With many thanks to Brian Judson, without whom this feature would not be possible.
Saturday, January 11th, 2003
Bolton Wanderers v Fulham 0-0
This relegation struggle saw Bolton closer to winning the points rather
than Fulham. Pedersen should have scored a hat-trick but was foiled by the
woodwork and bad shooting. Sava did get the ball in the Bolton goal but
the goal was disallowed. Neither side looked like producing anything
special to win the match. Rickets did not feature in the Bolton squad and
Sam Allardyce said that Tottenham remained the only club interested in
Ricketts, but not at a price that Bolton felt acceptable.
Chelsea v Charlton Athletic 4-1
The Blues won this game in a canter on a pitch that looked more
like Southend-on-Sea's beach when the tide has gone out! Hasselbaink put
the Blues ahead from the penalty spot in the 3rd minute after the referee
decided that Powell had upended Hasselbaink. Gallas added a second in the
11th minute when Powell misjudged a clearance and Gallas joyfully slammed
the ball behind Kiely. Gudjohnsen extended the Blues' lead to 3-0 in the
34th minute when Gronkjaer flew past the hapless Powell and centred the
ball for Gudjohnsen to deflect off Young behind Kiely. Euell reduced the
arrears from the penalty spot in the 42nd minute after Desailly was deemed
to have upended Lisbie. Le Saux rounded off the scoring in the 54th minute
when Kiely misjudged the flight of a long shot from Le Saux and allowed
the ball to spin into his own goal. The Blues should have added more to
their winning margin but slackened off. After the game, the bulldozers
moved in to rip up the pitch to allow groundstaff to reseed the pitch.
Liverpool v Aston Villa 1-1
The Reds' miserable run continues despite the return to form of
Michael Owen. Villa were very poor at times yet Liverpool seemed
unable to impose themselves on their visitors. Owen put the Reds ahead in
the 38th minute when Diouf wriggled his way through the Villa defence and
unleashed a shot that caught Mellberg on the arm. As the Liverpool players
screamed for a penalty, Owen picked up the loose ball and hammered it
behind Enckleman. Dublin equalised from the penalty spot in the 49th
minute when Hyypia was ruled to have pulled down Barry in the penalty
area. After that, Villa appeared the more cohesive of the two teams as
Liverpool gradually lost confidence.
Manchester City v Leeds United 2-1
The rumours insist that Fowler will sign for Manchester City soon.Ed: Since confirmed as the deal was done late this afternoon - 13.01.03 Goater
seems to have other ideas about that as he was a constant menace to Leeds
and opened the scoring in the 29th minute. It was a pass from Berkovic
that gave Goater his chance to punish Leeds for some slack marking and
Robinson could do nothing to prevent him from scoring. Jensen added a
second in the 50th minute when Anelka lobbed a high ball forward and
Jensen quickly controlled the ball before volleying it in to the Leeds
net. When Fowler finally came on as a substitute, he was warmly greeted by
the home fans, who obviously want Keegan to sign him, whilst the Leeds
fans scarcely reacted. Kewell scored a very late consolation goal in the
90th minute when he latched on to a pass from Woodgate to score.
Middlesbrough v Southampton 2-2
The Saints really should have won this match but have only themselves to
blame for the fact they did not do so. Beattie put them ahead in the 40th
minute when Beattie headed the ball to Marsden by the far post, who headed
the ball back to Beattie. The Middlesbrough defence was far too slow to
react, allowing Beattie to pick his spot. Beattie added a second in the
60th minute when Vidmar, the Middlesbrough defender, played the ball to
straight to Beattie, who promptly volleyed the ball behind Schwarzer.
Whelan reduced the arrears in the 73rd minute when Maccarone flicked on a
long pass to Whelan, who volleyed the ball into the Saints goal from 35
yards. Maccarone snatched an undeserved equaliser from the penalty spot in
the 82nd minute when Telfer pulled down Wilkshire in the penalty area.
