With many thanks to Brian Judson, without whom this feature would not be possible
Tuesday 29 January 2002
Bolton Wanderers v Manchester United 0-4
Solksjaer put the Champions ahead in the 15th minute when Giggs tore down
the wing and slung in a centre that left Solksjaer with a tap-in to
perform. Solksjaer added a second in the 39th minute when Beckham took a
corner and Solksjaer had all the time in the world to head the ball home.
Solksjaer completed his hat-trick in the 64th minute when Beckham took a
free-kick on the left and Solksjaer headed the ball behind the goalkeeper.
The fourth goal of the evening came when Beckham sent Giggs away and Giggs
provided the pass from which van Nistleroy scored in the 84th minute.
Charlton Athletic v Derby County 1-0
John Gregory, who is expected to be named as the new Derby County manager,
was watching the Rams' wretched display from the Valley stands. The only
goal of the match was scored by Chris Bart-Williams in the 79th minute
when he took a free-kick after Mawene had fouled Lisbie. Derby were, to
put it bluntly, awful. Mawene was booked for his indiscretion and so was
Riggott, both bookings being their fifth booking this season, which
triggers an automatic suspension.
Sunderland v Middlesbrough 0-1
Whelan scored the only goal of the match as early as the 14th minute. They
were counter-attacking after Stamp had broken up a Sunderland attack and
Whelan scored from a low drive into a corner of the net. Festa was sent
off for spitting in the face of Kevin Phillips in the 50th minute.
Sunderland spent the rest of the match trying to equalise but were largely
foiled by Mark Crossley in the Middlesbrough goal.
Wednesday 30 January 2002
Aston Villa v Everton 0-0
Life without John Gregory began with this match for Aston Villa. Their
performance was very poor at times. Before the match there were heated
protests from over 1,000 Villa fans demanding Doug Ellis should resign as
Chairman and the Board to resign. Merson worked hard but his distribution
was poor. Everton were not much better. Their best shot of the evening
came from Ferguson but it did not trouble Enckelman at all.
Blackburn Rovers v Arsenal 2-3
Yet another Arsenal dismissal saw Oleg Luzhny sent off after two mistimed
tackles on Duff and Tugay. Manager Souness reckoned after the game that
Bergkamp should also have been sent off for a foul on Johansson. Bergkamp
gave the Gunners the lead in the 14th minute when Pires and Wiltord
swapped passes which resulted in Martin Taylor going full stretch only to
see Bergkamp tap the ball home. Henry added a second goal in the 21st
minute when Friedel fatally hesitated thus allowing Henry to pick his
spot. Jensen reduced the arrears after 31 minutes when a short corner by
Duff saw Hignett head the ball across the goalmouth for Jensen to head
home. Luzhny then slipped over and presented Duff with the ball, who
quickly passed it to Jensen to score the equaliser in the 39th minute.
Luzhny was then sent off for a second bookable offence, the 11th red card
Arsenal have earned this season. It was Pires who provided the pass from
which Bergkamp scored the winner in the 75th minute.
Chelsea v Leeds United 2-0
Gudjohnsen fired Chelsea ahead after only 2 minutes. Stanic raced down the
left wing before finding Petit whose lay-off was drilled in first time by
Gudjohnsen. Dalla Bona added a second in the 31st minute when Melchiot
took a long throw-in, Hasselbaink laid the ball off to Dalla Bona, who
appeared to handle the ball, but Dalla Bona hooked the ball beyond Martyn.
Leeds appealed forcefully for the goal to be disallowed to no avail. Leeds
were very poor at times and even their manager conceded they had deserved
to lose.
Ipswich Town v Fulham 1-0
Bent scored the only goal of the match in the 10th minute. Peralta sent
Armstrong down the left wing. Knight made a good recovery to deny
Armstrong a sight of the goal but succeeded only in deflecting the ball to
the far post where Bent was hovering to force the ball home. Fulham's
manager Jean Tigana complained after the match that he felt Bent had been
offside when he scored. Most of Fulham's problems arose out of Saha's
inability to recapture last season's scoring form.
Liverpool v Leicester City 1-0
Heskey scored the only goal of the match against his old club in the 57th
minute. The Leicester defence parted as if Moses was parting the Red Sea
and Heskey galloped into the space to fire the ball behind Walker.
Liverpool were content to toy with Leicester for much of the match. They
had earlier confirmed the signing of Abel Xavier from their deadly rivals
Everton for £850,000.
Southampton v West Ham United 2-0
Davies scored the first goal without really knowing much about it in the
43rd minute. Fernandes swung over a free-kick, goalkeeper James flapped at
it and the ball hit Davies and flew into the net. Fernandes extended
Southampton's lead in the 66th minute when Repka fouled Svensson just
outside the penalty area. Fernandes blasted the resulting free-kick
through a gap in the West Ham defensive wall.
Tottenham Hotspur v Newcastle United 1-3
Read the full report here
Pos Pl. W. D. L. For- Ag Pts.
1 Man Utd 25 15 3 7 60 - 34 48
2 Arsenal 24 13 8 3 49 - 29 47
3 Newcastle 24 14 4 6 45 - 30 46
4 Liverpool 25 13 7 5 34 - 24 46
5 Leeds 24 11 9 4 35 - 23 42
6 Chelsea 24 10 10 4 42 - 23 40
7 A. Villa 24 9 9 6 31 - 28 36
8 Spurs 24 9 5 10 35 - 33 32
9 Charlton 24 8 8 8 30 - 30 32
10 Fulham 23 7 10 6 23 - 23 31
11 S'hampton 24 9 2 13 29 - 37 29
12 Everton 24 7 7 10 25 - 28 28
13 S'derland 24 7 7 10 19 - 26 28
14 West Ham 24 7 7 10 27 - 40 28
15 Ipswich 24 7 6 11 32 - 33 27
16 M'brough 23 7 5 11 22 - 31 26
17 Blackburn 24 6 7 10 32 - 32 25
18 Bolton 24 5 10 9 27 - 39 25
19 Derby 24 5 4 15 17 - 42 19
20 Leicester 24 3 8 13 15 - 41 17
