Logjam intensifies at top of English Premiership
By Vic Mills
LONDON (JP): The logjam of clubs at the top of the English Premiership remains as clogged as ever after an action-packed round of matches to welcome the New Year.
Defeat for leader Liverpool at Chelsea allied to victories for Arsenal and Newcastle were just some of the highlights on a day made difficult for both players and supporters by bone-chilling temperatures.
With much of the country at the mercy of Arctic conditions, undersoil heating again played a major part in permitting games to go ahead despite the severe weather.
There were casualties, however, as frost and snow caused the games between Derby County and Sheffield Wednesday, Leicester City and Tottenham Hotspur, and Southampton and Wimbledon to be postponed.
There were no such problems around the Kings Road, where Chelsea did its bit to raise the temperature by beating Liverpool 1-0.
Crushed 5-1 at Anfield earlier in the season, Chelsea, at the mercy of Liverpool's precision passing game for much of the first half, broke the deadlock in the 43rd minute.
A Michael Thomas mistake saw Italian Roberto di Matteo outwit Liverpool's center-backs before calmly placing a right-foot shot wide of goalkeeper David James. Mark Hughes went close to extending the lead in the second-half, hitting the woodwork from a tight angle.
Arsenal moved into outright second place in the Premiership, two points behind Liverpool with a game in hand, after a convincing 2-0 win over Middlesbrough at Highbury.
Ian Wright signed off before a three match suspension with his 16th goal of the season, and the 200th of his career, latching on to a through ball from Paul Merson. Arsenal had earlier taken the lead with a glorious 20-meter volley by Dennis Bergkamp after 14 minutes.
Problems
The one black mark on a successful afternoon was the sending- off of center-forward John Hartson, signaling yet more disciplinary problems for manager Arsene Wenger.
It was a disappointing day for Middlesbrough player-manager and former England captain Bryan Robson, who selected himself for the first time in over a year in response to an injury crisis.
Set to turn 40 this month, Robson, an inspirational midfield player with Manchester United, was powerless to prevent an Arsenal victory. A missed second-half penalty by Fabrizio Ravanelli little helped the cause, however, as Middlesbrough slips to third from bottom.
After 10 goals in its last three games, Manchester United drew a blank on this first day of 1997 with a goalless draw against fellow title challenger Aston Villa.
The draw drops United to third in the table, four points behind Liverpool with a game in hand; Villa stands sixth, seventh points off the top, also with a game in hand.
On Tyneside, Newcastle United began its new year in fine style with a three-goal romp against Leeds United. Alan Shearer took his season's tally to 17, four in the last two games, with a goal in each half. Les Ferdinand completed the scoring three minutes from time. The win leaves Newcastle fourth with 37 points, five behind Liverpool with a game in hand.
A victim of the big freeze, its game against Southampton postponed, Wimbledon stands fifth also on 37 points, but now, significantly, has three games in hand on the Anfield club.
Elsewhere in the Premiership, relegation-troubled Nottingham Forest gained a second win under caretaker-manager Stuart Pearce with a Kevin Campbell goal against West Ham United. Forest changes places with Southampton at the bottom.
Blackburn Rovers completed a miserable day for Merseyside by beating Everton 2-0 at Goodison Park. The visitors first away win of the season arrived courtesy of first-half goals from Tim Sherwood and Chris Sutton.
Despite ending a winning sequence of four games, Coventry City gave another example of its new-found confidence by twice coming from behind to draw 2-2 at home to Sunderland.
In a game of fluctuating fortunes, utility player, Dion Dublin, played both hero and villain, as he first equalized a Michael Bridges goal only then to be sent-off just before half- time for kicking out at Bridges.
Sunderland took a deserved second-half lead through a Steve Agnew penalty, although this was merely the signal for another Coventry rally as Liam Daish tied the scores with a header from a Gary McAllister freekick.