With many thanks to Brian Judson, without whom this feature would not be possible.
Saturday, September 13th, 2003
Arsenal v Portsmouth 1-1
Sheringham put the visitors ahead in the 26th minute after Stone whipped
in a vicious centre that Sheringham was fastest to react to and head the
ball into the Arsenal goal. Henry scored from the penalty spot at the
second attempt in the 40th minute after Pires had been tripped by
Zivkovic. Both sides had their chances in the second half but wasted them
all, none more so than Toure, who missed from point blank range.
Blackburn Rovers v Liverpool 1-3
Jensen put Blackburn ahead in the 8th minute when Cole flicked on a pass
for Jensen to slip past Carragher to score. Shortly afterwards, Owen
equalised from the penalty spot in the 12th minute after Gresko had
brought down Diouf. Carragher was carried off with a broken leg after
being recklessly tackled by Neill, who was sent off. Owen put Liverpool in
front in the 68th minute when Smicer spotted a gap in the Blackburn
defence and slipped the ball to Owen, who, needless to say, made no
mistake. Kewell rounded off a successful afternoon for Liverpool by
driving the ball home in the 90th minute.
Bolton Wanderers v Middlesbrough 2-0
Davies opened the scoring in the 23rd minute when Davies lost his marker
and headed home a cross from Giannaakopoulous, after Middlesbrough had
spurned a number of chances to go ahead.. N'Gotty grabbed the second in
the 81st minute when Giannaakopoulous bicycled a centre for N'Gotty to
head home.
Charlton Athletic v Manchester United 0-2
The first goal was scored when Manchester United won a free-kick. Giggs
took the free-kick which came back off the wall. Gary Neville hoisted the
ball into the goal area, where it came off Butt to fall perfectly for van
Nistelrooy to score in the 62nd minute. The second goal also came from a
free-kick. Giggs was allowed to find an entirely unmarked van Nistlerooy,
completely unmarked, in the 81st minute. He pivoted and drove the ball
home from close range.
Chelsea v Tottenham Hotspur 4-2
As is my normal custom, I am not commenting on this match. Be thankful we
only lost 4-2! My local team lost 0-9 at home in the FA Cup!Read the full match report here
Everton v Newcastle United 2-2
There were two red cards, 11 other bookings, and three penalties.
Newcastle's Robert and Everton's Naysmith were dismissed. Robert was sent
off just before half-time, having acquired two yellow cards. Naysmith was
dismissed early in the second half for a foul on Dyer. Shearer scored from
the penalty spot in the 59th minute as a result of Dyer being tripped.
Radzinski equalised in the 67th minute after Newcastle had failed to clear
a loose ball. Shearer scored from the penalty spot again in the 82nd
minute after Yobo fouled Bernard. Ferguson grabbed a late equaliser for
Everton from the penalty spot in the 88th minute after Jenas had fouled
Radzinski.
Southampton v Wolverhampton Wanderers 2-0
The Saints were not bothered by the Wolves, which made it a sad homecoming
for former Saints manager Dave Jones. Beattie scored from the penalty spot
in the 37th minute when Irwin was adjudged to have upended Phillips. In
the second half, Beattie added a second goal in the 52nd minute when
Phillips provided the pass from which Beattie scored with a stinging shot.
Sunday, September 14th, 2003
Birmingham City v Fulham 2-2
Saha put Fulham ahead in the 1st minute when he ran past Upson and evaded
Taylor to drive the ball into an empty goal. Forssell equalised for the
Blues in the 45th minute, taking advantage of some indecision to drive the
ball home. On the hour, Legwinski was dismissed for a second bookable
offence. Sky Sports suggested that whilst he was late in making his
tackle, it wasn't as bad as it looked and thought he was unlucky to go.
Boa Morte put Fulham ahead again in the 78th minute when Taylor collided
with Boa Morte as they went up for the ball. Boa Morte recovered faster
and drove the ball into the empty net. Forssell equalised for the Blues in
the 82nd minute when, from a corner, Purse headed the ball to van der Sar,
who punched the ball out for Forssell to equalise. Immediately after that,
Purse was sent off for throwing a punch at Boa Morte when the latter was
trying to delay the ball being returned to the centre circle as Birmingham
wanted to go for the win.
Manchester City v Aston Villa 4-1
It was Anelka who captured the post-match headlines but it was McManaman's
inventive running on his debut that caught the eye. Angel had put Villa
ahead in the 31st minute when he had headed the visitors ahead after
squandering many other chances to snatch the lead. Anelka equalised from
the penalty spot in the 48th minute after Delaney had used a hand to tug
McManaman back in the goal area. Tarnet put them ahead in the 50th minute
when he drove the ball through a forest of legs to deceive the Villa
goalkeeper. Anelka scored a second penalty in the 68th minute after Jihai
Sun had been tripped by Whittingham. Anelka completed his hat-trick in the
83rd minute when he ignored the ineffective Allpay to drive the ball
beyond Sorensen.
Monday, September 15th, 2003
Leicester City v Leeds United 4-0
This was largely a one-sided match after Leeds fell behind to Leicester.
Nalis put the home side ahead in the 20th minute when he collected a
poorly cleared ball from Morris and volleyed the ball home for what will
surely be the Goal of the Month. Dickov added a second in the 23 rd minute
when Bent deceived Kelly and put Dickov through, leaving Robinson horribly
exposed and allowing Dickov time to pick his spot. Confusion within the
Leeds defence led to a second goal by Dickov in the 83rd minute after
Radebe had slopped. Scowcroft completed the rout in the 90th minute when
he headed the fourth goal.
Cheers, Brian
FA Barclaycard Premiership
Pos. Pl. W. D. L. F-A. GD Pts
1 Arsenal 5 4 1 0 11-3 8 13
2 Man Utd 5 4 0 1 9-2 7 12
3 Man City 5 3 1 1 12-6 6 10
4 Chelsea 4 3 1 0 10-6 4 10
5 P'tsmouth 5 2 3 0 8-3 5 9
6 So'pton 5 2 3 0 5-2 3 9
7 Liverpool 5 2 2 1 7-3 4 8
8 B'mingham 4 2 2 0 4-2 2 8
9 Fulham 4 2 1 1 9-7 2 7
10 Blackburn 5 1 2 2 12-11 1 5
11 L'cester 5 1 2 2 8-7 1 5
12 Charlton 5 1 2 2 6-7 -1 5
13 Everton 5 1 2 2 8-10 -2 5
14 Leeds 5 1 2 2 6-10 -4 5
15 Bolton 5 1 2 2 4-10 -6 5
16 A. Villa 5 1 1 3 5-9 -4 4
17 Spurs 5 1 1 3 4-9 -5 4
18 Newcastle 4 0 2 2 5-7 -2 2
19 M'brough 5 0 1 4 4-12 -8 1
20 Wolves 5 0 1 4 1-12 -11 1
