Although West Ham United put thebrakes on Manchester United’s title charge, the Londoners couldbe back on Alex Ferguson’s Christmas card list if they do thesame to Arsenal on Tuesday (1500 GMT).
More: continued here
New Fulham manager Roy Hodgsonsaid on Monday he felt no pressure to prove himself to theclub’s fans or English soccer
More: continued here
Roy Hodgson, the new manager of Fulham, insisted Monday he had nothing to prove in English football
More: continued here
30 December 2007
MANCHESTER CITY 0
LIVERPOOL 0
Goalless at Eastlands as Liverpool dominated but were unable to break down a resolute Man City defence. In a game of few chances, the best opportunity came late on when Dirk Kuyt’s header was saved by keeper Joe Hart and hacked to safety by Richard Dunne as it bobbled towards goal.
Attendance : 47,321
Assist : n/a
DERBY 1 (Oakley 27)
BLACKBURN 2 (Santa Cruz 39, Bentley 42)
Blackburn came from behind to beat Derby and increase the troubles of the bottom club. Blackburn had the better of the opening stages only to go behind to Derby’s first effort at goal. A ball into the area by Tyrone Mears was laid off to Matt Oakley by Giles Barnes and Oakley’s low drilled shot found the roof of the net via the keepers legs. The game then turned upside down in a five minute spell before half time, beginning when Derby were awarded a penalty when Kenny Miller was tripped by Ryan Nelsen, however although Steve Howard’s kick was well struck, Brad Friedel got his body behind it and kept it out. Just over a minute later, Benni McCarthy controlled the ball well and although his turn and shot was kept out, Roque Santa Cruz was left with a tap in and made no mistake. Rovers then took the lead as Aaron Mokoena’s pass found David Bentley and his 25 yard shot fizzed inside the near post. The second half saw no more goals although Bentley did hit the foot of the post with a decent effort.
Attendance : 30,048
Assist : Barnes, n/a, Mokoena
29 December 2007
EVERTON 1 (Cahill 19)
ARSENAL 4 (Eduardo 47, Eduardo 58, Adebayor 78, Rosicky 93)
Arsenal regain top spot after coming from behind at Everton to win a fiery encounter. Everton had by far the better of the first half, denying the Gunners time and space and taking the lead themselves from a set piece. A corner from Phil Jagielka was helped on at the near post by a defender and then struck Niklas Bendtner at the far before being bundled in by either the head of Yakubu or the foot of Tim Cahill with the latter seemingly getting the final credit. It took Arsenal thirteen minutes of the second half to turn the game on its head as Eduardo took centre stage. Within 90 seconds of the restart, he took advantage of slack defending to collect a long ball from Gael Clichy, turned and clipped the ball in. More followed as Clichy found him on the edge of the area via a flicked header by Bendtner and he showed excellent skill to control the ball, clip it past Jagielka and then slot calmly past the keeper. An eventful day for Bendtner came to an abrupt end when he was shown a second yellow card for a studs first challenge into the shin of Andy Johnson and whilst it should have handed the initiative to the hosts, instead they handed it to Arsenal. A long punt forward by keeper Manuel Almunia saw both Joseph Yobo and home keeper Tim Howard leave the ball to each other on the edge of the area and sub Emmanuel Adebayor nipped in to give himself a tap in. Everton were then reduced to ten men when Mikael Arteta swung an arm into the face of his apparent close friend Cesc Fabregas and whilst the Gunners man may have made a meal of it, his opponent was shown a straight red which sparked a mass brawl as tempers flared throughout the closing stages. Arsenal wrapped it up in stoppage time when Vassiriki Diaby set up Tomas Rosicky to drill in a low shot inside the near post.
Attendance : 39,443
Red Card : Bendtner 74 (Arsenal), Arteta 84 (Everton)
Assists : n/a, Clichy, Bendtner, Almunia (gk), Diaby
BIRMINGHAM 1 (Larsson 55)
FULHAM 1 (Bocanegra 
Fulham’s new manager Roy Hodgson saw his side in familiar mode as they lost the lead at Birmingham. They went ahead when Carlos Bocanegra headed in a corner from Simon Davies, however as it traditional, they let it slip in the second half when Fabrice Muamba set up Sebastien Larsson to fire a deflected shot in. Fulham ended with ten men when Hamuer Bouazza was shown a second yellow for a late lunge on Franck
Queudrue.
Attendance : 28,923
Red Card : Bouazza 79 (Fulham)
Assists : Davis (ck), n/a
CHELSEA 2 (Essien 29, Kalou 87)
NEWCASTLE 1 (Bridge 56 og)
Chelsea beat Newcastle courtesy of an awful mistake from the linesman late on. The home side went ahead in the first half when a shot from Shaun Wright-Phillips hit team mate Salomon Kalou and fell nicely for Michael Essien to sweep in. Newcastle looked to have earned a point when Nicky Butt bundled in a cross from Charles N’Zogbia, however with three minutes to go, a long range effort from John Obi Mikel struck Claudio Pizarro and landed for Kalou to clip in, however replays showed the goalscorer to be well offside from Pizarro’s inadvertent touch yet the flag remained down.
