Report Feb 10 ~ Liverpool, Man Utd & Chelsea matches here
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Newcastle vs Liverpool
Newcastle United Vs Liverpool - Ch 23 - 11:00 pm - (Live)
Newcastle: Celestine Babayaro could return to the starting line-up after a hamstring injury. Kieron Dyer is fit despite suffering from the after-effects of his exertions for England in midweek, but full-back Stephen Carr could be sidelined for a month with the thigh injury. Emre (calf), Shay Given (groin), Peter Ramage and Craig Moore (both hamstring), Michael Owen and Charles NÂ’Zogbia (both knee) and Shola Ameobi are still out.
Squad: Harper, Srnicek, Solano, Babayaro, Edgar, Taylor, Bramble, Onyewu, Huntington, Butt, Parker, Milner, Duff, Pattison, Troisi, Gate, Martins, Dyer, Sibierski, Luque, Carroll, LuaLua.
Liverpool: Skipper Steven Gerrard is in the squad after he played just 45 minutes for England in midweek due to a niggling injury picked up last weekend against Everton. Xabi Alonso misses out due to a one-match suspension but boss Rafael Benitez could also call in Mohamed Sissoko, who has been back in full training following a dislocated shoulder sustained at Birmingham in November.
Squad: Reina, Finnan, Agger, Hyypia, Carragher, Riise, Aurelio, Pennant, Gerrard, Sissoko, Zenden, Bellamy, Crouch, Kuyt, Fowler, Gonzalez, Arbeloa, Dudek.
Obafemi MARTINS is Newcastle's top scorer with 11 goals - nine of which are Premiership goals.
Peter CROUCH is Liverpool's top scorer with 13 goals.
Dirk KUYT is the club's leading marksman in the Premiership with nine.
REFEREE
Mark Halsey (Lancashire)
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Man Utd v Charlton
Manchester United Vs Charlton - Ch 24 - 11:00 pm - (Live)
Man Utd: Wayne Rooney has been passed fit after missing EnglandÂ’s midweek defeat to Spain with a hip injury. Keeper Tomasz Kuszczak will start as Edwin van der Sar has been ruled out with a broken nose. John OÂ’Shea (ankle) is also out, while Michael Carrick (groin) and Cristiano Ronaldo (heavy cold) are both doubts.
Squad: Kuszczak, Heaton, Neville, Brown, Ferdinand, Vidic, Silvestre, Evra, Heinze, Ronaldo, Park, Scholes, Carrick, Giggs, Fletcher, Richardson, Rooney, Saha, Larsson, Solskjaer.
Charlton: Boss Alan Pardew will not risk striker Darren Bent. The England striker has recently resumed training after a knee injury but is not ready for a first team return, so Marcus Bent is expected to continue in a lone striker role. Luke Young (knee), Herman Hreidarsson (knee), Andy Reid (hamstring) and Talal El Karkouri (suspended) are also ruled out, but Pardew will hand debuts to two of his new signings, Alexandre Song and Madjid Bougherra.
Squad: Carson, Sankofa, Bougherra, Song, Thatcher, Rommedahl, Kishishev, Faye, Diawara, Holland, Hughes, Thomas, Hasselbaink, M Bent, Ambrose, Myhre.
Cristiano RONALDO is United's top scorer with 15 goals. They're all in the Premiership - and puts the Portugal World Cup star alongside Chelsea's Didier Drogba at the head of the race for the Barclays Golden Boot.
DARREN BENT is Charlton's top scorer with 10. He has netted eight in the Premiership, six more than any other club mate.
REFEREE
Mike Riley (Leeds, Yorkshire)
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Chelsea v Middlesbrough
Chelsea Vs Middlesbrough - Ch 23 - 1:30 am - (Delayed)
Chelsea: The Blues are waiting for fitness reports on left-back Wayne Bridge and midfielder Michael Ballack. Both players collected thigh injuries on international duty with England and Germany respectively but Khalid Boulahrouz (knee) may be fit and Chelsea also welcome back skipper John Terry. Arjen Robben could return after being sidelined with an ankle injury. Ashley Cole (knee) and Joe Cole (foot) are out.
