With many thanks to Brian Judson, without whom this feature would not be possible.
Saturday, February 8th, 2003
Birmingham City v Chelsea 1-3
Chelsea scored just before and after the break to give hem a commanding
lead. Zola scored in the 44th minute when Petit centred the ball,
Gudjohnssen headed the ball on and Zola poked the ball beyond Vaessen.
Gudjohnssen added a second goal in the 49th minute when Lampard sent him
clear to thump the ball beyond Vaessen. Hasselbaink, who had replaced Zola
at half-time, scored from the penalty spot in the 69th minute when he was
brought down by Savage. Birmingham gained a late consolation goal when
Savage scored from the penalty spot in the 87th minute after Desailly had
upended Morrison.
Blackburn Rovers v Southampton 1-0
Thompson scored the only goal of the match in the 26th minute when the
Saints failed to clear the ball. Gillespie fired in a cross from the wing
and Thompson drove the ball home from 16 yards. Later, Svensson came close
to equalising for the Saints when he saw a header clip the crossbar.
Charlton Athletic v Everton 2-1
Kishishev put Charlton on the road to victory in the 19th minute. A shot
from Lisbie was deflected into his path and he slotted the ball behind
Wright. The referee ignored appeals that Lisbie had been offside. McBride
equalised for Everton in the 69th minute when Li Tie pushed a beautifully
judged ball into his path for him to score. Lisbie had the last laugh
though in the 83rd minute when Li Tie made a hash of a clearance leaving
Lisbie with the simplest of chances.
Fulham v Aston Villa 2-1
Barry put Villa ahead in the 3rd minute when he took advantage of Fulham's
indecision to score. Malbranque equalised from the penalty spot in the
14th minute after Boa Morte had made a spectacular dive to deceive the
referee into thinking Gudjonsson had upended him. Harley, recalled after
Brevett's departure to West Ham, celebrated in the 36th minute by scoring
a spectacular goal from 25-yards out to completely deceive Enckleman.
Fulham should have gone on to win by a bigger margin in the second half
but squandered their chances. Villa could have equalised through Crouch,
whose shot was just wide of a post.
Leeds United v West Ham United 1-0
Seth Johnson scored the only goal of the match in the 20th minute with a
rifle shot that somehow squirmed underneath 'Calamity' James's body.
Bowyer was mercilessly barracked by the Leeds fans throughout the match.
Kanouté was sent off for hitting Johnson in an off the ball incident and
will miss three vital games for West Ham.
Liverpool v Middlesbrough 1-1
The visitors almost snatched their second away win of the season. Geremi
fired them ahead in the 38th minute when Hyypia upended Greening just
outside the penalty area. From the free-kick, Geremi floated the ball over
Dudek into the net. From then on, Liverpool struggled until Riise
equalised in the 74th minute. He beat three defenders, slipped the ball to
Diouf, who shot ran back to Riise, who volleyed the ball behind Schwarzer
rather like the one he had scored against West Ham at Upton Park.
Tottenham Hotspur v Sunderland 4-1
Read the report and see more pictures here
West Bromwich Albion v Bolton Wanderers 1-1
The Baggies' equaliser came so late that many fans had left, believing
Bolton had won. Pedersen fired the Trotters ahead in the 18th minute when
Hoult spilled a shot from Mendy and Pedersen was quickest to react. Both
sides had their chances to score but with the minutes ticking away,
Johnson got on the end of a flick from Moore to tuck a shot home in the
90th minute. It might become the most important goal of his career.
Sunday, February 9th, 2003
Manchester United v Manchester City 1-1
Ruud van Nistlerooy gave the Reds the lead in the 18th minute when a
centre from Giggs left him with the simplest of chances to tap the ball
home. Goater equalised for the Sky Blues in the 86th minute when, seconds
after he had come on as a substitute, he took advantage of some slack
marking by the United defenders to force the ball home. The Reds spent
most of the second half with one eye firmly on next weekend's FA Cup tie
with Arsenal and paid the price.
Newcastle United v Arsenal 1-1
Profiting from a poorly taken throw-in by Bernard, Arsenal roared into the
attack with Vieira and Wiltord working the ball forward. Henry slipped
away and rounded Given to open the scoring in the 35th minute. Given was
kept under pressure and might have conceded a second goal but for Given
heading the ball off his line at one point. Robert equalised for Newcastle
in the 53rd minute when he weaved his way through the middle before
planting the ball firmly in Seaman's net. Shortly afterwards, Robert
picked up a second yellow card for refusing to retreat when Arsenal were
awarded a free-kick. Newcastle rode the storm and secured a priceless
point.
FA Barclaycard Premiership
Pos. Pl. W. D. L. F-A. GD Pts
1 Arsenal 27 17 6 4 57-29 28 57
2 Man Utd 27 16 6 5 44-25 19 54
3 Newcastle 26 15 4 7 42-32 10 49
4 Chelsea 27 13 9 5 48-27 21 48
5 Everton 27 13 6 8 35-32 3 45
6 Liverpool 27 11 10 6 38-26 12 43
7 Spurs 27 12 6 9 40-37 3 42
8 Charlton 27 12 6 9 36-34 2 42
9 So'pton 27 10 9 8 28-27 1 39
10 Man City 27 11 5 11 38-38 0 38
11 Blackburn 27 9 10 8 32-31 1 37
12 A. Villa 27 10 5 12 31-29 2 35
13 Leeds 27 10 4 13 34-34 0 34
14 M'brough 26 8 7 11 30-30 0 31
15 Fulham 26 8 6 12 28-34 -6 30
16 B'mingham 27 6 8 13 24-40 -16 26
17 Bolton 27 5 10 12 30-44 -14 25
18 West Brom 26 5 6 15 20-38 -18 21
19 West Ham 27 4 8 15 28-52 -24 20
20 S'derland 27 4 7 16 18-42 -24 19