Attendance : 41,751
Assists : Kalou, n/a, Pizarro
PORTSMOUTH 0
MIDDLESBROUGH 1 (Tuncay 20)
Middlesbrough collected a much needed win away at Portsmouth whose form has dried up in recent games. Sunli Tuncay tapped in the only goal from a yard out after Gary O’Neil’s shot had been parried by David James.
Attendance : 20,089
Assist : n/a
SUNDERLAND 3 (Richardson 13, Jones 32, Murphy 91)
BOLTON 1 (Diouf 41 fk)
Another welcome win at the Stadium of Light as Sunderland saw off Bolton. Kenwyne Jones was the star of the show as he scored one and made the other two, beginning with a pass to Kieron Richardson whose drilled first time effort went in via the near post. Roles were then reversed as Richardson crossed for Jones to head in and although Bolton pulled one back when El Hadji Diouf’s floated free kick drifted over everyone and into the net, Sunderland clinched the win late on when Jones found Daryl Murphy who thumped in a low from a tricky angle.
Attendance : 42,058
Assists : Jones, Richardson (ck), Gardner (won fk), Jones
TOTTENHAM 6 (Berbatov 7, 63, 73, Malbranque 76, Defoe 79, Berbatov 83)
READING 4 (Cisse 16, Ingimarsson 53, Kitson 69, Kitson 74)
Yet another astonishing Prem game this season as Spurs came from behind on three occasions to beat Reading in a ten goal thriller. Dimitar Berbatov was the headline grabber for Spurs with four goals, the first of which was a tap in from Robbie Keane’s cross although Keane did seem to be offside in the build up. Reading levelled when Paul Robinson’s weak punch from a Nicky Shorey fell nicely for Kalifa Cisse to drive a shot through a crowded penalty area and into the net. The fun and games really began in the second half as Ivar Ingimarsson headed in Shorey’s corner to put Reading ahead only for Berbatov to blast in a close range equaliser ten minutes later following a poor clearance. It was the first of seven goals in a crazy 20 minute spell! Dave Kitson restored the Reading lead with a near post header from another Shorey corner only for Berbatov to complete his hat trick as he helped Pascal Chimbonda’s header goalwards and actually found the bottom corner. Straight from the kick off, Kitson was sent clear by Stephen Hunt and finished with a cool chip and another two minutes on saw Tom Huddlestone find Steed Malbranque in the area and he curled a cracker inside the far post. That made it 4-4 before Keane was tripped in the area by Ibrahima Sonko and got up to take the penalty himself, however the keeper saved only for Jermaine Defoe to nod in the rebound despite being well into the area when the original kick was taken. A remarkable game was wrapped up as it began - by Berbatov as he raced onto Younes Kaboul’s long ball and blasted in his fourth and the tenth of the game.
Attendance : 36,178
Assists : Keane, n/a, (ck), n/a, Shorey (ck), Chimbonda, Hunt, Huddlestone, n/a, Kaboul
WEST HAM 2 (Ferdinand 77, Upson 82)
MANCHESTER UNITED 1 (Ronaldo 14)
Man United surrendered top spot as they lost the lead and missed a penalty at West Ham. Arguably the player of 2007, Cristiano Ronaldo, headed United into the lead from a cross by Ryan Giggs but then blew a chance to double the lead from the spot after Jonathan Spector had handled. Ronaldo stepped up by drilled his shot well wide. Two set pieces then won the game for West Ham as Mark Noble’s corner was nodded in by Anton Ferdinand and within five minutes, Noble’s free kick was headed powerfully into the far corner by Matthew Upson.
Attendance : 34,966
Assists : Giggs, Noble, Noble (fk)
WIGAN 1 (Bramble 28)
ASTON VILLA 2 (Davies 55, Agbonlahor 70)
Aston Villa came from behind to win at Wigan. Titus Bramble gave Wigan a half time lead with a thumping header from Ryan Taylor’s cross however Villa levelled early in the second half through Curtis Davies from a Gareth Barry corner. Good work by Ashley Young set up the winner as he crossed for Gabriel Agbonlahor to glance a header in.
Attendance : 18,806
Assists : Taylor (ck), Barry (ck), Young
Gary Dowden - Joint Admin Topica Premier-L list
http://www.topica.com/lists/premier-L/
Leeds United and Scotland and proud of it
http://footiemad.fortunecity.com
http://www.peanutsfan.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk/footiemad
The Unofficial Premiership Site
http://seodesign.eu : SEO - free detailed, low cost no obligation quote tailored to your website. Website Design - contemporary or classic, e-commerce, templates for myspace, posters for advertising campaigns, wallpapers and icons.
