With many thanks to Brian Judson, without whom this feature would not be possible
Saturday 15 September 2001
Bolton Wanderers v Southampton 0-1
Pahars scored the only goal of the game but it was enough to topple Bolton
from the top of the table. It came in the 77th minute of the match. Bolton
had dominated the early proceedings and Frandsen and Hansen both had bad
luck when their shots came back off the post. Despite the rain, Bolton
continued to play attractive football but had no luck at all. Pahars
replaced El Khalej and soon afterwards scored. He latched on to a pass
from Bridge to thump a shot behind Jaaskelainen.
Derby County v Leicester City 2-3
In beating Derby, Leicester climbed further away from the bottom of the
table, although they remain deep in trouble. Burton had given the Rams the
lead in the 4th minute when he had fired the ball behind Ian Walker,
deputising for the injured Tim Flowers. But Leicester equalised when
Sturridge grabbed the first of his two goals. Stewart miskicked a ball
which fell nicely to Sturridge, who back-heeled the ball over the line in
the 30th minute. It was Sturridge who put Leicester ahead in the 66th
minute. Jones and Akinbiyi combined well to provide Sturridge with a clear
shot at the Derby goal and Oakes had no chance to prevent Sturridge from
scoring. But with four minutes to go, Ravenelli equalised for Derby from
the penalty spot. Then, in a sensational climax, Leicester themselves won
a penalty deep in injury time. Higginbotham was adjudged to have pulled
down Savage in the penalty area. As the referee pointed to the spot,
Savage celebrated and the Derby players swarmed round him like angry
wasps. Izzet made no mistake from the spot and Leicester had won at last.
But as the teams trooped off the pitch after the final whistle there was a
fracas in the tunnel involving Savage.
Everton v Liverpool 1-3
The Blues began by dominating the early proceedings and took the lead in
the 5th minute. Unsworth centred the ball from the left. Ferguson knocked
the ball down for Campbell to turn Hyypia and thump the ball behind Dudek
from twelve yards. Steven Gerrard equalised for the Reds seven minutes
later. Murphy and Vignal created space on the left for Vignal to lift the
ball into the box. Gerrard raced past Naysmith to thump the ball behind
Paul Gerrard. Liverpool snatched the lead in the 30th minute from the
penalty spot. Riise sent Vignal away down the left, the ball found its way
to Heskey's feet and as Heskey tried to elude Unsworth, the Everton
defender crashed into him to concede a penalty. Owen, of course, made no
mistake from the spot. After the break, Everton rang the changes and
Gascoigne came on as a substitute for the first time for months. But
before Everton could settle, Liverpool had put the match beyond their
reach. Riise raced down the left, leaving Watson trailing in his wake and
placed a peach of a shot that run under Gerrard. Everton tried hard to
recover the ground they had lost but Liverpool remained well in control of
the match and defended very well from the Everton onslaught.
Fulham v Arsenal 1-3
The battle of the French managers saw Wenger's team win the match but
Fulham put Arsenal under enough pressure to have taken a point from the
game had they enjoyed some luck. Ljungberg scored for the visitors in the
17th minute. Henry saw his shot riochet off a post and Ljungberg was
quickest to react to force the ball over the line. Malbranque equalised
three minutes after half-time. Boa Morte put Malbranque away down the wing
and he cut in to lob the ball high into Seaman's net from six yards out.
Fulham had their chances to go ahead but it was Arsenal who struck with
two very late goals. Henry restored Arsenal's lead with eight minutes to
go, steering the rebound from Ljungberg's shot behind van der Sar. Then
Bergkamp crashed home the Gunners' third goal from a cross by Wiltord. The
score-line flattered the Gunners. It could easily have been the other way
round as Fulham dominated the game for long spells without having the
breaks.
Middlesbrough v West Ham United 2-0
Two first half goals were enough to allow Middlesbrough to claim the
points and condemn West Ham to bottom place. A very weak West Ham side
were no match for Middlesbrough. They were without di Canio and a number
of other players which forced the Hammers to play Sinclair and Hutchison
as strikers. Deane put Middlesbrough ahead after 31 minutes. As Hislop
came off his line in an attempt to foil Deane, the Middlesbrough striker
headed the ball home. Four minutes before half-time, Middlesbrough were
further ahead. Song gave the ball away and Johnston sidefooted the ball
home from 12 yards. West Ham's only shot came from Hutchison early in the
second half. Repka was sent off for two bookable offences in his first
game for West Ham after signing from Fiorentina.
