To some extent, this week-end's Premiership was about "braces", as several events came in pairs.
Everton managed just their second win of the season, both of which have been away from home. The win was achieved with only their third goal of the season, scored by ex-Spur Simon Davies, whose long range shot bounced in front of Maik Taylor. Everton and Birmingham remain in the bottom three, along with Sunderland, whose performance at home to Portsmouth was abysmal, allowing two goals by full-back Matthew Taylor.
Frank Lampard scored two for Chelsea, to keep many Fantasy Teams ticking over, and of course Jose Mourinho's side. Mourinho this week decided to start a spat with Arsene Wenger, describing him as a "voyeur", which will please Spurs fans, but according to Mr Wenger today, might bring further consequences upon the Chelsea manager.
Mendietta was another double scorer, as Middlesbrough hit 4 goals past Manchester United. Roy Keane had an interview with MUTV "pulled" as he lammed into a number of United's young players, who are not apparently pulling their weight. Keane was of course not present for the embarrassing defeat.
Liverpool scored two goals at home for the first time in this season's Premiership, and their former star, Michael Owen got two of Newcastle's three at The Hawthornes. The first of these was in my view an example of Owen at his best, as he hit N'Zogbia's cross above the keeper with the outside of his right foot.
Darius Vassell ensured that his former employers (Aston Villa) were mightily dejected as he scored two and they lost 3-1 at Eastlands. Vassell's second goal was also an example of excellent football, with a great finish to Andrew Cole's final pass.
Wigan plough on, Charlton still struggle to find their form at home, and of course Spurs have managed two consecutive 1-1 draws against Champions League opposition to give themselves a chance of making a real challenge upon the security of the likes of Man Utd, Arsenal and Liverpool in that top four. Brace yourselves for lift-off, Spurs fans!
Results 29-31.10.05
B'mingham 0-1 Everton
Charlton 0-1 Bolton
Chelsea 4-2 Blackburn
Liverpool 2-0 West Ham
M'brough 4-1 Man Utd
S'derland 1-4 P'tsmouth
Spurs 1-1 Arsenal
Wigan 1-0 Fulham
West Brom 0-3 Newcastle
Man City 3-1 A. Villa
FA Barclays Premiership
Pos Team P W D L F A GD Pts
1 Chelsea 11 10 1 0 28 6 22 31
2 Wigan 10 7 1 2 11 5 6 22
3 Spurs 11 5 5 1 13 7 6 20
4 Man City 11 6 2 3 14 9 5 20
5 Bolton 11 6 2 3 13 11 2 20
6 Charlton 10 6 1 3 15 10 5 19
7 Man Utd 10 5 3 2 15 11 4 18
8 Arsenal 10 5 2 3 13 7 6 17
9 West Ham 10 4 3 3 14 10 4 15
10 Newcastle 11 4 3 4 11 10 1 15
11 M'brough 11 4 3 4 15 15 0 15
12 Blackburn 11 4 2 5 11 14 -3 14
13 Liverpool 9 3 4 2 7 8 -1 13
14 P'tsmouth 11 2 4 5 11 13 -2 10
15 Fulham 11 2 3 6 10 15 -5 9
16 A. Villa 11 2 3 6 10 19 -9 9
17 West Brom 11 2 2 7 9 21 -12 8
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18 Everton 10 2 1 7 3 12 -9 7
19 B'mingham 11 1 3 7 7 16 -9 6
20 S'derland 11 1 2 8 10 21 -11 5
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