner was mistakenly awarded to Liverpool after Baros
(not Luzhny) had made the last touch. From the corner, Heskey headed the
ball behind Seaman.
Manchester City v Fulham 4-1
Malbranque put Fulham ahead in the 2nd minute when he capitalised on a
weak clearance by Dunne to fire the ball behind Nash. Anelka equalised in
the 21st minute when he latched on to a pass from Benarbia to divert the
ball beyond Taylor. Benarbia increased the home side's lead in the 47th
minute when Belmadi latched on to a pass from Anelka to slip the ball to
Benarbia, who tucked the ball away. Foe took advantage of panic in the
Fulham defence to stab the ball home in the 61st minute. Wright-Phillips
rounded off the scoring in the 70th minute when he darted on to a header
from Dunne to flick the ball beyond Taylor.
Tottenham Hotspur v Newcastle United 0-1
Read the full report here
West Bromwich Albion v Charlton Athletic 0-1
Bartlett grabbed the only goal of the game for Charlton in the 60th minute
when he was left unmarked as Jensen took a free-kick. He headed the ball
beyond a static Hoult. West Bromwich were not helped by some strange
referring decisions by Andy D'Urso but they should have equalised deep in
injury time when Johnson screwed the ball wide from close range.
West Ham United v Blackburn Rovers 2-1
At last West Ham have won a League match at home but they did it the hard
way! Yorke put Blackburn ahead in the 38th minute when Winterburn fouled
Gillespie. Thompson took the free-kick, Lomas and James were slow to react
and Yorke had the ball in the back of the net. Di Canio equalised from the
penalty spot in the 58th minute after Todd had needlessly upended the
Italian in the penalty area. Defoe snatched the winner in the 89th minute
when he collected Joe Cole's cross field pass, turned two Blackburn
defenders and slipped the ball beyond Friedel.
Cheers, Brian
FA Barclaycard Premiership
Pos. Pl. W. D. L. F-A. GD Pts
1 Arsenal 25 16 5 4 54-27 27 53
2 Newcastle 25 15 3 7 41-31 10 48
3 Man Utd 24 14 5 5 40-24 16 47
4 Chelsea 25 12 8 5 44-25 19 44
5 Everton 25 12 6 7 32-30 2 42
6 Liverpool 25 10 9 6 34-25 9 39
7 So'pton 25 10 9 6 28-24 4 39
8 Spurs 25 11 5 9 35-35 0 38
9 Man City 25 11 4 10 36-35 1 37
10 Charlton 25 10 6 9 31-32 -1 36
11 Blackburn 25 8 10 7 31-28 3 34
12 A. Villa 25 9 5 11 27-27 0 32
13 Leeds 25 9 4 12 33-32 1 31
14 M'brough 25 8 6 11 29-29 0 30
15 Fulham 24 7 6 11 25-31 -6 27
16 B'mingham 24 6 8 10 21-32 -11 26
17 Bolton 25 4 9 12 25-41 -16 21
18 West Ham 25 4 8 13 28-48 -20 20
19 S'derland 25 4 7 14 16-35 -19 19
20 West Brom 24 4 5 15 17-36 -19 17