More: continued here
The Scottish Premier League match Wednesday between Glasgow rivals Celtic and Rangers was postponed Monday following the death of Motherwell captain Phil O’Donnell over the weekend. Motherwell’s next two games had already been called off, but Celtic asked for Wednesday’s match to be rescheduled out of respect for its former player.
More: continued here
Chelsea manager Avram Grant urgedMichael Ballack on Monday to take added responsibility in theabsence of England internationals John Terry and FrankLampard.
More: continued here
Wednesday's Old Firm clash between Celtic and Rangers has been postponed as a mark of respect following the death last weekend of Motherwell captain Phil O'Donnell, the Scottish Premier League (SPL) announced here on Monday.
More: continued here
27 December 2007
MANCHESTER CITY 2 (Vassell 27, Nolan 30 og)
BLACKBURN 2 (Santa Cruz 28, Santa Cruz 84)
Man City’s 100% home record ended as Blackburn twice came from behind at Eastlands. After a drab opening 25 minutes, notable only for a glaring miss from three yards by City’s Rolando Bianchi, the game blasted into life with three goals in just over three minutes. City struck first as Martin Petrov sped away down the left and his chipped cross was nodded in at the far post by Darius Vassell. Rovers won a free kick straight
from the restart and they were level as David Bentley’s ball in was glanced in at the near post by Roque Santa Cruz. City regained the lead as Petrov again destroyed the visitors down the left and this time his cross was diverted into his own net by Ryan Nelsen with Bianchi lurking behind him. Rovers earned a point late on as Bentley again crossed for Santa Cruz to convert at the near post although initially the flag was up for offside against David Dunn before the goal was rightly awarded.
Attendance : 42,112
Assists : n/a, Bentley
26 December 2007
PORTSMOUTH 0
ARSENAL 0
Arsenal failed to score for the first time this season and surrendered top place after a goalless draw at Portsmouth. The Gunners had their best chances late on as William Gallas blazed over from close range whilst Thomas Rosicky dragged a shot wide in stoppage time.
Attendance : 20,556
Assist : n/a
BIRMINGHAM 3 (Downing 22 og, Forssell 45, McSheffrey 94)
MIDDLESBROUGH 0
Birmingham eased their relegation fears with a comfortable win over fellow strugglers Middlesbrough. The game was effectively over by half time after Stuart Downing had sliced a Gary McSheffrey free kick into his own net and then Mikael Forsell scored from close range from a Sebastien Larsson corner which Cameron Jerome had helped on. The win was cemented in stoppage time after McSheffrey’s solo run came to a half when he was tripped by Robert Huth and he got up to convert the penalty himself.
Attendance : 24,094
Assists : n/a, Jerome, McSheffrey
DERBY 1 (McEveley 67)
LIVERPOOL 2 (Torres 12, Gerrard 90)
Liverpool left it late to beat bottom club Derby and keep up their dwindling title hopes. They went ahead thanks to a lovely piece of skill from Fernando Torres who was found by Ryan Babel then beat two men in the area before finding the corner. Derby were level when Jay McEveley converted a free kick from Eddie Lewis from close range, however with time running out, Steven Gerrard hit the underside of the bar before netting a last gasp winner. Torres was again involved as he effort was saved, however as a defender looked to clear, Gerrard was on hand to score from close range.
Attendance : 33,029
Assists : Torres, Howard, n/a
EVERTON 2 (Neville 51, Cahill 70)
BOLTON 0
Everton remain in touch with the European spots thanks to two second half goals against Bolton. The first was a bit freakish as Phil Neville’s cross drifted in after keeper Jussi Jaaskelainen collided with Tim Cahill as he looked to collect the cross. Cahill didn’t get a touch despite trying to claim it, however he made no mistake with the second as the away defence stopped as Thomas Gravesen was fouled on the edge of the box only for the ref to rightly play the advantage for Joleon Lescott to cross for Cahill to smash the ball home.
Attendance : 38,918
Assists : Carsley, Lescott
SUNDERLAND 0
MANCHESTER UNITED 4 (Rooney 20, Saha 30, Ronaldo 45, Saha 86 Pen)
Man United go top after blitzing Sunderland at the Stadium of Light. Wayne Rooney got the show on the road with a calm finish after being sent clear by Wes Brown and Rooney then crossed for Louis Saha to volley in the second. A superb curling free kick from Cristiano Ronaldo made it three by half time and Saha completed the rout from the penalty spot after Nani was held back by Danny Collins although he did take his time before tumbling to the ground.
