With many thanks to Brian Judson, without whom this feature would not be possible
Saturday 3 November 2001
Bolton Wanderers v Everton 2-2
The Toffees really should have won this match and have only themselves to
blame for the fact they did not do so. Jaaskelainen was injured during the
warm-up so Kevin Poole, the 38-year old former Birmingham goalkeeper,
signed on a short term contract, made his debut for the Trotters. Frandsen
put the Trotters ahead in the 10th minute when he rifled home a free-kick
behind Simonsen. Stubbs equalised for Everton two minutes before the break
when Alexandersson took a quick free-kick, pushing the ball to Gascoigne,
who pushed it on to Stubbs, who cracked the ball home against his former
club from 30 yards out. Gascoigne put Everton ahead in the 57th minute
when Radzinski flicked on a cross from Naysmith for Gascoigne to sweep
home. Bolton fought back. In the dying seconds of the game, Ricketts
forced the ball home in a melee to equalise.
Leicester City v Sunderland 1-0
Akinbiyi scored the only goal of the match in the 64th minute. It is
likely to have been his last appearance for Leicester as he is expected to
re-sign for Wolves in the next few days. It was a poor game with neither
side impressing but Leicester showed more fight than anaemic Sunderland.
Neither Kevin Phillips nor Niall Quinn, who came on as a substitute after
Leicester had gone ahead, were on song. The goal came when Impey, playing
on the left wing, saw his deep cross headed by Elliott into Akinbiyi's
path. Thome blocked his first effort but Akinbiyi forced the ball home at
the second attempt.
Middlesbrough v Derby County 5-1
The Teesiders went on the rampage against a very poor Derby side. All the
goals came in the second half after a totally forgettable first half.
Nemeth put them ahead in the 49th minute when Marinelli cut in from the
right and Poom could only parry the ball to Nemeth, who made no mistake
from close range. Marinelli added a second goal eight minutes later when
Greening supplied a superb cross to the back post where Marinelli was
lurking and fired the ball home. Two minutes later, Boksic made it 3-0
when Queudrue provided the pass that Boksic latched on to and diverted the
ball behind Poom. Mustoe made the score 4-0 when he cracked home a shot
from close range in the 73rd minute. Marinelli made it 5-0 when Derby just
seemed to give up the ghost. Ravenelli scored a consolation goal for Derby
a minute from time.
Newcastle United v Aston Villa 3-0
The Magpies scored twice, once before and once just after half-time to put
them firmly in the driving seat before a further, very late goal was added
to make the scoreline reflect the domination of the Magpies. Robbie
Elliot's centre in the 37th minute was finely judged and Bellamy was left
with plenty of time to volley the ball behind Schmeichel. Shearer added a
second in the 50th minute to celebrate his 400th League appearance. It was
Lee's cross that provided the space for Shearer to hammer th ball behind
Schmeichel. As Villa pressed forward to try to reduce the arrears, they
left gaps at the back from which the Magpies profited. It was Lee who
provided the pass from which Bellamy scored with eight minutes left to
play.
Southampton v Blackburn Rovers 1-2
It looked as if Southampton were going to win their first home game at St
Marys when Pahars put them ahead after 36 minutes. The Latvian player took
advantage of Berg's indecision to lash the ball home from 16 yards. But
Blackburn equalised in injury time when Tugay lashed home a thunderbolt
from 25 yards. Hignett snatched the winner deep in injury time at the end
of the match when Bent lobbed the ball through for Hignett to divert the
ball into the bottom corner of Jones' goal.
West Ham United v Fulham 0-2
The recent fine run by West Ham was brought to a halt when Fulham's French
Connection did the damage. The first half was dreadful, illuminated only
by Legwinski's goal in injury time. Malbranque centred from the left and
Legwinski took advantage of poor marking to head the ball behind Hislop.
Malbranque scored the second with 63 minutes gone when he sent Saha away
down the wing for Saha to centre and Malbranque drilled the ball behind
Hislop.
