With many thanks to Brian Judson, without whom this feature would not be possible
Saturday 19 January 2002
Derby County v Ipswich Town 1-3
Ipswich continued their recent fine run to push Derby further into the
relegation mire. Stewart missed a first half penalty after Carbonari had
held on to Bent. All the goals came in the second half. Bent opened the
scoring in the 47th minute when he burst through a static Derby defence to
claim his fifth goal of the season. Burton then missed after a penalty for
Derby after Venus was adjudged to have pulled down Ravenelli. In the 67th
minute, Bent provided the pass from which Peralta scored. Christie reduced
the arrears for Derby in the 79th minute when he knocked home Ravenelli's
cross from close range. But Reuser had the last word when he headed home a
cross from Makin. Derby were poor and were, unsurprisingly, booed off the
park.
Leicester City v Newcastle United 0-0
There were no goals in this match but signs multiplied that Leicester
could yet follow Ipswich up the table. Izzet and Akinbiyi spurned two
chances to win the game for the Foxes. Despite the fact that Izzet still
wants to leave the Foxes, his commitment to the cause could not be doubted
at all. Newcastle did not really trouble Leicester until the last quarter
of an hour. Walker was substituted after 25 minutes with a back problem
and replaced by Tim Flowers.
Liverpool v Southampton 1-1
Michael Owen gave Liverpool a 7th minute lead. Jones, the Southampton
keeper, had already blocked efforts from Berger, Hyypia and Heskey. Jones
then blocked a shot from Hamann but could not prevent Owen stabbing home
the rebound. Liverpool dominated the rest of the rest half but could not
turn their superiority into goals. A minute after the break, Kevin Davies
managed to get onto the end of a cross from Marsden. Hyypia half blocked
the ball but could not prevent Davies from scoring. Thereafter, Liverpool
played without conviction, despite Anelka's efforts.
Manchester United v Blackburn Rovers 2-1
Ruud van Nistleroy created football history when he scored in his eighth
successive Premiership match just before half-time. Blanc was sent flying
in the penalty area as he tried to sidestep Friedel. The Dutchman took the
resulting penalty in the 45th minute. But Blackburn were level in the 49th
minute.Cole back-heeled the ball to Jansen who slipped the ball to
Hignett, who took advantage of the rapidly slowing Irwin, to slip the ball
into the goal. But Keane ensured that the Champions had the last laugh in
the 81st minute. Giggs teased the Blackburn defence until they did not
know if they were coming or going. Giggs fired the ball but the shot was
blocked and ran back to Keane, who belted the ball into the goal.
Middlesbrough v Bolton Wanderers 1-1
Middlesbrough should have been 3-0 ahead by the time Whelan scored a 38th
minute goal to give them the lead. Marinelli's free-kick was half-cleared
to Johnston and he lobbed the ball to Whelan as the visitors defence
panicked. Whelan lobbed the ball behind Jaaskelainen. But Bolton, spurred
on by Sam Allardyce from the touch line, refused to give up. Bo Hansen
equalised in the 74th minute when Barness swung in a free-kick, Bergsson
headed the ball on and Hansen hammered the ball into the net.
Sunderland v Fulham 1-1
Malbranque had given Fulham the lead in the 15th minute. He skipped away
from Schwarz, Haas and Varga before driving a shot that flew past
Sorensen. Sunderland fought hard to get back on terms but they had to wait
until the 67th minute before they did so. Schwarz provided the pass from
which Phillips raced clear past van der Sar before slotting the ball into
the unguarded net. In an eventful end to the game, McCann was led off with
blood pouring from his nose after a clash with Knight and substitute Boa
Morte was also carried off after replacing Hayles.
Tottenham Hotspur v Everton 1-1
Read the full match report here
Sunday 20 January 2002
Chelsea v West Ham United 5-1
West Ham held their own up to half-time. Then, with the referee looking at
his watch, Hasselbaink gave Chelsea the lead in the 45th minute. West Ham
failed to clear a corner. Zola chipped the ball to the far post where
Gudjohnsen was hovering. James blocked his shot but Hasselbaink forced the
ball home from 8 yards. Gudjohnsen added the second in the 51st minute
when he was again left unmarked. Terry intercepted a pass from Carrick,
intended for Di Canio, and Gudjohnsen was left with the simplest of
chances. Hasselbaink added the third after 60 minutes when Zola pushed the
ball through for Hasselbaink to run on to and score. Di Canio was then
sent off after he had stamped on Morris. Andy D'Urso sent him off
instantly. Gudjohnsen added his second goal in the 87th minute following a
goalmouth melee. Defoe scored a consolation goal for the Hammers in the
88th minute when he intercepted a square pass by Stanic. Forsell wrapped
the match up in the 90th minute.
