With many thanks to Brian Judson, without whom this feature would not be possible
Saturday 29 December 2001
Arsenal v Middlesbrough 2-1
Last season, Middlesbrough were party poopers and were the only team to
win at Highbury. For a long time it looked possible that the same thing
would happen again. Campbell made a terrible hash of a back pass to Taylor
but Whelan streaked past Campbell to put the Teessiders ahead. It was not
until Pires scored in the 55th minute that Arsenal started to make their
dominance count. He unleashed an unstoppable shot that Crossley had no
chance of stopping. The Middlesbrough players swarmed round referee Andy
D'Urso to protest, claiming Henry had pushed Ince out of the way to
prevent him from blocking Pires' shot. Ince was booked for his voluble
protests. Arsenal then had a justifiable complaint of their own when
Mustoe sent Pires flying in the penalty area and Pires was booked by the
referee for diving. It was Bergkamp, coming on as a substitute for Kanu,
who created the winner. He cooly picked out a gap in the Middlesbrough
defence and Cole eluded his marker to head the ball home.
Aston Villa v Tottenham Hotspur 1-1
The full report can be read here.
Blackburn Rovers v Derby County 0-1
Christie struck in the 40th minute to break Derby's duck on the road.
Before this match, Derby had not won an away match since winning 1-0 at
Old Trafford of all places at the end of last season. Christie had already
threatened to score at least twice before he struck. Carbone found
Christie in the middle of the Blackburn half of the pitch and he raced
forward, sending Berg the wrong way. Christie raced into the box and
bamboozled Friedel before slipping the ball to the keeper's left. Derby
should have had a penalty when Riggott tripped Christie early in the
second half but Christie was not quick enough to take advantage and
stumbled on a couple of paces before falling over, enough to persuade the
referee to wave play on. After the match was over, it was announced that
Andy Cole had signed for Blackburn Rovers.
Bolton Wanderers v Leicester City 2-2
This was a game in which three players were sent off and Robbie Savage was
involved in two of the incidents. Referee Mike Riley decided that Warhurst
had deliberately fouled Savage, when many onlookers felt Savage had made a
meal of a fair tackle after 18 minutes. Four minutes later, Ricketts
headed the ball into his own goal when Wise had centred the ball from the
wing. A minute later, Holdsworth was sent off after clashing with Savage
and grabbing him by the neck. Savage was then replaced by Izzet. Deane
then increased Leicester's lead when Jaaskelainen fumbled Deane's tame
shot over his goal line. Nolan reduced the arrears in the 34th minute when
Hendry headed back Charlton's deep cross into the box and Nolan headed the
ball behind Walker. Three minutes into the second half, the referee booked
Izzet for diving and in the 69th minute dismissed Izzet for kicking the
ball away when he had awarded a free kick to Bolton. In injury time,
Ricketts equalised for Bolton when he nodded home Southall's cross.
Everton v Charlton Athletic 0-3
The Toffees are sliding towards yet another relegation battle. They are
impoverished and unable to spend their way out of trouble. Their players
are bickering among themselves and Gravesen has accused the board of being
unambitious. So it did not come as a great surprise to see the Addicks
winning so easily. Charlton had not won at Goodison Park since 1949 (when
Spurs were still in the old Second Division!). It was Stuart, himself an
old Evertonian, who put Charlton ahead in the 29th minute. Claus Jensen
sent Lisbie away and Stuart slid in to force the ball home with Everton's
defence all at sea. Euell added a second in the 68th minute when Robinson
dashed down the wing and played a neat pass to Euell, who crashed the ball
home. Konchesky completed the rout when Everton's defenders failed to
clear the ball when he volleyed the ball home from the edge of the area.
Ipswich Town v Sunderland 5-0
The Tractor Boys continued their recent good form by thrashing Sunderland
out of sight. Armstrong put them ahead in the 15th minute when George's
centre scuffed Armstrong's outstretched leg and flew into the goal.