Sunday 4 November 2001
Arsenal v Charlton Athletic 2-4
I thoroughly enjoyed watching this game on TV. My only disappointment was
that a former defender of Tottenham's was not playing in this shambles.
Henry put Arsenal ahead after 6 minutes, when Pires provided the pass from
which Henry scored. For a while, Arsenal looked to be in total control.
Then, Konchesky floated a free-kick into Arsenal's goal area and
Grimandi fatally hesitated to allow Brown to head the ball behind Wright
in the 35th minute. Worse was to come for the Gunners when Konchesky
took another free-kick in the 43rd minute. Wright came out to punch the
ball away from Euell but somehow only succeeded in punching the ball into
his own goal. Jensen increased Charlton's lead in the 49th minute, when
Vieira lost the ball to Jensen who saw Wright was well off his goal line
and chipped the ball home from a very acute angle. Euell completed the
rout in the 53rd minute with Wenger wriggling annoyance on the bench. With
Arsenal waiting for an offside call that never came, Euell pounced and
sidestepped Wright. Henry reduced the arrears from the penalty spot in the
59th minute after Fish had brought down Henry. But Arsenal, despite piling
on the pressure, never looked like scoring again. It was Charlton's first
win at Highbury since 29th October 1955, when they also won 4-2.
Chelsea v Ipswich Town 2-1
Zola scored the first goal in the 36th minute, when Chelsea suddenly
sprung into life after a lack lustre opening spell. A free-kick was
awarded to Chelsea despite the fact Ipswich's Naylor had been fouled.
Hasselbaink took further advantage by placing the ball 10 yards nearer the
Ipswich goal than it should have been. From the free-kick, Chelsea roared
into the attack and the ball skidded across the Ipswich goal to Zola, who
poked the ball home. Stewart won a penalty in the 83rd minute when
Melchiot sent him sprawling in the penalty area and the Ipswich striker
made no mistake from the spot. Della Bona dashed Ipswich's hopes of
sharing a point when he snatched victory for Chelsea in the 90th minute
after being given the chance to blast the ball home.
Leeds United v Tottenham Hotspur 2-1
Full report available here.
Liverpool v Manchester United 3-1
Owen took advantage of a disastrous mistake by Brown in the 31st minute.
Brown failed to cut out a pass from Smicer and Owen won the race for the
ball before Barthez could react. Riise added a second in the 40th minute
when Brown brought down Owen. Hamann took the free-kick and Riise found a
gap in the wall with a shot that recorded 70mph before it hit the back of
the net. Beckham reduced the arrears in the 49th minute when Riise
misjudged Irwin's cross to allow Beckham space to move and score. Owen
promptly restored Liverpool's two goal advantage in the 50th minute when
Riise took a long throw, Heskey lobbed the ball over the oncoming Barthez
and Owen headed the ball into the empty net.
Pos Pl. W. D. L. For-Ag Pts.
1 Leeds 11 6 5 0 15- 5 23
2 Liverpool 10 7 1 2 20-10 22
3 A. Villa 11 6 3 2 17-11 21
4 Newcastle 11 6 2 3 21-14 20
5 Arsenal 11 5 4 2 24-13 19
6 Man United 11 5 3 3 28-20 18
7 Chelsea 11 4 6 1 16-11 18
8 Blackburn 12 4 5 2 20-15 17
9 Spurs 12 5 2 5 19-17 17
10 Bolton 12 4 4 4 16-16 16
11 Everton 11 4 3 4 18-17 15
12 Fulham 11 3 5 3 12-12 14
13 M'brough 12 4 2 6 16-20 14
14 West Ham 11 4 2 5 12-20 14
15 Charlton 11 3 4 4 12-13 13
16 S'derland 12 3 4 5 10-14 13
17 Leicester 12 2 3 7 7-23 9
18 Ipswich 12 1 5 6 13-20 8
19 S'hampton 11 2 1 8 10-21 7
20 Derby 11 1 4 6 9-22 7