Attendance : 47,360
Assists : Brown, Rooney, Carrick (won fk), Nani (won pen)
WIGAN 1 (Taylor 65 fk)
NEWCASTLE 0
Wigan did their relegation concerns some good with a narrow win against Newcastle who continue to blow more cold than hot. The only goal was a terrific free kick curled into the far corner by Ryan Taylor.
Attendance : 20,304
Assist : Brown (won fk)
CHELSEA 4 (Shevchenko 45 Pen, Shevchenko 50, Alex 66, Ballack 88 fk)
ASTON VILLA 4 (Maloney 14, Maloney 44, Laursen 72, Barry 92 Pen)
Amazing game at Stamford Bridge which saw three red cards, two penalties and eight goals shared between Chelsea and Aston Villa. The visitors raced into a two goal lead with a brace from Shaun Maloney, firstly as he netted from close range from John Carew’s knock down and then thanks to a howler from keeper Petr Cech who allowed Maloney’s low shot to bobble out of his hands and over the line. A minute later, sub Michael Ballack went down in the area under minimal contact from Zat Knight who was sent off for his challenge. Andriy Shevchenko converted from the penalty spot and then equalised early in the second half with a stinging shot from 20 yards after collecting a pass from Salomon Kalou. Chelsea then went ahead as Shevchenko found Alex and he surged through the middle of the defence before drilling home. The ten men battled back and levelled as Martin Laursen found himself unmarked to volley in Ashley Young’s free kick and then Chelsea’s numerical advantage disappeared as Ricardo Carvalho was sent off for a dangerous two-footed lunge on Gabriel Agbonlahor. With two minutes to go, Ballack’s free kick beat the wall and found the bottom corner and Chelsea looked to have won the game, however Ashley Cole seemed to use his arm to keep Agbonlahor’s header out of the net and although the home side claimed that he’d headed it clear, he was also sent off. Gareth Barry sent Cech to wrong way from the spot to end one of the best Prem games ever.
Attendance : 41,686
Red Cards : Knight 45 (Aston Villa), Carvalho 80 (Chelsea), Ashley Cole 92 (Chelsea)
Assists : Carew, Laursen, Ballack (won pen), Kalou, Shevchenko, Young (fk), Cole (won fk)
TOTTENHAM 5 (Keane 27, Huddlestone 45, Keane 62, Huddlestone 71, Defoe 90)
FULHAM 1 (Dempsey 61)
Spurs collected their biggest win of the season as they walloped London rivals Fulham. Robbie Keane opened the scoring with a tap in after Steed Malbranque almost broke the post with a piledriver and Tom Huddlestone doubled the lead with a crisply struck second from 25 yards after being set up by Dimitar Berbatov. Fulham pulled one back when Diomansy Camara’s cross was fired goalwards by Clint Dempsey and although keeper Paul Robinson kept it out, the ball rebounded back into the net off of the Fulham man. Within a minute, Keane restored the two goal lead with a close range effort as he diverted an effort from Berbatov into the net. Huddlestone then matched his team mate with his second, a shot from the edge of the area which found the bottom corner after Aaron Lennon had found him and it got even worse for Fulham as Moritz Volz caught Malbranque late and was shown his second yellow of the game. The coup de grace came in the final minute when Huddlestone played in Jermaine Defoe who showed quick feet to finish well.
Attendance : 36,077
Red Card : Volz 87 (Fulham)
Assists : n/a, Berbatov, n/a, Berbatov, Lennon, Huddlestone
WEST HAM 1 (Solano 42)
READING 1 (Kitson 60)
West Ham’s home form continues to mystify considering their superb away form after they lost a lead at home to ten man Reading. The visitors played over an hour with a man down after Brynjar Gunnarson was sent off for a two footed tackle on Hayden Mullins and just before half time they were a goal down as Carlton Cole played Nol Solano in and his clipped finish found the net as the keeper came out. Reading earned a
deserved point thanks to a superb finish by Dave Kitson when a cleared corner was played back into the area by Nicky Shorey.
Attendance : 34,277
Red Card : Gunnarson 29 (Reading)
Assists : n/a, Shorey
Gary Dowden - Joint Admin Topica Premier-L list
http://www.topica.com/lists/premier-L/
Leeds United and Scotland and proud of it
http://footiemad.fortunecity.com
http://www.peanutsfan.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk/footiemad
The Unofficial Premiership Site
http://seodesign.eu : SEO - free detailed, low cost no obligation quote tailored to your website. Website Design - contemporary or classic, e-commerce, templates for myspace, posters for advertising campaigns, wallpapers and icons.
More: continued here
By Gavin McCafferty Special to PA SportsTicker
More: continued here
Liverpool missed a chance to close in on Premier League leader Arsenal when it drew 0-0 at Manchester City on Sunday. Liverpool, which won the most recent of its record 18 league titles back in 1990, dominated possession and chances at City of Manchester Stadium, but was unable to break down a defense anchored by Richard Dunne and Micah Richards.
More: continued here