With many thanks to Brian Judson, without whom this feature would not be possible.
Saturday, November 29th.2003
Aston Villa v Southampton 1-0
There was a pre-match march by dissatisfied Aston Villa fans, demanding
that Doug Ellis should quit as Chairman, Dublin scored the only goal of
the game in the 45th minute when Beattie made a hash of clearing a Villa
corner and Dublin quickly forced the ball into the Saints goal. Neither
side played well and both will be looking nervously over their shoulders
if they continue to play like this.
Blackburn Rovers v Tottenham Hotspur 1-0
Read the full match report here.
Bolton Wanderers v Everton 2-0
The Blues threw this game away. They had plenty of chances but could not
convert them. Frandsen put the Trotters ahead in the 26th minute when
Campo forced Martyn to punch his clearance away from goal but Frandsen was
on hand to head the ball into the goal. Djorkaeff added a second in the
46th minute when he lobed the ball in the general direction of the goal
and saw the ball strike Nolan to wrong foot Martyn. Bolton always looked
the better side.
Charlton Athletic v Leeds United 0-1
Milner scored the only goal in the 9th minute to give Leeds a timely
boost. Viduka put him through and he side-footed the ball with some aplomb
behind Kiely. Thereafter, Charlton pushed forward, becoming more and more
frustrated and tempers became high.
Portsmouth v Leicester City 0-2
Micky Adams is desperately trying to persuade Les Ferdinand to commit
himself to one more season instead of retiring at the end of the season.
It was Ferdinand who opened the scoring in the 31st minute when he blasted
Leicester into the lead from a free-kick. Bent added a second goal in the
59th minute when he scored from close range. Portsmouth's early fizz has
now subsided and they are sliding down the table fast.
Wolverhampton Wanderers v Newcastle United 1-1
Following the delayed start to the game after a woman had been injured by
a rogue firework, it took time for the game to flow. Blake put the home
side ahead in the 27th minute when Given failed to win a race to a long
ball from Rae, leaving the Welsh international with a simple chance to
score. But Shearer equalised in the 31st minute when he pounced on a
defensive error to score. Newcastle were unconvincing and were slightly
lucky to take a point from this match.
Sunday, November 30th 2003
Arsenal v Fulham 0-0
No matter what the Gunners tried, they could not force their way through
the Fulham defence. They achieved their point by packing their goal area,
leaving Saha to patrol the halfway line. They thus became the first team
since April 2001 to prevent Arsenal from scoring at Highbury. For that.
Van der Sar must take the credit for a brilliant exposition of what a
goalkeeper should do. Fulham had two chances to score but muffed both of
them.
Chelsea v Manchester United 1-0
The only goal of the game came when Lampard scored from the penalty spot
in the 30th minute when Keane sent Cole flying in the penalty area.
Manchester United played well below par and seldom looked like scoring.
The Chelsea defence kept van Nistlerooy under wraps and seldom gave him
the chance to weave his magic.
Liverpool v Birmingham City 3-1
Forsell put the Blues ahead in the 33rd minute when the Liverpool defence
failed to clear a Savage free-kick and the ball ran loose to the
unmarked Forsell for him to score. Gerrard equalised through a penalty in
the 35th minute when Sinama-Pongolle was tripped b y a Birmingham
defender. Kewell put Liverpool ahead in the 69th minute when he headed
home a cross from Riise. Heskey added a third goal in the 76th minute when
Diao centred the ball which Heskey chested down and hooked into the goal.
But this was a very sub-standard Liverpool performance.
Manchester City v Middlesbrough 0-1
Jihai conceded an own goal in the 30th minute following a run by Juninho.
Dunne failed to block the ball and only deflected it to Jihai, who could
not prevent the ball flying into his own goal. Middlesbrough defended
their goal after that and finally saw Middlesbrough test their goalkeeper,
Ellegaard, just before the referee blew for full-time.
Cheers. Brian
FA Barclaycard Premiership
Pos. Pl. W. D. L. F-A. GD Pts
1 Chelsea 14 11 2 1 28-9 19 35
2 Arsenal 14 10 4 0 28-10 18 34
3 Man Utd 14 10 1 3 25-9 16 31
4 Fulham 14 6 4 4 24-18 6 22
5 Charlton 14 6 4 4 20-17 3 22
6 Liverpool 14 6 3 5 21-15 6 21
7 Newcastle 14 5 5 4 20-19 1 20
8 B'mingham 14 5 5 4 12-14 -2 20
9 Man City 14 5 3 6 22-19 3 18
10 M'brough 14 5 3 6 12-15 -3 18
11 Bolton 14 4 6 4 13-19 -6 18
12 So'pton 14 4 5 5 10-9 1 17
13 L'cester 14 4 3 7 22-22 0 15
14 P'tsmouth 14 4 3 7 17-20 -3 15
15 Spurs 14 4 3 7 13-18 -5 15
16 Blackburn 14 4 2 8 19-24 -5 14
17 A. Villa 14 3 5 6 11-17 -6 14
18 Everton 14 3 4 7 15-19 -4 13
19 Wolves 14 2 5 7 9-27 -18 11
20 Leeds 14 3 2 9 12-33 -21 11
