Football results

[Eggy]

Liverpool 3-0 Wigan

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Peter Crouch ended his agonising wait for a goal in style as Liverpool earned their sixth league win in a row.
Crouch thought he had opened the scoring but his deflected shot, which was helped in by Mike Pollitt, was later credited to the Wigan keeper.

But there were no doubts about the giant hitman's next effort, when he superbly lifted the ball over the advancing Pollitt to double the lead.

Luis Garcia chested in from Fernando Morientes' header to seal the victory.

Crouch received a standing ovation when he was withdrawn after 74 minutes and his relief was tangible.

That was hardly surprising - when the 11th minute passed he had gone 24 hours without scoring for club or country.

Rafael Benitez's side started at an electric pace, with Steven Gerrard playing two gorgeous passes inside the Wigan full-backs to keep the visitors pinned back.

And it was no surprise that they took the lead 19 minutes in. Everyone inside a packed Anfield believed that the 6ft 7in had finally broken his duck only for the goal to be awarded to the unfortunate Pollitt.

Crouch lashed in a shot from 20 yards, it looped ludicrously high and goalwards off Leighton Baines and as the ball fell out of the sky, Pollitt incredulously hooked it into the goal instead of over the bar.

Six minutes before the break Harry Kewell should have scored his first of the season, but the subdued Australian side-footed wide from close-range.

I'm glad for Crouch but I still don't think he's good enough for us

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It was left to the on-fire Crouch to double the advantage and if the opener had a touch of the ridiculous about it, this one was sublime.

He allowed a long ball from Steve Finnan to bounce in front of him before beautifully lifting it over the advancing Pollitt and into the net.

Wigan's only hope of getting back into the game was an early riposte after the break and they went agonisingly close when Graham Kavanagh's sweetly-stuck volley flew inches over the bar.

Moments later Morientes climbed high to meet a Finnan cross from the right, only to see his clever header cannon back off the bar.

Jimmy Bullard's shot was well-saved by Jose Reina at the other end as Wigan pressed but some sloppy defending soon after cost them dearly.

Morientes was not picked up at a corner and his header was diverted into the net off the chest of Garcia.

Gerrard and Morientes were both denied by magnificent Pollitt saves late on as a rampant Liverpool eased home and picked up their eighth successive clean sheet into the bargain.



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Liverpool striker Peter Crouch:
"I'm really pleased because I was getting a bit of stick recently. It was a great team performance and it was good to get the three points.
"To score was great, I'm pleased and I can move on now, hopefully.

"I am naturally buoyant and a happy person but at times it was getting me down but the goal has gone in and I can get on with things now."


Wigan boss Paul Jewell:
"It was hard work watching that. We didn't go at them in the first half and put them under pressure.
"We were better in the second period, but when we come to places like Liverpool, anything we get is a bonus.

"People accuse me of being negative, but surely they can see we are playing against world-class players every week now. I know what we are up against."



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Liverpool: Reina, Finnan, Hyypia, Carragher, Warnock, Luis Garcia, Gerrard, Alonso (Hamann 67), Kewell (Riise 62), Crouch (Cisse 73), Morientes.
Subs Not Used: Carson, Josemi.

Booked: Hyypia.

Goals: Pollitt 19 og, Crouch 42, Luis Garcia 70.

Wigan: Pollitt, Chimbonda, Henchoz, De Zeeuw (Jackson 35), Baines, Bullard, Kavanagh (Skoko 78), Francis (Connolly 66), McCulloch, Roberts, Camara.
Subs Not Used: Walsh, Taylor.

Booked: Chimbonda, Henchoz.

Att: 44,098.

Ref: U Rennie (S Yorkshire).

[Eggy]

Bolton 2-0 Arsenal

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Abdoulaye Faye scored his first goal for Bolton to set them on their way to a deserved victory over Arsenal.
The Senegalese, who signed a permanent deal this week, headed in a cross from Stelios Giannakopolous on 20 minutes.

Provider Giannakopolous then turned finisher 12 minutes later when he slotted home after Kevin Davies had embarrassed Gilberto Silva.

Thierry Henry twice hit the post with thunderous drives from outside the box but Arsenal could find no way through.

And aside from Henry's two moments of incision, Arsenal's efforts on goal were woeful.

Skewed shots from Robin Van Persie and a weak Cesc Fabregas header, which barely warmed Jussi Jaaskelainen's hands in the freezing cold, were best forgotten.

By contrast Bolton produced a performance of pace, power and ruthlessness, particularly in the way they exposed Arsenal's ill-at-ease emergency left-back Pascal Cygan.

