With many thanks to Brian Judson, without whom this feature would not be possible
Saturday 20 October 2001
Arsenal v Blackburn Rovers 3-3
Gillespie opened the scoring in the 41st minute when, against the run of
play, Jansen drifted over to the edge of the penalty area and released
Gillespie on the opposite flank. Van Bronckhorst was left for dead as
Gillespie fired a shot that came off the Dutchman as he struggled to
regain position and flew past the stranded Wright. Pires equalised three
minutes after the break when the ball broke for him. He looked set to lose
the ball as he fractionally hesitated but recovered to drive the ball
behind Friedel. Bergkamp then fired Arsenal ahead in the 53rd minute when
Pires found room on the byeline and pulled the ball back for Bergkamp to
drive home. Dunn then equalised for Blackburn in the 58th minute when he
picked the ball up from some 35 yards out and let fly at Wright's goal.
Henry restored Arsenal's lead in the 75th minute when Wiltord fed Henry,
who scored from close range. But Blackburn were not finished and in the
dying seconds, Dunn snatched a deserved equaliser when Dunn scored from
close range at the height of a melee in front of Wright's goal.
Derby County v Charlton Athletic 1-1
Ravenelli gave Derby an early lead in the 15th minute when he headed home
a Craig Burley corner to notch his sixth goal for Derby. Charlton's
equaliser came in the 73rd minute when Euell let fly from an acute angle
and the ball flew into Feuer's, the Derby goalkeeper, net. Derby had
plenty of chances to kill off the game before Charlton equalised.
Everton v Aston Villa 3-2
The Toffees held on grimly to win this match in which a goalkeeper scored
the best goal of the afternoon! Everton raced into a 3-0 lead before Villa
began to fight back. Watson scored the first goal in the 31st minute when
Alexandersson lifted the ball into the goal area for Naysmith to lift back
to the other post for Watson to force the ball home. Radzinski added a
second in the 59th minute when Delaney lost possession of the ball. Alpay
failed to cut the centre out and Naysmith provided the pass from which
Radzinski tapped the ball home. Three minutes later, Gravesen added a
third when Gemmill took a free-kick for Gravesen to smash the ball home.
Hadji reduced the arrears in the 71st minute when Wright's long cross was
headed into the far corner by Hadji. Dublin missed a glorious chance to
reduce the arrears further when he missed Ginola's free-kick. In injury
time, Schmeichel reduced the arrears when he joined the attack for a
corner and hooked the ball behind Gerrard.
Leicester City v Liverpool 1-4
Fowler opened the scoring for Liverpool after only 5 minutes when
McAllister took a corner. Walker blocked Riise's shot but could do nothing
to prevent Fowler from thumping the rebound home. Hyypia added a second
five minutes later when McAllister swung in a free-kick and Hyypia headed
the ball home. Fowler added a third for Liverpool just two minutes before
the break when Murphy picked up a loose ball and slipped it to Fowler, who
smashed the ball behind a bemused Walker. Wise reduced the arrears in the
58th minute when he headed the ball home from a Davidson cross. But in the
dying seconds of the match, Fowler completed his hat-trick when he
volleyed home a spectacular goal behind Walker, who was left clawing at
space.
Manchester United v Bolton Wanderers 1-2
The Champions rung the changes, making eight changes to the side that had
lost in midweek to Deportivo La Coruna. Veron gave them the lead in the
25th minute when he took a superbly struck 25-yard free-kick after
Bergsson had fouled Cole. Nolan equalised for Bolton ten minutes later
when N'Gotty found Ricketts, who headed the ball down to Nolan. Barthez
was caught in two minds as Nolan smashed the ball home. Ricketts grabbed
the winning goal with six minutes left when Brown lost possession of the
ball. Barthez was again caught in two minds as to what to do as Ricketts
powerfully drove the ball home. It has to be said that Manchester United
played well below form.
West Ham United v Southampton 2-0
The Hammers were relieved to win this match, which sealed the doom for
Stuart Gray, the Southampton manager. Both goals came in the second half
and both were scored by Kanoute. His first goal came in the 53rd minute
when Winterburn broke down the left and provided the cross from which
Kanoute headed home. Kanoute's second goal in the 81st minute came when di
Canio's shot came back off the crossbar and fell nicely for Kanoute to
head home.
Sunday 21 October 2001
Fulham v Ipswich Town 1-1
Boa Morte had a very eventful afternoon at Craven Cottage. He missed a
penalty, butted an Ipswich player (being only booked for the offence!) and
was sent off for diving in an attempt to secure a penalty. All this and a
Barry Hayles goal in the 23rd minute! Hayles' goal had come from a Collins
free-kick. Ipswich equalised in the second half when Wright scored in the
55th minute. That was virtually the only time Ipswich threatened to
disturb Fulham, who look a safer bet to survive than Ipswich currently
appear to be.
Leeds United v Chelsea 0-0
An explosive game saw Leeds return to the top of the table after Arsenal
had enjoyed a brief stay at the summit. Le Saux was lucky to avoid being
dismissed for a terrible foul on Danny Mills. The usually imperturbable
David O'Leary was dismissed for arguing with the officials when Le Saux
was booked. Mills' leg was apparently raked from his knee to his hip. Both
defences were well on top of the opposition's forwards and neither side
looked like scoring.
Newcastle United v Tottenham Hotspur 0-2
Full report from the heights of St. James' park here!
Monday 22 October 2001
Middlesbrough v Sunderland 2-0
In a very poor match, Middlesbrough just about deserved to beat a very
poor Sunderland side, whose only tactic seemed to be to look for Niall
Quinn in the hope that he could head the ball down for Phillips to score.
Both players looked woefully out of form and Sunderland are drifting
towards the wrong end of the table. Both goals came early on in the game.
Queudrue put Middlesbrough ahead after only two minutes when Marinelli's
inswinging corner was firmly headed home by the Frenchman. Boksic added a
second in the 21st minute when his header was deflected into his own goal
by Craddock. Thereafter, Middlesbrough were content to contain Sunderland,
whose best player was McAteer, who was making his debut. Ince was sent off
for raising his hands to Quinn, who promptly sent him off, although Quinn
was only booked for his part in the incident.
Pos Pl. W. D. L. For-Ag Pts.
1 Leeds 9 5 4 0 12- 3 19
2 Arsenal 9 5 3 1 21- 8 18
3 Man United 9 5 2 2 26-16 17
4 Liverpool 8 5 1 2 15- 9 16
5 A. Villa 8 4 3 1 13- 6 15
6 Bolton 10 4 3 3 12-11 15
7 Chelsea 8 3 5 0 12- 7 14
8 Everton 9 4 2 3 15-12 14
9 Spurs 10 4 2 4 16-14 14
10 Newcastle 9 4 2 3 15-13 14
11 Blackburn 10 3 4 2 18-14 13
12 S'derland 10 3 3 4 9-12 12
13 M'brough 10 3 2 5 10-17 11
14 Charlton 8 2 4 2 8- 8 10
15 Fulham 9 1 5 3 8-11 8
16 West Ham 8 2 2 4 7-16 8
17 Ipswich 9 1 4 4 7-12 7
18 Derby 9 1 3 5 7-16 6
19 S'hampton 8 2 0 6 5-14 6
20 Leicester 10 1 2 7 6-23 5