Squad: Cech, Cudicini, Hilario, Ferreira, Geremi, Terry, Carvalho, Essien, Makelele, Lampard, Obi, Diarra, Morais, Ballack, Bridge, Drogba, Shevchenko, Wright-Phillips, Kalou.
Middlesbrough: Striker Mark Viduka remains a doubt with a calf injury and is still struggling, while midfielder Lee Cattermole has been ruled out with a hamstring problem. Goalkeeper Mark Schwarzer is likely to return from a back strain and new signing Dong Gook Lee will travel to London after being included in the squad for the first time.
Squad: Schwarzer, Jones, Turnbull, Xavier, Davies, Woodgate, Pogatetz, Taylor, Hines, Boateng, Lee, Arca, Morrison, Downing, Euell, Rochemback, Johnson, Yakubu, Viduka, Christie, Lee.
Didier DROGBA is the highest scoring Premiership player this season with 23 goals, 15 of which are League goals.
Aiyegbeni YAKUBU is Middlesbrough's top scorer with 13 goals - 11 in the Premiership.
REFEREE
Chris Foy (St Helens, Merseyside) -
Liverpool's Premiership clash at Newcastle this afternoon is in danger of falling foul to the weather after heavy rainfall in the north-east.
The pitch was deemed playable when inspected by referee Mark Halsey shortly after midday and groundstaff are doing all they can to drain the excess water.
But, with the rain continuing to fall, conditions are being monitored very closely. -
Man Utd 2-0 Charlton
A goal each from Ji-Sung Park and Darren Fletcher ensured a disjointed Manchester United beat Charlton. Park headed Patrice Evra's cross into the bottom corner on 24 minutes, after earlier being denied when Scott Carson superbly tipped over his fierce drive.
Darren Ambrose had almost opened the scoring for Charlton, but his header was superbly saved by Tomasz Kuszczak. After the break United dominated without creating chances until Wayne Rooney set up Fletcher to head in. Rooney had seen his shot rebound off the legs of Carson but showed great awareness to pick out Fletcher to kill the game off.
Moments before that Charlton had worried United when a cross grazed the head of defender Gary Neville and drifted narrowly wide of the post. Not that Charlton would have deserved an equaliser, having spent virtually all of the second half deep in their own territory.
United, who were without Cristiano Ronaldo, lacked a ruthless edge but the Portugal winger's replacement Park made his impact felt. After shooting wildly early on, and then seeing a fizzing shot palmed over by Carson, Park's industrious play was rewarded.
Evra's deflected cross from the left looped into the centre of the area and the South Korean out-jumped Ben Thatcher to head the ball into the bottom-right corner. The goal knocked Charlton out of their stride - they had until then just about held their own in terms of chances and possession.
Indeed, it had taken an outstanding save from Kuszczak to prevent Darren Ambrose opening the scoring with a header, while Dennis Rommedahl fired into the side netting after slick build-up play. Later, the Charlton side netting was ruffled by a Louis Saha shot as United began to dictate the tempo of the match.
The catalyst for United's improvement had been a sublime piece of skill by Rooney, who showed an exquisite touch to pull the down in the area but poked his shot wide. Charlton's cause was hardly helped when Amdy Faye was forced off injured five minutes before half-time to be replaced by debutant Zhi Zheng.
The China captain slashed a shot across goal just after the interval as he tried to establish himself in the match. But the visitors could barely get out of their own half after that as United assumed full control. But the hosts created nothing until a lightning-quick break almost caught Charlton cold, when Saha exchanged passes with Rooney but the Frenchman scuffed his shot.
Then late on, Fletcher headed in to seal a win that was comfortable but not comprehensive.
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Man Utd: Kuszczak, Neville, Ferdinand, Vidic, Evra, Fletcher, Scholes, Giggs (Larsson 63), Park, Rooney, Saha (Richardson 81).
Subs Not Used: Heaton, Brown, Silvestre.
Goals: Park 24, Fletcher 82.
Charlton: Carson, Sankofa, Bougherra, Diawara, Thatcher, Rommedahl, Song Billong, Holland (Hughes 73), Faye (Zheng 40), Ambrose (Lisbie 73), Marcus Bent.
Subs Not Used: Randolph, Hasselbaink. Booked: Diawara.
