With many thanks to Brian Judson, without whom this feature would not be possible.
Wednesday, February 19th, 2003
Fulham v West Bromwich Albion 3-0
This vital victory for homeless Fulham relieved their anxieties near the
bottom of the table. They had to wait until late in the game before
finally shaking off the Baggies. Saha put them ahead in the 72nd
minute when he headed home a cross from Malbranque. Wome
then scored his first goal for Fulham in the 74th minute when
Malbranque took a short free-kick for Wome to blast home a
25-yard free-kick. Malbranque completed the rout from the
penalty spot in the 77th minute after Clement had pushed Saga
off the ball.
Saturday, February22nd, 2003
Bolton Wanderers v Manchester United 1-1
Just when Bolton looked to have secured a vital win, Manchester United
robbed them of a famous victory! N'Gotty had put the Trotters ahead in
the 61st minute when Barthez failed to deal with Djorkaeff's corner,
allowing N'Gotty to head home. As Ferguson fumed on the touchline,
he saw Barthez deny Okocha with a brilliant save in the 74th minute.
Solksjaer finally popped up in the 90th minute to snatch a highly
improbable equaliser for the Reds when Solksjaer beat N'Gotty
to the ball at the near post.
Charlton Athletic v Aston Villa 3-0
Euell put Charlton ahead in the 51st minute when Jensen surged down
the left wing before releasing the ball to Parker. Parker chipped the ball
to Euell, who spun and fended off a challenge to slot the ball home. With
11 minutes left, Crouch made the miss of the match for Aston Villa.
Johansson increased the Addick's lead in the 87th minute when Parker
put him through to tap the ball home. Johansson ensured the points would
remain at the Valley when Svensson headed Jensen's corner goalwards
and the ball deflected off Johansson in the 90th minute.
Chelsea v Blackburn Rovers 1-2
This was Zola's 300th appearance for Chelsea but Blackburn were the
party-poopers. Yorke put the visitors ahead in the 86th minute when Yorke
headed home a corner taken by Dunn. Blackburn extended their lead when
Dunn took advantage of Chelsea pushing for an equaliser to cut in and hit the
ball behind an exposed Cudicini in the 90th minute. Hasselbaink pulled one
goal back deep in added time after 90 minutes when he took a free-kick.
Afterwards, Claudio Rainieri admitted this had been Chelsea's worst
performance of the season and said the players had worried about his
reaction to the defeat that they had quickly cleared away all their boots,
a joking reference to the incident in the Old Trafford dressing rooms
last weekend!
Everton v Southampton 2-1
Beattie put the Saints ahead in the 33rd minute when he beat the Everton
offside trap and chipped the ball over Wright. Radzinski equalised for
Everton in the 83rd minute when a cross from Rooney was rifled home.
Deep in injury time, Radzinski snatched the points in the 90th minute
when Gravesen provided the pass from which he scored.
Leeds United v Newcastle United 0-3
The Yorkshire side were outfought all afternoon and could not cope with
Kieron Dyer. Leeds paid too much respect to Shearer and Bellamy and
paid the price. Dyer put the Toon ahead in the 17th minute when
Shearer bought the ball under control before playing it to Dyer, who
lashed the ball home. Dyer then added a second in the 48th minute
when Shearer and Bellamy swapped passes before Bella my laid the
ball off for the hard working Dyer lashed home a 15-yard shot.
Shearer completed the rout in the 54th minute when Robert curled
in a free-kick for Shearer to head home his 18th goal of the season.
Manchester City v Arsenal 1-5
On this performance, the rest of the Premiership should pack up and go
home for Arsenal look destined to be Champions. Bergkamp put them
ahead in the 4th minute when a crass error by Dunne allowed Bergkamp
to divert Lauren's cross behind Nash. Pires added a second in the 12th
minute when Dunne failed to clear the ball, allowing Henry to centre the
ball for Pires to score. Henry increased Arsenal's lead in the 15th minute
when Keown made a long clearance out of defence. Henry quickly
controlled the ball and smashed the ball goalwards to win a corner.
From the resulting corner, Campbell headed home in the 19th minute.
Vieira increased Arsenal's lead in the 53rd minute when he swapped
passes with Bergkamp to slip the ball behind Nash. Anelka linked up
with Fowler to score a consolation goal in the 87th minute after
Taylor had made at least four world class saves to prevent Manchester
City from scoring. Taylor reminds me of the very young Pat Jennings
so Arsenal look as if they have a very good goalkeeping prospect.
Sunderland v Middlesbrough 1-3
Riggott put the visitors ahead in the 21st minute when Sorensen made a
great save from Christie but could do nothing to prevent Riggott bundling
the ball home. Riggott added a second goal in the 28th minute when the
Sunderland defenders fatally hesitated, allowing Greening to lob the ball
back into the goal area. Southgate saw his shot come back off the post
but Riggott was on hand to force the ball home. Phillips reduced the
arrears in the 56th minute when he picked up the ball some 35 yards
from goal and thumped a shot past Schwarzer off the post. Christie
then restored the visitors two goal lead in the 59th minute when Kilbane
made a dreadful back pass which Christie fastened on to hit the ball
behind Sorensen.
Sunday, February 23rd, 2003
Birmingham City v Liverpool 2-1
Clemence put the Blues ahead in the 34th minute when Savage took
a free-kick and Clemence outjumped everyone else to head the ball
home. Morrison added a second goal in the 68th minute when
Carragher had to ho off, being replaced by Owen. This left the Reds
light at the back. Lazaridis and Dugarry swapped passes to enable
Morrison to bundle in from close range. Owen reduced the arrears in
the 77th minute when Murphy put through a peach of a pass for Owen
to fasten on to score.
West Bromwich Albion v West Ham United 1-2
Both sides were nervy throughout the match. Indeed James and Repka
came very close to having a punch-up. The Baggies had a goal
disallowed for offside which changed the course of the game. Sinclair
put West Ham ahead in the 45th minute when Sinclair evaded Moore
to force the ball home. Di Canio was called off in the 48th minute and
seemed to be resisting the substitution. Dichio equalised for the Baggies
in the 50th minute when he headed home a Koumas cross. Sinclair put
West Ham back in front in the 67th minute when Ferdinand hit the
crossbar and Sinclair headed the rebound home.
Monday, February 24th, 2003
Tottenham Hotspur v Fulham 1-1
The full report is here
FA Barclaycard Premiership
Pos. Pl. W. D. L. F-A. GD Pts
1 Arsenal 28 18 6 4 62-30 32 60
2 Man Utd 28 16 7 5 45-26 19 55
3 Newcastle 27 16 4 7 45-32 13 52
4 Chelsea 28 13 9 6 49-29 19 48
5 Everton 28 14 6 8 37-33 4 48
6 Charlton 28 13 6 9 39-34 5 45
7 Liverpool 28 11 10 7 39-28 11 43
8 Spurs 28 12 7 9 41-38 3 43
9 Blackburn 28 10 10 8 34-32 2 40
10 So'pton 28 10 9 9 29-29 0 39
11 Man City 28 11 5 12 39-43 -4 38
12 A. Villa 28 10 5 13 31-32 -1 35
13 M'brough 27 9 7 11 33-31 2 34
14 Leeds 28 10 4 14 34-37 -3 34
15 Fulham 28 9 7 12 32-35 -3 34
16 B'mingham 28 7 8 13 26-41 -15 29
17 Bolton 28 5 11 12 31-45 -14 26
18 West Ham 28 5 8 15 30-53 -23 23
19 West Brom 28 5 6 17 21-43 -22 21
20 S'derland 28 4 7 17 19-45 -26 19