Was a super show today, we would have beaten anybody

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The ploy led to both their goals, with the opener coming after the clumsy Cygan had conceded a free-kick in a dangerous area.

A sustained aerial bombardment ensued and eventually Giannokopolous hooked the ball back into the box.

Faye used his giant frame to dominate the diminutive Fabregas to steer a header into the right corner.

Arsenal's vulnerability was not confined to their left side - in fact their midfield was so porous that waves of Bolton attacks went unstemmed.

And although there was little sophistication about Bolton's tactics, they were highly effective as Arsenal struggled with their shape.

Where the hosts had the destructive force and discipline of Faye in midfield, Arsenal had a below-par Gilberto and the lightweight Fabregas.

It had the look of a mismatch about it, and Bolton's sense of their superiority increased as did their playing tempo.

Indeed it was Gilberto's woeful defending - covering for the missing-in-action Cygan - which allowed Bolton to help themselves to a second goal.

Davies stole the ball and left the Brazilian's face as crimson as his shirt before he stroked the ball square for the onrushing Giannakopoulos to convert with a crisp connection.

Arsenal's response came, typically, from Henry.

The Frenchman flicked the ball up on the edge of the box with his left boot and hammered a volley with his right, but his shot cannoned back off the upright.

However, the audacious skill seemed out of place in an Arsenal team struggling with the basics.

Only keeper Jens Lehmann was acquitting himself well, producing great saves to thwart Faye and then Kevin Nolan.

After the interval, Henry hit the post with another sweetly-struck drive and Pires was foiled by Jaaskelainen, who did superbly well to block the follow-up.

A Gunners comeback never seemed likely while they continued to look nervous each time Bolton pushed for a third goal.

And the hosts would have got it had Lehmann not managed to produce an outstanding, sprawling save to deny substitute Ricardo Vaz Te late on.



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Bolton manager Sam Allardyce:
"We put Arsenal under severe pressure, they made mistakes and we capitalised on that.
"It's maybe slightly greedy to want three goals against Arsenal but they were there for the taking.

"We ran harder and were more committed than they were, we scored great goals and totally deserved to win."


Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger:
"It was a difficult game but we made it difficult for ourselves. We gave away two easy goals and that increased Bolton's morale.
"We were shaky on the set-pieces and it was a physical game. Bolton wanted it more and deserved to win.

"It was just not good enough. But Bolton played well and took advantage of our lack of commitment and desire."



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Bolton: Jaaskelainen, O'Brien, N'Gotty, Ben Haim, Gardner, Faye (Jaidi 86), Nolan, Speed, Giannakopoulos (Vaz Te 81), Diouf, Davies.
Subs Not Used: Okocha, Walker, Fadiga.

Booked: Faye.

Goals: Faye 20, Giannakopoulos 32.

Arsenal: Lehmann, Lauren (Eboue 73), Toure, Campbell, Cygan, Pires, Fabregas (Reyes 68), Silva, Ljungberg, Van Persie (Bergkamp 68), Henry.
Subs Not Used: Senderos, Almunia.

Booked: Lauren, Cygan.

Att: 26,792

Ref: H Webb (S Yorkshire).

[Eggy]

Chelsea 1-0 Middlesbrough

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Premiership leaders Chelsea had to show patience and perseverance to beat a determined Middlesbrough side courtesy of a goal by captain John Terry.
Terry headed in a second-half Damien Duff corner after Fabio Rochemback fumbled an attempted goal-line clearance into his own net.

Rochemback had earlier cleared a similar effort to safety as the visitors frustrated the home side.

Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink missed Boro's best chance when his shot hit the post.

Chelsea had struggled to break the shackles applied by Boro early on and were fortunate not to be behind when Hasselbaink's chance came after 14 minutes.

Boro striker Yakubu's shot deflected off Terry to ex-Blues striker Hasselbaink and he looked set to score only for his sidefooted effort to come back off the post.


Hasselbaink missed a great chance to put Boro ahead

The scare proved a wake-up call for Chelsea who almost took the lead at the other end when Damien Duff's corner was scrambled away by a desperate Boro defence.

Chelsea appealed for handball against Gareth Southgate but, even though the incident was more ball to hand, it was the first of many escapes for the visitors.

The Boro backline was breached by Frank Lampard and it looked ominous for Steve McClaren's side as the midfielder had a free shot from 18-yards.

But the trademark Lampard long-range strike was straight at keeper Mark Schwarzer, who was quickly in action again when he had to crucially come out and save at the feet of Didier Drogba.

A Terry header from another Blues corner was cleared off the line by Rochemback while Lampard slid in to meet an Arjen Robben cross but saw his shot go wide.

