With many thanks to Brian Judson, without whom this feature would not be possible.
Saturday, March 22nd, 2003
Birmingham City v West Bromwich Albion 1-0
In a dire game ruined by electric tension, supersub Horsfield scored the
only goal of the game deep in injury time added on to the 90th minute. A
shot from Stern John was deflected into the air and Horsfield headed the
ball behind Hoult. This defeat will probably condemn West Bromwich Albion
to relegation.
Chelsea v Manchester City 5-0
Kevin Keegan was furious with the lack of fight shown by his team in this
match, warning them they were still not safe from relegation. Hasselbaink
grabbed the first goal of the match in the 37th minute when Zola centred
from the left for Hasselbaink to force the ball home before Distin could
react. Terry added a second in the 43rd minute when he headed home a
corner from Le Saux. Stanic made the score 3-0 in the 58th minute when
Hasselbaink took a corner, Terry headed the ball on for Stanic to force
the ball home. Lampard added a fourth in the 69th minute when Cole and
Lampard swapped passes before Lampard stroked the ball home wide of
Schmeichel. Gallas rounded off the romp in the 79th minute when he
sidefooted a Lampard cross beyond Schmeichel.
Manchester United v Fulham 3-0
There were 67,706 spectators to witness this match. Ruud van Nistelrooy
put the Reds ahead from the penalty spot in the 45th minute after
Solksjaer was tugged back by Zak Knight. The second goal came when van
Nistelrooy eluded a number of Fulham defenders in the 68th minute to beat
Maik Taylor from an angle. As the fans were starting to leave, van
Nistelrooy completed his hat-trick in the 90th minute when he tapped home
a cross from Giggs.
Middlesbrough v Charlton Athletic 1-1
The Addicks were outgunned for most of the match but survived to snatch a
point. Johansson put them ahead in the 26th minute when Lisbie caught both
Ehiogu and Southgate leaving it to each other to clear the ball. Lisbie's
pass found Johansson unmarked and Schwarzer was not able to prevent him
from scoring. Christie equalised for Middlesbrough in the 57th minute when
Queuendrue found space on the left wing to lob the ball for Christie to
stab home.
Newcastle United v Blackburn Rovers 5-1
Graeme Souness was furious with his side after the match. He was also
upset when Yorke at first refused to be substituted. Newcastle were always
the better side. Solano headed them ahead in the 24th minute when he
headed home a cross from Robert. Duff equalised in the 54th minute when
Newcastle conceded a free-kick. The Magpies blocked the shot but Duff
fired the ball beyond Given. Robert put the Magpies back in front in the
61st minute when Gresko fouled Shearer and then disputed the decision. The
ball was advanced 10 yards and Robert fired in a dipping free-kick that
Friedel saw too late. Jennas extended the Magpies lead in the 85th minute
when Hughes sent him through to side foot the ball home. Gresko then
conceded an own goal in the 89th minute as he tried to divert Dyer's
centre for a corner. Bellamy then tore upfield to complete the rout in the
90th minute when he slotted in a centre from Viana.
Southampton v Aston Villa 2-2
How Villa failed to win this match is a huge mystery! Hendrie fired them
ahead in the 30th minute when he fired in a 22-yard curling shot. Vassell
added a second goal in the 36th minute when Lundekvam failed to clear the
ball and Vassell took advantage of the mistake to score. Beattie reduced
the arrears in the 40th minute when he latched on to a deflection from
Ormerod's header to score. Deep in injury time at the end of the match,
Davies lashed home a deserved equaliser in the 90th minute after Johnsen
had wildly slashed the ball into the air.
West Ham United v Sunderland 2-0
The Mackems are doomed to relegation in everything but mathematics. New
manager Mick McCarthy admitted as much after the game as he announced
there would be huge changes during the summer. Defoe scored the first goal
in the 24th minute when Johnson sent in a centre which Les Ferdinand
headed on for Defoe to spin and hook the ball beyond Sorensen. Kanoute
added a second goal in the 65th minute when Carrick split the Sunderland
defence and Kanoute had all the time in the world to claim his goal.
Sunday, March 23rd, 2003
Arsenal v Everton 2-1
The Gooners are back on top of the table following this crucial win. Cygan
put them ahead in the 8th minute when he took advantage of some hesitancy
on the part of Wright to head home Henry's corner. Rooney equalised in the
56th minute to celebrate his call-up for England next weekend. Cygan
retreated, hesitating to commit himself to a tackle and Rooney blasted the
ball beyond Taylor. Vieira struck in the 64th minute to ensure the points
would be Arsenal's. Vieira headed on Taylor's long goal-kick. Henry and
Bergkamp swapped passes. Stubbs failed to clear the ball and Vieira was on
hand to score the winning goal.
Liverpool v Leeds United 3-1
The visitors clearly lacked confidence as they had no one to organise
their defending. Owen put Liverpool ahead in the 12th minute when Gerrard
and Owen swapped passes to put Diouf through. Diouf's centre found Owen
free to crack home a left footed volley. Murphy added a second in the 20th
minute when Andy D'Urso allowed play to continue despite a foul by Mills
on Riise. As Leeds stopped playing in anticipation of a free-kick, Murphy
volleyed the ball beyond Robinson. Viduka gave Leeds some hope in the 44th
minute when he forced the ball home at the second attempt behind Dudek.
But Gerrard ensured the points would remain at Anfield in the 73rd minute
when Owen raced on to a ball that Harte was backing away from before
evading Lucic to present Gerrard with a chance to score.
Monday, March 24th, 2003
Bolton Wanderers v Tottenham Hotspur 1-0
Haven't you read this yet? Go to the link immediately!
Cheers, Brian
FA Barclaycard Premiership
Pos. Pl. W. D. L. F-A. GD Pts
1 Arsenal 31 20 6 5 66-33 33 66
2 Man Utd 31 19 7 5 51-27 24 64
3 Newcastle 31 19 4 8 54-35 19 61
4 Chelsea 31 15 9 7 57-31 26 54
5 Liverpool 31 14 10 7 47-31 16 52
6 Everton 31 14 8 9 39-36 3 50
7 Charlton 31 13 7 11 40-39 1 46
8 Blackburn 31 12 10 9 38-37 1 46
9 So'pton 31 11 11 9 34-33 1 44
10 Spurs 31 12 7 12 43-44 -1 43
11 M'brough 31 11 9 11 39-35 4 42
12 Man City 31 12 5 14 40-49 -9 41
13 Fulham 31 10 8 13 35-40 -5 38
14 A. Villa 31 10 6 15 33-37 -4 36
15 B'mingham 31 9 8 14 29-42 -13 35
16 Leeds 31 10 4 17 38-45 -7 34
17 Bolton 31 7 11 13 34-47 -13 32
18 West Ham 31 7 9 15 34-53 -19 30
19 West Brom 31 5 6 20 21-47 -26 21
20 S'derland 31 4 7 20 19-50 -31 19
