With many thanks to Brian Judson, without whom this feature would not be possible.
Saturday, November 9th, 2002
Arsenal v Newcastle United 1-0
Wiltord scored the only goal of the game in the 24th minute, which closed
the gap between the Gunners and Liverpool to a single point. Henry drifted
inside, rolled the ball to the overlapping Luzhny, whose centre was
casually tapped home by Wiltord. Newcastle rarely bothered Seaman and
rarely looked like improving on their dreadful record in London.
Aston Villa v Fulham 3-1
Angel put Villa head in the 20th minute when a toothless Fulham stood to
one side to allow Angel all the time in the world to score. Boa Morte
equalised in the 51st minute when he slipped past a leaden footed Staunton
and dispatching a fine shot to the bottom right hand corner. Allback put
Villa back in front in the 66th minute to kill any hopes Fulham had to
rescue the game. Leonhardsen killed them off with his first goal for Villa
in the 83rd minute.
Bolton Wanderers v West Bromwich Albion 1-1
Dobie put the visitors ahead in the 17th minute when he spun and fired the
ball into the goal after Clements free-kick had hit the wall and rebounded
to him. N'Gotty was sent off for violent conduct three minutes later.
Bolton continued to fight and earned their reward late on when Frendsen
headed home an 89th minute equaliser.
Chelsea v Birmingham City 3-0
Gudjohnsen put Chelsea ahead in the 3rd minute after Zola had backheeled
the ball into his path. It was Gudjohnsen who scored the second goal in
the 31st minute when Morris centre to the striker for him to clip home,
much to Steve Bruce's fury. Zola scored the third goal in the 42nd minute
when he strode by a static Cunningham to score. The second half was an
anti-climax as Chelsea tried to present Gudjohnsen with a hat-trick.
Everton v Charlton Athletic 1-0
Radzinski scored the only goal of the game in the 31st minute when
Gravesen took the ball off Mustoe to slip to Radzinski to score. Charlton
had their chances to equalise but squandered them all. This was the first
time for 12 years that Everton had won four consecutive games and almost
as long since they were last this high in the table.
Manchester City v Manchester United 3-1
This was a match to savour! Rarely have Manchester United been so
completely outplayed or forced into schoolboy errors! It was fun to watch
Ferguson simmering like a red beetroot on the touchline! Anelka put the
Blues ahead in the 5th minute when he took the ball off Ferdinand and
thumped the ball home. Solskjaer equalised in the 8th minute when he stole
in on Schmeichel's blind side to hook Giggs' cross home. Goater restored
the Blues lead in the 26th minute when Neville made the worst mistake of
the afternoon and lost the ball to Goater, who skied the ball over Barthez
into an unguarded net. In the second half, Goater completed the rout in
the 50th minute when he latched on to Berkovic's lovely pass to enable him
to chip the ball over Barthez. I shall savour the look Ferguson gave for a
long time to come!
Middlesbrough v Liverpool 1-0
Southgate scored the only goal of the game in the 82nd minute after a rare
Dudek blunder. Nemeth hoisted the ball into the area and Dudek caught it.
He then surprisingly dropped the ball and Southgate mishit it into the net
to pull off a totally unexpected victory for the hosts. Liverpool came to
the Riverside with the intention of avoiding defeat and played negatively
with that intention until Southgate struck.
Southampton v Blackburn Rovers 1-1
Beattie put the Saints ahead from the penalty spot in the 38th minute
after Short had clattered into Svensson. Tugay was sent off for two
bookable offences fourteen minutes from time. Cole struck in the 90th
minute with the referee looking at his watch after Neill had centred the
ball. Ormerod tried to meet the ball but it flew off him, hit Cole and
flew into the net, a total fluke but they all count.
Sunday, November 10th, 2002
Sunderland v Tottenham Hotspur 2-0
The full report on this dismal affair can be read here
West Ham v Leeds United 3-4
A poor backheader by Dailly allowed Barmby to head Leeds ahead in the 12th
minute. Di Canio equalised in the 21st minute when Robinson spilled a
25-yard shot from Carrick for the Italian to strike home. Harte took a
corner from which Kewell headed home to put Leeds back in front in the
29th minute. Kewell increased the visitors' lead in the 41st minute when
West Ham failed to clear his initial shot from yet another Harte corner
and Kewell banged the ball behind James. In injury time, Viduka cashed in
on another blunder by Dailly and tapped the ball into an empty net. The
Upton Park faithful booed their team off when the whistle ended the first
half. Di Canio reduced the arrears by converting a penalty, after Kelly
had upended Di Canio, in the 50th minute. Sinclair further reduced the
arrears in the 75th minute when he got in front of Harte to head a
Schmemmel cross home. In stoppage time, West Ham almost nicked an
improbable draw when Pearce headed a Winterburn cross the wrong side of an
upright.
Pos. Pl. W. D. L. F-A. GD Pts
1 Liverpool 13 9 3 1 24-10 14 30
2 Arsenal 13 9 2 2 28-13 15 29
3 Chelsea 13 6 5 2 23-12 11 23
4 Everton 13 7 2 4 16-15 1 23
5 Man Utd 13 6 4 3 17-12 5 22
6 M'brough 13 6 3 4 16-10 6 21
7 Blackburn 13 5 5 3 19-14 5 20
8 Spurs 13 6 2 5 17-18 -1 20
9 Newcastle 12 6 1 5 18-16 2 19
10 Leeds 13 5 2 6 17-16 1 17
11 So'pton 13 4 5 4 13-13 0 17
12 Man City 13 5 2 6 14-19 -5 17
13 Fulham 13 4 3 6 17-18 -1 15
14 A. Villa 13 4 3 6 10-12 -2 15
15 B'mingham 13 4 3 6 14-18 -4 15
16 S'derland 13 3 4 6 8-16 -8 13
17 Charlton 13 3 2 8 10-18 -8 11
18 West Ham 13 3 2 8 13-23 -10 11
19 West Brom 13 3 2 8 10-21 -11 11
20 Bolton 12 2 3 7 12-22 -10 9