Boro could not be faulted for their work-rate and, after weathering the Chelsea storm, frustrated the champions with their defensive discipline either side of half-time.

Well done lads on a hard fought win

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But Boro's resistance was eventually broken when Terry, making his 250th club appearance, got his head to another Duff corner and, although Rochemback was again on the line, he only helped the ball into his own net.

Drogba could have extended Chelsea's lead but shot over from just eight yards after some wing wizardry by Duff on the right.

In the end, the miss did not prove costly as they secured their 13th top-flight win of the season.

Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho:
"It was very difficult. They started well and they had a big chance to score before us.

"After that we dominated and had more chances but they were always organised.

"In the second half we scored and had chances through Didier Drogba and Frank Lampard to kill the game but didn't."

Middlesbrough boss Steve McClaren:
"We were disappointed with the result. Sometimes you don't get the result that the performance deserves.

"We showed fantastic attitude and character. We played to win and very nearly did it.

"I think Chelsea will admit it was probably one of their toughest afternoons here for a long time."



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Chelsea: Cech, Gallas, Ricardo Carvalho, Terry, Del Horno, Robben (Wright-Phillips 74), Gudjohnsen (Geremi 64), Essien, Lampard, Duff, Drogba (Carlton Cole 78).
Subs Not Used: Paulo Ferreira, Cudicini.
Goals: Terry 62.

Middlesbrough: Schwarzer, Bates, Southgate, Riggott, Pogatetz, Morrison (Queudrue 81), Rochemback, Boateng, Doriva, Yakubu, Hasselbaink (Viduka 72).
Subs Not Used: Ehiogu, Jones, Johnson.

Att: 41,666

Ref: M Riley (W Yorkshire).

[Eggy]

Newcastle 1-1 Aston Villa

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Under-fire Newcastle boss Graeme Souness watched Aston Villa miss a late penalty, but nonetheless left the pitch to boos from the home faithful.
Gareth Barry sent his spot-kick high over the bar following Titus Bramble's clumsy challenge on Milan Baros.

Alan Shearer put Newcastle ahead from the spot after Liam Ridgewell's handball and also hit the bar.

But in a scrappy game, Villa equalised with 15 minutes left through McCann's low drive before Barry's aberration.

However, with the home fans disgruntled, the pressure on Souness has eased only slightly.

We desperately need Owen back, we haven't won since he got injured

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He responded to Wednesday's Carling Cup humiliation against Wigan by relegating Lee Bowyer and Albert Luque to the bench.

Michael Chopra, who has been in sparkling form for the reserves, got his chance up front and Amdy Faye came into midfield.

Villa boss David O'Leary also came into the match under pressure following his side's embarrassing Cup exit to Doncaster and the atmosphere was understandably tense among both sets of fans.

Those nerves quickly spread to the players.

Passed were misplaced, tackles were poorly timed, and it took 27 minutes for either side to fashion a chance, Shola Ameobi jinking past two defenders but bending his right-foot shot wide.

Five minutes later, Newcastle were ahead as the unfortunate Ridgewell inexplicably blocked Scott Parker's shot with his arm to concede a penalty for the fourth time in five games.

Shearer stepped up to move within two goals of Jackie Milburn's record of 200 goals for the Magpies.

Villa came close to equalising moments later when Hendrie sent a blistering free-kick inches wide and he thought he should have had a penalty shortly before half-time.

Baros escaped down the right and cut the ball back to the midfielder, who was booked for throwing himself to the ground under a challenge from Jean-Alain Boumsong.


Shearer put Newcastle ahead with a well-taken penalty

But while Villa undoubtedly worked hard, it was Newcastle who were marginally the more threatening going forward.

Ridgewell misjudged a Shay Given clearance and Shearer pounced, sending a sweetly-timed volley crashing onto the crossbar.

Villa responded with their first corner - after over an hour's play.

It was only half-cleared and Given was forced into an athletic save from Gareth Barry's hooked shot.

But as things began to look bleak for Villa, Barry found Hendrie in space and he pulled the ball back for McCann to drive home.

And the match almost turned completely when Bramble, so often prone to lapses in concentration, bundled over Baros.

If Souness manages to survive this period of intense speculation surrounding his future at St James' Park, he will probably have Barry's disastrous spot-kick to thank.



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Newcastle boss Graeme Souness:
"I'm far happier because the team had a real go.
"If you are a paying supporter, surely you realise you cannot win every game you are involved in, but the least you can hope for from your team is to give you 100%, and we got that today.

"It's not been an enjoyable week , but it's not tough. There are far bigger things I worry about in life than football."


