BruneiDirect.Com

.

Premiership: It's Miller time for Wolves

London - The Premiership table was turned on its head at Molineux on Saturday as bottom side Wolves beat champions and leaders Manchester United courtesy of a Kenny Miller second-half goal. With Leeds going down 2-1 at St. Mary's, the win for Dave Jones' side lifts them off the bottom at the expense of the troubled Yorkshire outfit.

Charlton consolidated their fourth position with a hard fought victory over Everton at Goodison Park. Their closest rival for the coveted final Champions League spot, Liverpool, saw a mini-revival come to an end at the hands of Tottenham, themselves experiencing a run of good form.

Middlesbrough came back from 3-1 down with the game in stoppage time to grab a point against Leicester; Bolton beat Portsmouth and Manchester City and Blackburn played out a tense 1-1 draw at the City of Manchester Stadium.

Wolverhampton Wanderers pulled off the shock of the season as they ran out 1-0 winners against Manchester United in Saturday's early game. The champions had an off day and, despite late chances for Paul Scholes and David Bellion, Wolves just about deserved the points. Miller got the all important strike just after the hour mark following a mistake by Wes Brown.

Brown got a taste of what is to come for the next eight months, appeals not withstanding, as he came on as a second-half replacement for Rio Ferdinand. The England defender thus started his ban 45 minutes earlier than he had planned.

Wolves have now gone 10 games unbeaten at home in all competitions. That kind of solidity in their own back yard, coupled with the confidence a win over the champions will give them, means they may yet have a chance to beat the drop and prove their very many doubters wrong.

Despite relentless pressure from a motivated Everton side, Charlton were able to tighten their hold on fourth spot; Graham Stuart grabbing the only goal of the match just before half-time. Everton were unable to break down an Addicks defence who have kept five clean sheets in their last seven matches. England hopeful Scott Parker was again absent from the start with boss Alan Curbishley feeling his star man has been unsettled by interest from Chelsea.

Helder Postiga scored his first Premiership goal since his £6.25 million transfer from Porto last summer to help Spurs overcome a resurgent Liverpool at White Hart Lane. With Freddie Kanoute absent on African Nations Cup duty, Spurs fans will have been relieved to see the Portuguese finally break his duck in the 2-1 victory.

Robbie Keane opened the scoring from the penalty spot before Postiga's second half strike. Harry Kewell pulled one back for the visitors but it was not enough to deny Spurs a third straight victory. Liverpool are now five points behind Charlton but do have a game in hand.

There appears to be no light at the end of the tunnel for beleaguered Leeds United as they were condemned to bottom place by Southampton at St. Mary's. A first-half strike from Brett Ormerod and a rare Kevin Phillips effort put the home side two up at the interval. Matthew Kilgallon gave the travelling support some hope with 15 minutes left on the clock but Southampton closed the game out and deservedly took all three points.

Their south coast rivals, Portsmouth, have yet to shake the Premiership travel sickness that threatens to undermine their season. Three goals away from Fratton Park before Saturday were not added to at the Reebok Stadium. Kevin Davies struck for Bolton to give the Trotters a first home win in five attempts, the 1-0 victory propelling them back into the top half of the table.

Pompey have now scored only a single goal in their last ten away matches and were spared a place in the bottom three only by a dramatic injury time comeback from Middlesbrough that restricted Leicester to one point instead of three.

A Paul Dickov brace and a goal from Marcus Bent had cancelled out Boro's eighth minute opener from Juninho. Joseph Desire Job missed a first-half penalty for Steve McClaren's men and, as the game went into injury time with the score at 3-1 to the visitors, it looked as if Middlesbrough would rue their wasted first half opportunities.

But a strike from Massimo Maccarone and an own-goal from John Curtis gave Boro a share of the points at the Riverside Stadium. Leicester stay in the relegation places with Middlesbrough still looking over their shoulders at the wrong end of the table.

Two more teams with genuine relegation fears met at the City of Manchester Stadium with both team's approach to the game reflecting their plight. A scrappy but hard fought affair ended in a 1-1 stalemate that did little to help either side's cause.

Nicolas Anelka opened the scoring after 50 minutes with Garry Flitcroft, playing against his former club, replying five minutes later. On his debut David James had little to do in a match that produced very few clear cut chances. City have now gone 11 Premiership matches without a win - the longest winless run by any team in the division this season. -- Reuters

Brudirect.com News

 
HH01520A.gif (1047 bytes)
Back to News Page


PE03327A.gif (2805 bytes)
Write to Us

 

 

Brunei's Fastest Growing Website. HITS Visit us Again.  

- Copyright (c) 2003 -
Brudirect.com
All rights reserved.
Revised: January 19, 2004.