Gaardsoe added a second in the 26th minute when he climbed above everyone
else to head a corner kick from Venus into the goal. A minute later,
Armstrong increased Ipswich's lead when Williams failed to clear a long
ball and the ball dropped nicely for Armstrong to score with Sorensen
trapped in no man's land. George added a fourth after 31 minutes when he
intercepted a pass in his own half and back-heeled it to Holland. Holland
then flighted the ball into George's path as he dashed upfield and the
Nigerian clipped the ball over Sorensen, who had come off his line to
narrow the angles. Clapham completed the rout in the 86th minute when he
swapped passes with Naylor before smashing the ball home.
Newcastle United v Chelsea 1-2
Solano lost possession of the ball in the Chelsea half and eventually the
ball was picked up by Gudjohnsen, who raced past O'Brien, to score the
opening goal in the 35th minute. Shearer equalised for Newcastle after 37
minutes when a free kick was awarded to the Magpies. Shearer spotted a
chink in the wall and left Cudicini with no chance to retrieve the
situation. Gudjohnsen scored what proved to be the winning goal deep in
the extra time added to the opening 45 minutes. Elliott misjudged a long
ball to allow Hasselbaink to cross from the right for Gudjohnsen to ghost
in by the near post and slip the ball beyond Given's reach.
Southampton v Leeds United 0-1
The Saints looked to have done enough to have salvaged a point in their
battle against relegation when Bowyer struck in the 88th minute. Leeds had
made a terrible start to the game and their cause was not helped when
Smith had the ball in the net only to see the effort disallowed for
offside. Following his recent troubles in court, Woodgate was paired with
Ferdinand at the back and played well. It took a Viduka pass to split the
Saints defence as the game approached its end. With the Saints defence
momentarily halting to appeal for offside, Bowyer whipped the ball into
the net gleefully.
West Ham United v Liverpool 1-1
Sinclair gave the Hammers a 39th minute lead when Defoe cut in from the
left touchline and supplied the pass from which Sinclair scored from
outside the penalty area. Owen equalised two minutes from the end of the
game as Liverpool piled on pressure and he was first to react when there
was a loose ball in the West Ham penalty area. It was his 100th League
goal for Liverpool. Only Ian Rush (346), Roger Hunt (286), Billy Liddell
(229), Kenny Dalglish (172), Robbie Fowler (171), Ian St John (118), Jack
Balmer (111) and John Barnes (108) are ahead of Owen. He is young enough
to catch Rush if he remains fairly free from injury.
Sunday 30 December 2001
Fulham v Manchester United 2-3
The League champions won their fifth consecutive match. Giggs gave them a
5th minute lead when Keane and Scholes created a chance which Van Der Sar
flapped at and Giggs took advantage to push the ball home. Deep in first
half injury time, Van Nistleroy added a second when he twice swapped
passes with Giggs before scoring. But Fulham instantly struck back when
Legwinski reduced the arrears when he headed Malbranque's free-kick behind
Barthez. Giggs scored again in the 47th minute when he outpaced Melville
to shoot in from the tightest of angles. Marlet's 89th minute goal, when
he turned in Brevett's cross, came too late to affect the issue.
Pos Pl. W. D. L. For-Ag Pts.
1 Arsenal 20 11 6 3 41-24 39
2 Newcastle 20 12 3 5 38-25 39
3 Leeds 20 10 8 2 30-17 38
4 Liverpool 19 11 4 4 29-19 37
5 Man United 20 11 3 6 48-30 36
6 Chelsea 20 8 9 3 31-16 33
7 Spurs 20 8 4 8 31-27 28
8 A. Villa 20 7 7 6 26-25 28
9 Charlton 20 6 8 6 24-22 26
10 S'derland 20 7 5 8 17-22 26
11 West Ham 20 6 7 7 25-30 25
12 Fulham 19 5 9 5 19-20 24
13 Everton 20 6 5 9 23-26 23
14 Blackburn 20 5 7 7 25-25 22
15 Bolton 20 5 7 8 23-31 22
16 M'brough 19 5 4 10 18-28 19
17 S'hampton 19 6 1 12 19-31 19
18 Derby 20 5 4 11 15-35 19
19 Ipswich 20 4 6 10 24-28 18
20 Leicester 20 3 7 10 14-36 16
