With many thanks to Brian Judson, without whom this feature would not be possible
Wednesday 10 April 2002
Blackburn Rovers v Chelsea 0-0
This must be regarded as two points dropped by Chelsea since Blackburn
were clearly the happier of the two sides at the end of the match. Chelsea
fought hard to secure the points and would have done so had they enjoyed
some good fortune. What chances came their way were wasted by Gudjohnsen
and Hasselbaink, normally two very predatory strikers when offered gifts
on a plate. But Cudicini was the busier of the two goalkeepers. A shot
from Cole nearly broke the deadlock but the ball hit woodwork and
rebounded to safety. Surprisingly, considering the stakes and the fact
that Steve Dunn was the referee, there were no bookings.
Saturday 13 April 2002
Aston Villa v Leeds United 0-1
Mark Viduka scored the only goal of the game in the 29th minute. Leeds
were without Ferdinand, Woodgate, Radebe and Duberry, all of whom were
injured. Mellberg was off the field having treatment when Viduka scored.
Keane provided the pass from which Viduka scored after deceiving Delaney
about his intentions. Angel was booked for trying to con the referee into
awarding a penalty and Mills will miss the rest of the season after
receiving his 10th booking of the season.
Charlton Athletic v Southampton 1-1
Alan Curbishley was furious that Charlton failed to beat the Saints. Rufus
had put the Addicks ahead after 17 minutes when he backheaded a long throw
from Robinson into the net. Charlton dominated the match thereafter but
wasted all of their chances to score. With five minutes left to play, the
Saints equalised when Dodd centred for El Khalej to head home from six
yards.
Derby County v Newcastle United 2-3
The Rams will only have themselves to blame if they are relegated. They
were winning 2-0 at one stage of this match. All of the goals came in the
second half. Morris helped to put Derby ahead in the 46th minute when he
got on to the end of a pass from Strupar and slipped the ball to Christie,
who side-footed the ball beyond Given. It was Morris who scored the second
in the 53rd minute when he was put clear by Barton and volleyed the ball
in off the post. Robert reduced the arrears in the 73rd minute when he
cracked home a superb 35-yard free-kick. Three minutes later, Dyer
equalised after being released by Solano. Deep in injury time, Lua Lua
nicked the winner after Solano had crossed the ball.
Everton v Leicester City 2-2
The Foxes looked set to record a rare away victory after Brian Deane had
struck twice in the first half hour. Everton were slow to react when
Savage put Deane through in the 18th minute and slower still to do
anything about it as Deane had all the time in the world to score. Deane's
second goal nine minutes later was just as bad. Stubbs and Gerrard got in
each other's way and Deane was left to tap in a Sinclair cross. Leicester
might have had a third but Dickov managed to screw the ball wide. Chadwick
reduced the arrears in the 64th minute when Gravesen provided the centre
from which Chadwick headed home. Ferguson snatched an undeserved equaliser
four minutes from the end when Ferguson stabbed Unsworth's free-kick
behind Walker.
Sunderland v Liverpool 0-1
Michael Owen scored the only goal of the match in the 55th minute. Gerrard
spotted a chink in the Sunderland defence and pushed the ball through to
Owen. Owen timed his run to perfection to lob the ball over Sorensen.
Sunderland did not have the nous or the wit to put themselves back into
the match. Their one tactic seemed to be to aim the ball in the general
direction of Niall Quinn and hope that Kevin Phillips would remember where
the ball was supposed to go. The Wearsiders season long problems in front
of goal were there for all to see during this match. Near the end,
Sunderland were reduced to 10 men after Reyna had made a reckless
challenge on Owen.
Tottenham Hotspur v West Ham United 1-1
Full report available here
Pos Pl. W. D. L. For-Ag Pts.
1 Arsenal 33 21 9 3 68- 33 72
2 Liverpool 34 21 8 5 56- 26 71
3 Man Utd 34 22 4 8 83- 44 70
4 Newcastle 34 19 7 8 65- 46 64
5 Chelsea 35 16 13 6 63- 32 61
6 Leeds 35 16 12 7 51- 36 60
7 Spurs 35 13 7 15 46- 50 46
8 West Ham 34 13 8 13 42- 50 46
9 M'brough 34 12 9 13 34- 40 45
10 A. Villa 35 10 13 12 39- 43 43
11 S'hampton 35 11 9 15 42- 50 42
12 Charlton 35 10 12 13 36- 44 42
13 Everton 35 10 10 15 40- 51 40
14 Bolton 34 9 12 13 42- 54 39
15 S'derland 35 10 8 16 26- 45 38
16 Fulham 34 8 13 13 32- 41 37
17 Blackburn 33 9 9 15 42- 43 36
18 Ipswich 34 8 9 17 40- 56 33
19 Derby 35 8 5 22 32- 59 29
20 Leicester 35 4 11 20 26- 61 22 R
Cheers, Brian