Aston Villa boss David O'Leary:
"We should have had all three points, but I have to praise the players and how they played.
"A few people jumped on us very quickly after the Doncaster defeat but we had won our last two league games.

"We let ourselves down but we got back to the way we were playing before the Doncaster game."



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Newcastle: Given, Ramage, Boumsong, Bramble, Elliott, Solano (Bowyer 87), Faye, Parker, Shearer, Chopra (Luque 81), Ameobi.
Subs Not Used: Harper, Clark, Brittain.

Booked: Elliott.

Goals: Shearer 32 pen.

Aston Villa: Sorensen, Hughes, Mellberg, Ridgewell, Bouma, Hendrie, McCann, Davis (Bakke 61), Barry, Angel (Moore 62), Baros.
Subs Not Used: Samuel, Taylor, De la Cruz.

Booked: McCann, Hendrie.

Goals: McCann 75.

Att: 52,267

Ref: A Wiley (Staffordshire).

[cjwood]

BROWN - UNITED STILL HAVE BELIEF
Wes Brown insists Manchester United's self-belief has not taken a battering after their stunning Champions League exit.

The Old Trafford outfit are still coming to terms with Wednesday's defeat to Benfica, a loss which means the Red Devils will have no European action after Christmas for the first time in a decade.

While the main focus of attention since the Lisbon reverse has surrounded the future of Sir Alex Ferguson, the players have taken plenty of criticism as well.

Mikael Silvestre, John O'Shea and Alan Smith have all been identified as weak links in the current United squad.

But, while Brown acknowledges the disappointment which has swept through the club over the past few days, he is adamant United are still capable of turning their season round.

"It sounds silly, but there is still a lot of belief in the squad," said Brown, who watched Wednesday night's debacle unfold from the substitutes bench.

"No-one can dispute the fact it was a disappointing night. Everyone is upset we are out of the competition.

"The criticism was bound to come but you cannot afford to let it get to you.

"All we can do now is put our heads down, stick together and show everyone what we can do.

"We can improve, and we can win medals this season. That is the feeling throughout the dressing room."

Given the weight of negative publicity which has accompanied United's demise, there is no way a win over Everton at Old Trafford on Sunday will ease all the tension.

Ferguson's own future is bound to be debated at length for the remainder of the season, a situation which will irritate the Scot, who insisted in the aftermath of Wednesday's defeat he was concentrating on completing his current rebuilding job.

It is the extent of the work remaining which worries most United fans, although at least a triumph over David Moyes' side would do is convince the less militant members of the United support the situation is not quite as bad as people claim.

Having won their last four Premiership games, it is imperative Ferguson's men keep the run going and try to maintain some kind of pressure on runaway leaders Chelsea.

And, if anything, Brown feels this week's events will actually inspire United against the Toffeemen.

"I think we will be flying tomorrow," said the England international. "We want to get the last result out of our heads and the best way to do that is by getting a good result against Everton."

With a visit from out-of-form Wigan to follow the Everton clash, then a trip to Aston Villa before a Christmas campaign that includes fixtures against West Brom, Birmingham and Bolton before a January 2 encounter with Arsenal, United can exert some pressure on Chelsea if they can rectify the problems which arose so frequently during their disastrous European campaign.

"The basic truth is we didn't score enough goals in Europe this season and we let a lot of silly ones in," said Brown.

"In the league, we have scored fairly frequently and kept plenty of clean sheets, but for some reason, it just did not happen for us in the Champions League."

At least one change is certain, with Louis Saha set to come in for suspended top scorer Ruud van Nistelrooy.

Brown is hopeful of earning a recall too, while Park Ji-sung must fancy his chances of replacing Cristiano Ronaldo, who was so poor on Wednesday he could easily have been replaced before half-time.

Ronaldo is now also facing the possibility of a UEFA charge for his 'one-fingered' gesture as he left the field.

"We are still in three competitions, so the idea now is to do as well as we possibly can in every one of them," said Brown.

"It is still going to be difficult in terms of the Premiership because we are quite a few points behind Chelsea.

"But if we can keep winning our matches, you never know what might happen. We know what our task is, then we can see how Chelsea do."

[Eggy]

well done CJ

[cjwood]

thanks

[Eggy]

Np, tell rory he is music reporter

[cjwood]

kk

[Eggy]

thanks CJ, good job on the reporting

[cjwood]

its nothing

[simonytfcleosmells]

wow u guys can cut copy and paste so well(eggy!!) I could do a better job by not doing anything!!

[simonytfcleosmells]

can I become something special like you gits???

[cjwood]

no dont every call me that again

[Eggy]

no, you arent here enough

little gay boy simon