Att: 75,883
Ref: M Riley (W Yorkshire). -
Chelsea 3-0 Middlesbrough
Two Didier Drogba strikes and an own goal from Abel Xavier were enough to give Chelsea victory against Middlesbrough at Stamford Bridge. Drogba opened the scoring when he curled in a low 20-yard free-kick.
Xavier poked in Arjen Robben's driven ball, before Drogba added his second with a free-kick that looped in following an Andrew Davies deflection. Boro's best chance came in the opening moments of the game when Mark Viduka headed wide from six yards.
The visitors more than matched their esteemed Premiership rivals for much of the opening half and were unlucky to go into the break a goal down. Arguably, the best chance of the 45 minutes fell to the visitors when Viduka, almost inexplicably, headed wide from six yards after connecting with Andrew Taylor's left-wing cross.
His strike partner, Yakubu, also caused the Chelsea defence - minus Ricardo Carvalho - a lot of bother. The bulky Nigeria forward sprung the offiside trap and took the ball into the area before cutting back only to see keeper Petr Cech palm the ball away and deprive Viduka of a shot on goal.
Chelsea duo Drogba and Andriy Shevchenko also looked lively, although perhaps they did not work as well in tandem as their rival pairing. Nevertheless, individually they were a joy to watch. Ukraine's star striker Shevchenko created one piece of sublime trickery on the touchline to beat two Boro markers and also struck a shot from 25 yards that flew two yards wide.
Drogba also saw two fierce efforts fly narrowly wide early in the half, before finally hitting the bullseye when his sidefooted 20-yard free-kick broke through the flimsy Boro wall to beat the dive of Schwarzer.
Boro came close to levelling the scores midway through the second half when Yakubu's jinking run ended with a scooped shot over the bar. The striker and the rest of Gareth Southgate's team were left to rue that miss, when Portuguese defender Xavier inadvertantly deflected substitute Robben's driven ball past the helpless Schwarzer.
Robben, who had been out for four games with an ankle injury, had only been on the pitch for a minute after coming on to replace the injured Lassana Diarra. Chelsea rounded off the scoring late in the game when Drogba, with the aid of Davies' shoulder, scored his 25th goal of the season from a set-piece on the left-corner of the 18-yard box.
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Chelsea: Cech, Diarra (Robben 65), Ferreira, Terry, Bridge, Essien, Makelele, Lampard, Kalou (Wright-Phillips 85), Drogba, Shevchenko (Geremi 8
.
Subs Not Used: Cudicini, Boulahrouz.
Goals: Drogba 45, Xavier 66 og, Drogba 83.
Middlesbrough: Schwarzer, Davies, Xavier, Pogatetz, Taylor, Morrison (Euell 73), Boateng, Arca (Rochemback 84), Downing, Viduka (Christie 84), Yakubu.
Subs Not Used: Jones, Hines.
Booked: Downing.
Att: 41,699
Ref: C Foy (Merseyside). -
Newcastle 2-1 Liverpool
Newcastle came from behind to beat Liverpool as both sides served up a memorable game in awful conditions. Steve Harper's poor clearance was seized upon by Jermaine Pennant, who set up Craig Bellamy, as the Liverpool striker scored against his old club.
Pepe Reina was equally at fault when his misjudged clearance was pounced on by Obafemi Martins, who sidefooted in. But Newcastle snatched the victory when Nolberto Solano scored with a penalty after Steven Taylor was fouled.
The driving rain and the sodden pitch might have produced plenty of mistakes, but this end-to-end game was all the better for that. It had the feel of a match from a bygone age - voluminous support from both sets of fans encouraging their respective teams to go for the jugular at every opportunity.
Liverpool had the better of the first half, but Newcastle hung in and more than matched Rafa Benitez's side after the break. Newcastle finally edged ahead on 70 minutes when John Arne Riise was adjugded to have fouled Taylor, with Solano calmly converting the penalty.
In the closing stages Liverpool laid seige to the Newcastle goal, but the home side kept their heads to seal the win. As soon often this season, Liverpool were let down by Reina's inconsistent goalkeeping and an inability to convert a series of good chances. Bellamy might have scored a hat-trick in the closing stages of the first-half, while Dirk Kuyt should have done better after the break when he only had Harper to beat.
