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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
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