Newcastle United v Manchester United 4-3
Robert put the Toon ahead after only five minutes when Blanc was penalised
for a foul on Shearer 25 yards out. From the free-kick, Robert volleyed
the ball past Barthez, who didn't even move. The champions equalised when
van Nistleroy turned smartly on a knock-down from Cole to drive a low shot
behind Given. Lee restored the Toon lead in the 34th minute when he picked
the ball up inside his own half of the pitch and ran towards the United
defence. Barthez could only help Lee's shot into his own goal. Dabizas
pushed Newcastle further ahead after 52 minutes when Solano's corner was
half-cleared to Robert. His shot struck Dabizas and flew into Barthez's
goal. Giggs then pulled one goal back after 62 minutes and Veron equalised
two minutes later. The Champions dominated the match but could not produce
the killing touch. But with eight minutes left, Newcastle won the match.
Bellamy raced past Blanc and fed Solano : his shot was block by Barthez.
Shearer pounced on the loose ball to hammer the ball home. In the dying
seconds of the match Keane was sent off after a flare-up involving
Shearer. Shearer had been attempting to waste time and Keane lost his
temper, throwing first the ball and then a punch at Shearer. The Irishman
had to be manhandled off the pitch by his own team mates to prevent him
from getting into further trouble.
Sunday 16 September 2001
Aston Villa v Sunderland 0-0
Neither side played very well in this match and neither looked like
scoring. The referee, Uriah Rennie, stopped the game far too often,
whistling for stoppages seven times in the first five minutes alone. There
were 45 fouls in the 90 minutes of the match. There were four bookings,
all Sunderland players, and three of the four involved Lee Hendrie. Both
managers complained about the referee's handling of the game after the
match.
Charlton Athletic v Leeds United 0-2
There was seldom much doubt that Leeds would win, particularly after
Graham Stuart had been sent off. Leeds were already ahead by that
stage as Keane had opened the scoring in the 21st minute. Fish had
dithered too long on the ball, thus allowing Keane to strike and then
celebrate his goal with his trade mark hand stand. Stuart was sent off for
a two-footed tackle on Harte after 36 minutes. Mills increased Leeds'
margin of victory in the 62nd minute when he scored with a 25-yard volley.
Leeds could and should have added to their margin of victory but Bowyer
and Viduka wasted all the chances that fell to them.
Ipswich Town v Blackburn Rovers 1-1
Armstrong gave Ipswich a 15th minute lead following a powerful run down
the right wing by George. His shot struck the Blackburn crossbar and
dropped neatly into Armstrong's path which enabled him to put Ipswich
ahead.
But Ipswich gradually faded after this impressive strike but it was
not until Jansen scored in the 54th minute the visitors were level. Tugay
sent Jansen clear with a beautiful pass and Sereni could do little to stop
Jansen from scoring. Shortly after that, Armstrong was carried off with a
head injury and ruled out from Ipswich's UEFA Cup tie.
Tottenham Hotspur v Chelsea 2-3
Full report available here - I got very angry on this day!
Pos Pl. W. D. L. For-Ag Pts.
1 Leeds 5 3 2 0 6- 1 11
2 Arsenal 5 3 1 1 13- 4 10
3 Bolton 5 3 1 1 8- 2 10
4 Newcastle 4 2 2 0 10- 6 8
5 Man United 5 2 2 1 13-10 8
6 Chelsea 4 2 2 0 7- 4 8
7 S'derland 5 2 2 1 3- 3 8
8 Everton 5 2 1 2 7- 9 7
9 A. Villa 4 1 3 0 4- 2 6
10 Liverpool 4 2 0 2 7- 7 6
11 Spurs 5 1 2 2 6- 6 5
12 Ipswich 5 1 2 2 5- 5 5
13 Blackburn 5 1 2 2 6- 7 5
14 Fulham 5 1 2 2 6- 7 5
15 Derby 5 1 2 2 5- 7 5
16 Charlton 4 1 1 2 3- 5 4
17 Leicester 4 1 1 2 4-12 4
18 S'thampton 4 1 0 3 1- 6 3
19 M'brough 5 1 0 4 3-11 3
20 West Ham 4 0 2 2 1- 4 2
