With many thanks to Brian Judson, without whom this feature would not be possible.
Saturday, November 30th, 2002
Arsenal v Aston Villa 3-1
There was never much doubt who would win this match. The only question was
going to be how many the Gunners would score. Pires gave them a 17th
minute lead when Bergkamp slipped the ball to Pires, whose shot squirmed
underneath Enckelman's body. Henry extended their lead in the 49th minute
when he bamboozled Staunton as to what his intentions were before firing
the ball into the top corner. Hitzlsperger reduced the arrears in the 64th
minute when Villa took a quick corner and the German struck the ball into
Arsenal's goal. Late in the game, Arsenal won a penalty after Ljungberg
fell over Staunton's outstretched leg. Henry converted the penalty in the
82nd minute.
Birmingham City v Tottenham Hotspur 1-1
The full report can be read here
Blackburn Rovers v Fulham 2-1
An awesome display of goalkeeping ensured Blackburn kept the points at
Ewood Park. Fulham dominated the second half but could not find a way
around Friedel. Yorke gave Blackburn the lead in the 35th minute when a
bout of one-touch passing enabled Duff to provide Yorke with the chance to
score his first home goal. Marlet equalised for Fulham in the 60th minute
when Boa Morte backheeled the ball to send Marlet away to shoot through
Short's legs to score. Fulham were tragically unlucky when Brevitt
conceded an own goal in the 77th minute. Yorke unleashed a shot which van
der Sar pushed out but the ball hit Brevett and bounced into his own goal.
Brevett was blameless and could not get out of the way.
Chelsea v Sunderland 3-0
Stubborn defending held Chelsea up for almost an hour. Sunderland had no
higher ambition than securing a point. Gallas finally put Chelsea ahead in
the 58th minute when Le Saux picked him out and he unleashed a 12 yard
volley that flew behind Macho. Desailly added a second in the 84th minute
when he forced the ball home after Le Saux had taken a corner. Hasselbaink
completed the rout in the 89th minute when he netted another of his solo
specials.
Manchester City v Bolton Wanderers 2-0
Keegan's team grabbed valuable points in their quest to escape from the
bottom of the table struggle. Howey gave them a 25th minute lead when
Berkovic's corner was headed on by Horlock for Howey to head the ball into
Bolton's goal. Berkovic added a second goal in the 56th minute when Tiatto
fed Anelka on the left wing. Anelka surged forward and slipped the ball to
Berkovic, who slipped the ball beyond Jaaskelainen.
West Bromwich Albion v Middlesbrough 1-0
Danny Dichio scored the only goal of the game in the 72nd minute after he
had come on as a substitute. Middlesbrough showed little in the way of
ambition and the Baggies were nervy in the opening stages. It was when
Dichio came on in the 58th minute the balance started to swing the Baggies
way. Moore provided the pass from which Dichio had only to tap the ball
into goal. Late on, Moore and Job went off after a clash of heads, leaving
Middlesbrough with only 10 men as they had used their three substitutes.
Right at the end, Nemeth almost snatched an improbable equaliser when he
headed on to the bar.
Sunday, December 1st, 2002
Leeds United v Charlton Athletic 1-2
The Yorkshire side slipped further to the relegation zone with this their
sixth defeat in eight home games. Kewell had given them the lead in the
42nd minute when he shrugged off a challenge from Rowett and passed to
McPhail. He then regained the ball and then drove the ball home from 25
yards, against the run of play. Charlton should have been 3-0 ahead at
this stage as Bartlett saw a shot strike the bar, Bakke's header was
cleared off the line by Euell and Robinson tipped a Lisbie shot for a
corner. Charlton continued to press forward but were denied until Lisbie
scored in the 80th minute. Konchesky centred the ball, Bartlett headed on
and Lisbie forced the bouncing ball through a forest of legs. Parker
snatched the winner in the 90th minute when they broke away after Bridges
had it a post and Parker danced past Wilcox, Woodgate, Bakke and Kelly
before prodding the ball into the Leeds goal.
Liverpool v Manchester United 1-2
There seemed to be no danger when Carragher headed the ball back to Dudek.
The Polish goalkeeper either took his eye off the ball or was blinded by
the sun but he allowed the ball to squirm out of his hands, leaving Forlan
with a simple tap-in to score in the 64th minute. Forlan then struck again
in the 67th minute when he capitalised on errors in the Liverpool defence
and Dudek could only flap at the ball as it past him. Hyypia gave
Liverpool hope in the 82nd minute when he scored with a low strike as
tempers began to rise. In the closing stages, Barthez produced a stunning
save to deny Hamann an equalising goal.
Newcastle United v Everton 2-1
Campbell gave Everton an early lead by scoring in the 17th minute when he
latched on to Unsworth's pass and wrong-footed the Newcastle defence. Five
minutes later, Yobo was sent off for upending Bellamy as he dashed towards
the Everton goal. Shearer scored a stunning equaliser in the 86th minute
when his 25-yard volley flew by Wright into his goal like a bullet.
Bellamy then snatched an improbable winner in the 89th minute when his
shot, which was going wide, took a deflection off Li Tie and flew behind
Wright.
Monday, December 2nd, 2002
West Ham United v Southampton 0-1
The Hammers are now the only team still waiting for their first home
victory of the season. It was not that they played badly, they didn't get
the breaks. This is now their worst ever start to a Premiership season and
they are favourites for relegation. Southampton were late arriving for
their match as their coach was trapped in rush hour traffic until they
were escorted to Upton Park by the police. West Ham had enough chances to
win the match but threw away their chances or saw Nemi save shots he had
no reason to save. In the dying seconds of the match, Ormerod broke free
down the left wing. Beattie beat Dailly to the ball to stab the ball
behind James for his 9th goal in 8 games.
FA Barclaycard Premiership
Pos. Pl. W. D. L. F-A. GD Pts
1 Arsenal 16 11 2 3 36-17 19 35
2 Liverpool 16 9 4 3 27-15 12 31
3 Chelsea 16 8 6 2 28-13 15 30
4 Man Utd 16 8 5 3 25-17 8 29
5 Everton 16 9 2 5 19-17 2 29
6 Newcastle 15 8 1 6 25-23 2 25
7 M'brough 16 7 3 6 19-13 6 24
8 Spurs 16 7 3 6 20-22 -2 24
9 Blackburn 16 6 5 5 22-19 3 23
10 So'pton 16 6 5 5 18-17 1 23
11 B'mingham 16 5 5 6 16-19 -3 20
12 Charlton 16 6 2 8 16-20 -4 20
13 Man City 16 6 2 8 17-23 -6 20
14 Fulham 16 5 4 7 21-22 -1 19
15 A. Villa 16 5 4 7 15-16 -1 19
16 Leeds 16 5 2 9 20-24 -4 17
17 West Brom 16 4 3 9 11-22 -11 15
18 S'derland 16 3 5 8 8-20 -12 14
19 Bolton 15 3 4 8 17-27 -10 13
20 West Ham 16 3 3 10 15-29 -14 12
