With many thanks to Brian Judson, without whom this feature would not be possible
Saturday 22 September 2001
Arsenal v Bolton Wanderers 1-1
Both of the goals came late in the match. Bolton had been without Gardner
for over an hour after he was sent off for pushing Bergkamp. It looked all
over for Bolton when Jeffers put them ahead in the 74th minute when Pires
and Jeffers swapped passes before Jeffers scored. Ricketts then scored his
5th goal of the season in the 83rd minute when he collected a pass from
Rod Wallace, juggled the ball and lashed the ball behind Seaman. Both
sides had further chances to score but failed to take them.
Blackburn Rovers v Everton 1-0
Grabbi scored the only goal of the game in the 27th minute. This came
after referee Barber had upset both sides by rejecting appeals for a
penalty but taking no action against players who may have dived. A penalty
was then given when Alexandersson was upended by Stig Inge Bjornbye but
Freidel saved Ferguson's poor penalty kick. Tugay centred the ball and
Grabbi forced the ball home in the 37th minute to give Blackburn the
points. Gazza made his long-awaited comeback for Everton in this match.
Everton had only themselves to blame for not winning a share of the
points.
Leicester City v Fulham 0-0
Neither side looked like scoring in this match which provided Leicester
with their first clean sheet of the season. Leicester played the better
football and were unlucky not to score. Jordan Stewart, Leicester's
promising left back, limped off after 79 minutes to be replaced by Impey.
Stewart is expected to be out for a month.
Liverpool v Tottenham Hotspur 1-0
Full report available here
Manchester United v Ipswich Town 4-0
The Champions fielded what was more or less their reserve team for this
match. Johnsen put them ahead in the 13th minute when he headed the ball
home. Sereni thought he had saved the header but the referee awarded a
goal. Solksjaer added a second seven minutes later when Sereni fumbled
Cole's shot and the Norwegian striker was on hand to score. The final two
goals came in the dying seconds of the match. Cole scored in the 89th
minute when his shot crept under Sereni's body and Solksjaer scored from
an acute angle as the referee was looking at his watch.
Sunderland v Charlton Athletic 2-2
Bartlett put Charlton ahead in the 11th minute when he headed home a
Konchesky corner. In the 61st minute, Charlton went further ahead when
Young took a long throw and Brown headed the ball home by the far post.
Quinn then scored two late goals to equalise. Both came from headers in
the 74th and 77th minutes. The first goal came from a cross by Phillips
whilst the second came from a free-kick taken by McCann.
Sunday 23 September 2001
Chelsea v Middlesbrough 2-2
Hasselbaink's first goal in the 3rd minute was created by Gudjohnsen with
a pass from the halfway line. Hasselbaink side-stepped a challenge from
Southgate and Crossley failed to gather the ball. Hasselbank's second goal
in the 37th minute came after Zenden's corner had bounced off Deane's
shoulder to Hasselbaink, who scored with a right foot volley. Stockdale
reduced the arrears for the visitors in the 61st minute when a corner by
Ince was headed out by Lampard but Stockdale chested the ball down and
fired it home. Boksic scored a 90th minute penalty after the ball struck
Le Saux on the arm and an eagle-eyed linesman flagged the incident.
Leeds United v Derby County 3-0
Derby were still protesting after the referee had disallowed a goal for
them when Leeds broke away. They won a free-kick which Derby were slow to
respond to and Bakke rose to head Harte's centre home in the 9th minute.
Kewell scored two late goals in the second half. His first goal came in
the 74th minute when he latched on to a Bowyer pass to wrong-foot Oakes in
the Derby goal. Kewell's second goal in the 78th minute saw Bowyer provide
a centre from the right wing for Kewell to head home.
West Ham United v Newcastle United 3-0
Newcastle's inability to win a match on any London ground in now legendary
as they have made 26 trips to London without a win. Not that West Ham were
particularly good! Hutchison put them ahead in the 18th minute when Di
Canio won a corner and Hutchison timed his run right to force the ball
home. Di Canio put them further ahead in the 53rd minute when Dailly's
long clearance caught Barton in two minds and Di Canio was left to
bamboozle Given with ease. Kanoute rounded off the scoring in the 82nd
minute when he scored from a very acute angle.
Monday 24 September 2001
Southampton v Aston Villa 1-3
Boateng put Villa ahead in the 9th minute when Dublin's pass made space
for Boateng to score. Angel added a second in the 15th minute when Hendrie
and Dublin swapped passes to allow the Colombian to score. Pahars reduced
the arrears in the 45th minute when Beattie crossed from the left and
Pahars stooped low to head the ball in the net. Hadji ensured Villa would
take home the points in the 79th minute when Hendrie centred the ball and
Hadji, totally unmarked, headed home. The game was marred by two sending
offs. Delap was dismissed for preventing a goalscoring opportunity but it
was Dublin's dismissal that caused most ire as Kachloul made a meal of the
incident and collapsed as if pole-axed yet required only minimal treatment
before running around like a spring lamb.
Wednesday, 26 September 2001
Newcastle United v Leicester City 1-0
Solano scored the only goal of the game in the 33rd minute. Shearer
flicked the ball on to Bellamy, who turned Elliott, who then realised
Solano was in a better position to score and pushed the ball to him.
Walker could do nothing to prevent the goal. Leicester were poor and
rarely threatened Given's goal.
Pos Pl. W. D. L. For-Ag Pts.
1 Leeds 6 4 2 0 9- 1 14
2 Bolton 7 3 3 1 10- 4 12
3 Arsenal 6 3 2 1 14- 5 11
4 Man United 6 3 2 1 17-10 11
5 Newcastle 6 3 2 1 11- 9 11
6 A. Villa 5 2 3 0 7- 3 9
7 Chelsea 5 2 3 0 9- 6 9
8 Liverpool 5 3 0 2 8- 7 9
9 Blackburn 7 2 3 2 8- 8 9
10 Sunderland 7 2 3 2 6- 7 9
11 Spurs 7 2 2 3 8- 8 8
12 Everton 6 2 1 3 7-10 7
13 M'brough 7 2 1 4 7-14 7
14 Fulham 6 1 3 2 6- 7 6
15 West Ham 5 1 2 2 4- 4 5
16 Charlton 5 1 2 2 5- 7 5
17 Ipswich 6 1 2 3 5- 9 5
18 Derby 6 1 2 3 5-10 5
19 Leicester 7 1 2 4 5-15 5
20 S'hampton 5 1 0 4 2- 9 3
