With many thanks to Brian Judson, without whom this feature would not be possible
Saturday 20 April 2002
Bolton Wanderers v Tottenham Hotspur 1-1
Full report available here
Chelsea v Manchester United 0-3
The Champions' League has now slipped out of the grasp of the Blues. They
look like ending the season trophy-less once again. Scholes put the
champions ahead after 15 minutes when the visitors won a free-kick. Giggs
rolled the ball to Scholes, who blasted the ball home from 30 yards. Ruud
van Nistleroy added a second in the 41st minute when Giggs swapped passes
with Solksjaer and van Nistleroy jinked past Terry and Cudicini to score.
Solksjaer rounded off the scoring with four minutes of the match to play
when van Nistleroy supplied a pass to Giggs, who spotted Solksjaer
hovering on the other side of the goalmouth and the Norwegian timed his
run to perfection to score.
Leeds United v Fulham 0-1
The South West London side grabbed the victory that assures them of
another season in the Premiership when lifeless Leeds capitulated, much to
the annoyance of their manager, David O'Leary. Malbranque scored the only
goal of the game in the 52nd minute when Leeds made a hash of clearing a
corner kick, allowing Malbranque to fire the ball home.
Leicester City v Aston Villa 2-2
Relegated Leicester gave Villa a huge fright. They fought hard for the
ball and made Villa scrap all the way. Vassall put the visitors ahead in
the 22nd minute when Crouch supplied a pass for Vassall to drive a low
shot beyond Walker. Izzet then scored a penalty for Leicester in the 25th
minute after Samuel had clattered into Marshall. Hitzlsperger restored the
Villa lead two minutes later when he evaded the attentions of Marshall and
Oakes before firing a low ball beyond Walker. Stevenson equalised for the
Foxes in the 67th minute when Savage chipped the ball into the penalty
area and Stevenson was first to react before Villa had realised their
appeals for offside were unsuccessful.
Liverpool v Derby County 2-0
The Rams crumbled towards relegation with hardly a bleat. Michael Owen
sparkled in the sunshine at Anfield as the Reds kept up the pressure on
their rivals. Owen put the Reds ahead in the 16th minute when Anelka ran
down the right wing, the ball moving to Riise on the left before Murphy
pushed the ball to Smicer. A deft pass freed Owen from the hovering
Riggott and Derby were down and out. Owen's 90th minute goal merely
confirmed what had been obvious for several months. A long clearance from
defence sent Owen scampering away, eluding Oakes in the process, to tap
the ball into an empty goal.
Middlesbrough v Blackburn Rovers 1-3
Damien Duff was the brains behind this victory for Blackburn. Yordi put
Blackburn ahead in the 33rd minute when a magnificent run by Duff left
Yordi with a simple tap-in chance. Cole added a second in the 74th minute
when Duff took a corner from which Cole headed home. Dunn scored a penalty
in the 83rd minute when Queuendreu upended Dunn. Immediately afterwards,
Queuendreu was sent off for a silly tackle on Dunn. With the exits jammed
with departing home fans, Nemeth reduced the arrears in the 90th minute
when he beat Short to a ball to force the ball home.
Newcastle United v Charlton Athletic 3-0
The Toon have almost qualified for the Champions League as a result of
this win. Speed put them ahead in the 22nd minute when Shearer won them a
corner. Solano took the corner and Speed headed the Toon ahead. Lua Lua
added a second seconds after half-time when Elliott sent a long ball
forward for the young striker to thump past Kiely. Shearer then scored the
200th goal of his career with a minute left to play when Speed split the
Charlton defence with a peach of a pass for Shearer to tap the ball beyond
Kiely.
Southampton v Everton 0-1
The Toffees ensured their safety with this victory. Prior to the arrival
of David Moyes, they looked down and out. Their future looks promising if
Moyes can strengthen their squad. Watson scored the only goal of the game
in the 41st minute when he ran on to a Campbell pass to chip the ball over
the hapless Jones in the Southampton goal.
West Ham United v Sunderland 3-0
Things will look bleak for Sunderland next season unless they can find
someone to score goals. Sinclair put the Hammers ahead in the 28th minute
when Schemmel tore down the right wing and chipped the ball to Sinclair,
who steadied himself before scoring. Lomas added a second in the 52nd
minute when Cole fed Sinclair on the right wing, the ball flew across the
face of the Sunderland goal to Lomas, who buried the ball in the bottom
right hand corner of the goal. Defoe added a third in the 77th minute when
Lomas centred the ball from the right wing, Sinclair nodded the ball back
and Defoe headed the ball into the Sunderland goal from point blank range.