Bellamy did not take long to make his presence felt on his first return to St James' Park in over two years. Put under pressure by the Welshman, Harper's clearance went straight to Pennant, who quickly exploited the sense of panic caused by the Newcastle keeper's mistake. Pennant quickly got to the byline before cutting the ball back to Bellamy who sidefooted home.
Reina has had his fair share of blooper moments this season and on 26 minutes he served up another whopper to the delight of the Newcastle fans. Rushing out of his area to clear the ball, Reina's clearance hit Daniel Agger, falling conveniently into the path of Martins, who sidefooted home.
The rest of the first half proved a personal duel between Bellamy and the Newcastle defence. The Liverpool striker hit the bar with a shot and almost scored after rounding Harper only to have his final shot cleared.
Bellamy's pace also allowed him to get the better of Titus Bramble but he was unable to find Kuyt with his cross.
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Newcastle: Harper, Taylor, Onyewu, Bramble, Babayaro, Solano (Duff 86), Parker, Butt, Milner, Dyer (Sibierski 81), Martins.
Subs Not Used: Srnicek, Luque, Huntington.
Booked: Bramble.
Goals: Martins 26, Solano 70 pen.
Liverpool: Reina, Finnan (Crouch 84), Carragher, Agger, Riise, Pennant (Arbeloa 76), Sissoko, Gerrard, Zenden (Guthrie 75), Bellamy, Kuyt.
Subs Not Used: Dudek, Hyypia.
Booked: Gerrard.
Goals: Bellamy 6.
Att: 52,305.
Ref: M Halsey (Lancashire). -
Premier League leaders Manchester United beat Charlton Athletic 2-0 at Old Trafford to stay six points clear of Chelsea on Saturday after the champions beat Middlesbrough 3-0 at Stamford Bridge. South Korea midfielder Park Ji-sung and Scotland's Darren Fletcher scored in each half to take Alex Ferguson's side to 66 points and a step closer to their first league title since 2003.
Ivory Coast striker Didier Drogba scored twice for Chelsea from freekicks and Boro defender Abel Xavier gifted them the other by deflecting an Arjen Robben effort into his own net.
Liverpool lost 2-1 at Newcastle United, Reading were 2-0 winners over Aston Villa, Sheffield United beat Tottenham Hotspur 2-1 and Watford won a relegation scrap at West Ham United 1-0 after Marlon Harewood missed a penalty for the hosts.
Striker Andy Johnson celebrated his 26th birthday by scoring Everton's winner as they beat Blackburn Rovers 1-0.
Though Manchester United's victory did not increase their lead, Ferguson's men will at least be comforted by knowing there are now only 11 games left in the season. Park delivered the killer blow with a header from French wingback Patrice Evra's cross in the 24th minute and Fletcher wrapped up the win off a Wayne Rooney cross in the 82nd.
Chelsea lacked fluency against a Boro side who had beaten them 2-1 at the Riverside in August but made the breakthrough with Drogba's freekick on the stroke of halftime. Xavier put the result beyond doubt by turning in a wayward shot by Dutch substitute Robben, who had only arrived a minute earlier, and Drogba finished the job to become the Premier League's leading scorer with his 17th of the season.
Along with the points, Chelsea also made sure of a three-year run without a home league defeat -- the last coming against Arsenal in a London derby on Feb 21, 2004. Their next home fixture is next month against Sheffield United.
With 60 points, Chelsea now have a useful lead over Liverpool, who are stuck on 50 after letting slip an early lead at St James' Park from their former Newcastle forward Craig Bellamy, who was booed on his return.
Nigerian striker Obafemi Martins equalised after a goalkeeping blunder by Liverpool's Jose Reina and Peruvian midfielder Nolberto Solano converted a penalty to win it.
Fourth-placed Arsenal, who play Wigan Athletic on Sunday and have a further game in hand, have 46 points. Down at the other end of the table, Watford remain bottom after Darius Henderson secured their first away league win of the season with a 12th minute penalty. But it did move them on to 18 points -- just two behind Charlton and West Ham and seven adrift of Wigan.