Leeds United v Arsenal 1-1
Unlike past encounters between these two sides, this match was a damp
squib. Fowler put Leeds ahead in the 6th minute when Viduka sent Wilcox
away down the left wing. Wilcox slipped past Luzhny. Cole missed his cross
and Fowler headed the ball home. Pires equalised in the 45th minute when
Bergkamp played the ball forward, Henry dummied but let the ball run on
until Pires picked it up and deceived Martyn as to the direction he was
going to shoot. The second half was poor and Arsenal lost Ljungberg with
an ankle injury.
Monday 21 January 2002
Charlton Athletic v Aston Villa 1-2
Vassell took advantage of poor defensive play by Mark Fish in the 8th
minute when Fish failed to intercept a pass from Samuel and his shot took
a deflection off Jorge Costa to leave Kiely stranded. Angel added a second
for Aston Villa in the 42nd minute when Charlton failed to deal with a
long pass forward from Hadji. Boateng slipped the ball to Angel, who
outpaced Costa before driving a low shot under Kiely. Stuart scored a
consolation goal for the Addicks in the 88th minute when Schmeichel
blocked his first shot and Stuart gratefully scored from the rebound but
the goal came far too late to matter.
Tuesday, January 22nd 2002
Manchester United v Liverpool 0-1
The Merseyside Reds duly completed the double over Liverpool to get their
campaign back on track. In recent weeks, Liverpool have faltered but in
this match, they looked assured in what they were trying to do. Murphy,
who scored the winning goal, had been barracked by his supporters last
weekend. The Champions surprisingly decided to play with van Nistleroy as
a lone striker. Both sides looked evenly matched until Murphy struck in
the 85th minute. The ball was lost by Anelka to Veron, who, in turn, lost
the ball to Gerrard. Gerrard clipped a cross from the right which Murphy
lobbed over the approaching Barthez. After the match, Sir Alex Ferguson
sourly commented, "Liverpool just kicked the ball forward and hoped to get
a break. We were desperately unlucky."
Wednesday, January 23rd 2002
Leicester City v Arsenal 1-3
It took a while before Arsenal began to impose themselves on injury-hit
Leicester City but then van Bronckhorst opened the scoring with his first
goal for Arsenal in the 33rd minute. Luzhny slung over a centre that
eluded the entire Leicester defence and van Bronckhorst headed the ball
home. Henry extended Arsenal's lead in the 43rd minute when Bergkamp sent
the ball skimming towards the Leicester goal. Flowers parried the shot to
Laursen, who picked out Henry for Henry to score. At the start of the
second half, Leicester sent on three substitutes but later lost Sinclair
with a damaged foot after being tackled by Pires. Izzet reduced the
arrears when Akinbiyi knocked the ball down to him so Izzet could volley
the ball home in the 68th minute. Wiltord completed the scoring in the
90th minute when he lashed a fine shot behind Flowers with his left foot.
Pos Pl. W. D. L. For- Ag Pts.
1 Man Utd 24 14 3 7 56 - 34 45
2 Arsenal 23 12 8 3 46 - 27 44
3 Newcastle 23 13 4 6 42 - 29 43
4 Liverpool 24 12 7 5 33 - 24 43
5 Leeds 23 11 9 3 35 - 21 42
6 Chelsea 23 9 10 4 40 - 23 37
7 A. Villa 23 9 8 6 31 - 28 35
8 Spurs 23 9 5 9 34 - 30 32
9 Fulham 22 7 10 5 23 - 22 31
10 Charlton 23 7 8 8 29 - 30 29
11 S'derland 23 7 7 9 19 - 25 28
12 West Ham 23 7 7 9 27 - 38 28
13 Everton 23 7 6 10 25 - 28 27
14 S'hampton 23 8 2 13 27 - 37 26
15 Blackburn 23 6 7 9 30 - 29 25
16 Bolton 23 5 10 8 27 - 35 25
17 Ipswich 23 6 6 11 31 - 33 24
18 M'brough 22 6 5 11 21 - 31 23
19 Derby 23 5 4 14 17 - 41 19
20 Leicester 23 3 8 12 13 - 40 17