Sunday 21 April 2002
Arsenal v Ipswich Town 2-0
The Gunners are now red hot favourites to complete a third League and Cup
double. They will be the Champions if they win their remaining matches.
For much of this match, they were nervy but kept their nerve just as all
good winners do when they hit a rocky patch. Ljungberg scored both of
their goals late in the match. His first goal, in the 68th minute, came
with his outwitting the Ipswich defenders marking him and pivoting to toe
poke the ball into the narrowest of gaps provided by the Tractor Boys. The
second goal, some ten minutes later, came from a creative centre by
Grimandi. Ljungberg's first effort, a header, was saved by Marshall but
the goalkeeper could not prevent the ball from rebounding off the Swede's
knee.
Tuesday 23 April 2002
Blackburn Rovers v Newcastle United 2-2
The Toon grabbed the point they needed to qualify for the pre-qualifying
stage of next season's Champions League. Gillespie put Blackburn ahead in
the 28th minute when he scored against the run of play after the Toon had
dominated the match up to that point. Shearer equalised in the 63rd minute
when Solano's shot was blocked by Friedel but Solano chipped the ball to
Shearer to equalise. Cole restored Blackburn's lead in the 67th minute
when Gillespie centred the ball to Cole to poke home beyond Given. But
Shearer had the last word in the 71st minute when Robert put Shearer
through to thump the ball home.
Fulham v Bolton Wanderers 3-0
Earlier in the day, Fulham had reported a £23.3M loss, a record for a
British club. Goldbaek put Fulham ahead in the 42nd minute when he
volleyed the ball home after a lapse of concentration by the Bolton
defence. Marlet added a second in the 72nd minute with a swirling left
footed drive. Hayles ensured Fulham were safe from relegation in the 76th
minute when he slotted home Malbranque's pass. This was the final match at
Craven Cottage before their season's tenancy at Loftus Road whilst Craven
Cottage undergoes a £70M refit next season.
Wednesday 24 April 2002
Arsenal v West Ham United 2-0
In winning their 10th consecutive match, Arsenal are now clearly
in pole position to win the League as they are now 4 points ahead of
Liverpool. Two victories from their remaining three games will make them
Champions. The goals came very late in the match. But West Ham did score a
goal but which was not allowed. Kanoute's shot was clearly well over the
line when Ashley Cole cleared the ball but the nearest official said he
could not see clearly where the ball was. It was Ljungberg who scored in
the 77th minute when he got on to the end of an exquisitely placed pass
from Bergkamp. The celebrations had barely died away when Kanu added a
second goal in the 80th minute. Sinclair lost possession of the ball in
midfield and Ljungberg provided the pass from which Kanu scored.
Ipswich Town v Middlesbrough 1-0
Darren Bent scored the only goal of the match in the 58th minute to
increase the pressure on Sunderland, the team immediately above them. He
had come on (with Alan Armstrong) a minute earlier as replacements for
Marcus Bent and Marcus Stewart. Venus took a corner which bounced off
Hreidarsson's knee into Bent's path and Schwarzer had no chance to
retrieve the situation.
Pos Pl. W. D. L. For-Ag Pts.
1 Arsenal 35 23 9 3 72- 33 78
2 Liverpool 35 22 8 5 58- 26 74
3 Man Utd 35 23 4 8 86- 44 73
4 Newcastle 36 20 8 8 70- 48 68
5 Chelsea 36 16 13 7 63- 35 61
6 Leeds 36 16 12 8 51- 37 60
7 West Ham 36 14 8 14 45- 52 50
8 Spurs 36 13 8 15 47- 51 47
9 M'brough 36 12 9 15 35- 44 45
10 A. Villa 36 10 14 12 41- 45 44
11 Fulham 36 10 13 13 36- 41 43
12 Everton 36 11 10 15 41- 51 43
13 S'hampton 36 11 9 16 42- 51 42
14 Charlton 36 10 12 14 36- 47 42
15 Blackburn 35 10 10 15 47- 46 40
16 Bolton 36 9 13 14 43- 58 40
17 S'derland 36 10 8 17 26- 48 38
18 Ipswich 36 9 9 18 41- 58 36
19 Derby 36 8 5 23 32- 61 29 R
20 Leicester 36 4 12 20 28- 63 22 R
