Few surprises in English Premiership matches

By Vic Mills

MELBOURNE (JP): There were few surprises in the English Premiership at the weekend, with the top five clubs all winning.

In the match of the round on Tyneside, Manchester United maintained its four point lead over the chasing pack with a hard fought 1-0 victory against Newcastle United.

The early chances at St. James' Park fell to Newcastle with Peter Schmeichel forced into action by a John Barnes header and a Keith Gillespie shot. At the other end, Andy Cole gave a sign of things to come by wriggling free of his markers to test Shaka Hislop.

With Ryan Giggs, in his 300th game for United, increasingly effective, the visitors carved out further chances in the second half. The crucial one arrived in the 67th minute when Cole rose unmarked to power home a classic header for his 13th goal in 13 games. A remarkable return to form for a player who was thought to be on his way out of Old Trafford in the summer.

Second place Blackburn Rovers kept up the pressure at the top with an impressive 3-0 victory over a West Ham side that has now lost nine games away from home this season.

Damien Duff took the honor with a brace, but the game was a personal triumph for Stuart Ripley who scored his first goal for Rovers in three-and-a-half years. The visitors completed a miserable afternoon by having captain Steve Lomas sent off for manhandling the referee.

Allowed the freedom of Hillsborough by a charitable Sheffield Wednesday side, third place Chelsea romped home 4-1 to make it 29 goals in their last 10 away games. Gianluca Vialli proved an admirable deputy for the suspended Mark Hughes by scoring one and making another.

Unbeaten in seven games, Leeds United remained in contention with a 2-0 win over Bolton Wanderers. Bruno Ribero opened the scoring with a stunning strike from outside the box, while Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink brought an uninspiring game to a close with his seventh goal of the season.

Teenage star Michael Owen showed just why he is keeping Karl Heinz Riedle and Patrik Berger out of the Liverpool side with an opportunist piece of finishing against Coventry City as the Anfield club moved up into fifth place.

Everton completed a rare winning double for Merseyside by beating Leicester City at Filbert Street with a disputed Gary Speed penalty. The goal was Everton's first in five games and only its seventh win this year.

The game between fellow relegation strugglers Tottenham Hotspur and Barnsley was all over after 18 minutes with Spurs three goals to the good, two from David Ginola. The defeat took Barnsley's goals against tally to 50!

Abandoned

In other games, Aston Villa and Southampton shared the points with Egil Ostenstad equalizing an Ian Taylor strike; Crystal Palace held Derby County scoreless at Pride Park; while on Monday, floodlight failure caused the game between Wimbledon and Arsenal to be abandoned a minute into the second half.

The performance of the weekend on the continent belonged to PSV Eindhoven, who inflicted the first defeat of the season on Ajax. The reigning champions edged home in a seven-goal thriller against an Ajax side that had conceded just one goal at home all season.

Ajax took the lead in the 16th minute as Shota Arveladze fired home his 10th of the current campaign. They held the lead until close to half time when Arnold Bruggink brought the sides level. PSV grasped the initiative early in the second half with a Gilles de Bilde strike and another from Bruggink.

The teams then swapped goals with Dean Gorre for Ajax and Boudewijn Zendan for PSV before Peter Hoekstra set up a tense finale with a goal three minutes before time.

The result leaves Ajax 15 points clear of PSV who have a game in hand.

Winter break

Dutch football now enters its winter break, as indeed does the Bundesliga.

The final weekend in Germany brought wins for the leading two clubs but not without a fright.

Kaiserslautern maintained its four point lead at the top on the strength of a late Michael Schjoenberg goal in the 3-2 win over lowly FC Cologne.

The afternoon was no less fraught for Bayern Munich who surrendered a two-goal first half lead at VfL Wolfsburg before Marian Kuffow popped up to score the winner 11 minutes from time.

The other unbeaten record to go at the weekend was that of Serie A leaders, Inter Milan. An injury time winner by German International Oliver Bierhoff gave third place Udinese the points and cut Inter's lead at the top to just one point over Juventus.

There was no such drama for the Turin giants, who beat newly promoted Empoli 5-2, with Alessandro Del Piero hitting his first hat trick of the season.

It was all change in France, where the top three swapped positions, with Metz going a point clear with goals from Philippe Gaillot, Bruno Rodriguez and Danny Boffin in their emphatic 3-0 home win over Monaco.

A 2-1 win at Rennes was enough to take Paris St. Germain second ahead of Monaco on goal difference.

Finally, to Spain, where Barcelona remain a point clear at the top thanks to two goals from Luis Enrique and a Giovanni penalty in its 3-1 win over Athletico Madrid. The Catalan club have a game in hand over nearest rivals Real Madrid who came from behind to beat Espanyol 2-1 with two Davor Suker goals.