Sunderland v Blackburn Rovers 0-0
Sorensen returned in goal at the expense of Macho. He played a blinder to
prevent the visitors from scoring. Craddock almost scored in the 69th
minute when his shot came back off the foot of a post with Friedel
stranded. Sunderland never looked like scoring and Blackburn should have
won the match quite easily.
West Bromwich Albion v Manchester United 1-3
Koumas put the Baggies ahead in the 6th minute when he intercepted a poor
pass from Ferdinand and unleashed a shot that Barthez could not block. But
United quickly retaliated and van Nistlerooy equalised in the 8th minute,
less than 22 second after the game had been re-started. Beckham punished a
Clement mistake to free the Dutchman, who poked the ball beyond Hoult.
Scholes extended the visitors' lead in the 23rd minute when he swept home
a cross from Keane. Solksjaer completed the rout in the 55th minute when
he timed his run to perfection to meet a cross from Gary Neville to smash
the ball behind Hoult. The gulf in class between the two sides was
painfully obvious and the Baggies look certain to be relegated on this
form.
West Ham United v Newcastle United 2-2
There were protests made before the game by the Anti-Nazi League
concerning West Ham signing Bowyer from Leeds. Bellamy put the Toon ahead
in the 9th minute when Ameoebi, deputising for the suspended Shearer, put
in a cross for Dyer to slip to Bellamy, whose shot on the turn left James
with no chance. Cole equalised for the Hammers in the 14th minute when a
throw-in on the right found Cole, who held off Griffin, to score. Defoe
put the Hammers ahead in the 45th minute when Lomas put in a cross to
Defoe, who dummied to go one way, went the other and smashed the ball
behind Given. The second half was a scrappy affair and West Ham looked to
have done enough to secure their first win at home.Late in the game, there
was a flurry of substitutions and Pearce and Hutchison were the last of
them. They had barely gained their bearings before Jenas struck in the
81st minute and volleyed the ball behind James.
Sunday, January 12th, 2003
Birmingham City v Arsenal 0-4
The Blues were always second best in a match delayed for 30 minutes by a
floodlight failure. Henry put the Londoners ahead in the 6th minute when
he swapped passes with Bergkamp before Henry slipped the ball beyond
Vaesen. Pires added a second in the 29th minute when Johnson lost
possession of the ball to Pires, who whipped it into the goal before
anyone else could react. Lauren added a third in the 67th minute when
Bergkamp lobbed the ball to the far post for Lauren to head over Vaesen.
Henry completed the rout in the 70th minute with his 100th goal for
Arsenal when Pires sent Wiltord away down the left. Wiltord timed his pass
to perfection and Vaesen was left clutching thin air as Henry drove the
ball into the back of the net.
Tottenham Hotspur v Everton 4-3
The full report and pictures can be found here
FA Barclaycard Premiership
Pos. Pl. W. D. L. F-A. GD Pts
1 Arsenal 23 15 4 4 49-24 25 49
2 Man Utd 23 13 5 5 38-23 15 44
3 Chelsea 23 11 8 4 40-21 19 41
4 Newcastle 22 12 3 7 37-31 6 39
5 So'pton 23 9 9 5 27-23 4 36
6 Everton 23 10 6 7 28-28 0 36
7 Liverpool 23 9 8 6 31-23 8 35
8 Spurs 23 10 5 8 34-34 0 35
9 Man City 23 10 4 9 32-32 0 34
10 Blackburn 23 8 9 6 29-25 4 33
11 M'brough 23 8 6 9 27-23 4 30
12 Leeds 23 9 3 11 31-29 2 30
13 A. Villa 23 8 5 10 22-24 -2 29
14 Charlton 22 8 5 9 25-29 -4 29
15 B'mingham 23 6 7 10 20-31 -11 25
16 Fulham 22 6 6 10 23-27 -4 24
17 Bolton 22 4 8 10 23-37 -14 20
18 S'derland 23 4 7 12 15-32 -17 19
19 West Ham 22 3 8 11 23-40 -17 17
20 West Brom 22 4 4 14 17-35 -18 16
