Man. United moves four points clear in Premiership
By Vic Mills
LONDON (JP): Another goal feast at Old Trafford over the weekend saw Manchester United move four points clear of its Premiership rivals Arsenal and Blackburn Rovers.
United made it 13 goals in successive home games with a 6-1 victory over Sheffield Wednesday. In an awesome display of attacking football, it was four goals up after 40 minutes through Teddy Sheringham, Andy Cole, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer and a Jon Newsome own goal.
With Ryan Giggs and Dennis Irwin rested, manager Alex Ferguson was again allowed the luxury of substituting Paul Scholes, Nicky Butt and Henning Berg. Further goals for Sheringham and Solksjaer, in a scoreline that could easily have been ten or 15, turned the second half into little more than a training-ground runabout.
The defeat proved the final straw for the proud Hillsborough club which dismissed its manager, David Pleat, on Monday morning.
Life without suspended Dennis Bergkamp proved a chastening experience for second place Arsenal as it lost its first Premiership game of the season, 3-0 at Derby County.
The story could have been different had not Ian Wright blasted a first-half penalty against the bar. There was to be no second chance as Derby won at a canter with two goals from Paulo Wanchope and another from Dean Sturridge.
The unorthodox Costa Rican, ably supported in attack by Ciccio Baiano and Sturridge, ran the visitors ragged after the interval. The game finished in predictable fashion for Arsenal; Steve Bould is set to join the ranks of the suspended after collecting his fifth booking of the season.
Dishonor
The weekend's role of dishonor was not limited to defenders as both Robbie Fowler and Emile Heskey were sent off for violent conduct.
Fowler's folly, an elbow to the face of Per Frandsen, cost Liverpool dear at Bolton. For instead of winning the game comfortably, courtesy of a Fowler strike after just 49 seconds, it ended up hanging on for a draw after Nathan Blake headed an emphatic equalizer five minutes from time.
The dismissal of Heskey for a push-cum-shove on Philippe Albert was the final act of an intriguing afternoon of theater at St James' Park in which Newcastle United and Leicester City shared six goals.
A shadow of its former self, Newcastle, with John Barnes and David Batty again employed deep, were often thwarted by their own lack of invention. Leicester, in contrast, was fast and fluid, few passes were wasted and its constant energy and exuberance always promised an opening.
The football was no less engaging at Oakwell where Blackburn Rovers had only a 25-meter Tim Sherwood goal to show for its first half siege of the Barnsley goal.
A 79th-minute equalizer from Jovo Bosancic was no more than Barnsley deserved for its power and passion after the interval. The visitors were left to rue not only their poor finishing but also the injury to Colin Hendry; the talismanic defender having limped off after half an hour with suspected knee ligament damage.
What injuries exist at Aston Villa these days are nearly all self-inflicted as dressing room unrest continues to grow. Dwight Yorke had an early chance to restore waning confidence against Chelsea only to slice his 23rd-minute penalty wide. A long way short of their best, the under-strength Londoners eased home with goals from Mark Hughes and Tor Andre Flo.
The quiet revolution currently underway at Leeds continues to gain momentum as the Premiership's sleeping giant moved into seventh place with a Rod Wallace goal enough against under- achieving Tottenham Hotspur.
Elsewhere, Darren Huckerby and Dion Dublin scored the goals in Coventry's first away win of the season at Wimbledon; a Matthew Le Tissier header set Southampton on the road to a 2-0 victory at Everton; while the Monday night clash between West Ham United and Crystal Palace was brought to a dramatic and premature close after 65 minutes due to floodlight failure with the game delicately balanced at 2-2.
A goal 12 minutes from time by Brazilian Giovanni won the match of the weekend in Spain as Barcelona beat rival Real Madrid 3-2 to go six points clear at the top. To add insult to injured pride, the city of Barcelona's 'other team', Espanyol, moved second ahead of Real after its 3-0 win at home to Salamanca.
As if to mirror the exploits of his compatriot, a sixth goal of the season for Ronaldo was enough to beat Parma and maintain Internazionale's two point lead at the top of Serie A.
Second placed Juventus kept up the pressure with Filippo Inzaghi and Alessandro Del Piero scoring in its 4-1 home win over Udinese.
A 1-1 draw with Roda JC Thursday saw Ajax drop its first points of the season in Holland. With a game in hand, the Amsterdam club stands five points clear of PSV Eindhoven which was held 1-1 at third placed Heerenveen.
There was no change at the top of the Bundesliga in Germany, where Kaiserslautern remains four points clear after coming from two down to draw at Borussia Dortmund thanks to a brace from Olaf Marschall.
It was a similar story for second place Bayern Munich, which shared the points with 1860 Munich after twice coming back to equalize with goals form Dietmar Hamann and Mario Basler.
Finally to France, where leader Paris St Germain had its lead at the top cut to two points after losing to a 50th-minute Fredric Kanoute goal at Olympique Lyon. The result could have been much worse had not nearest rival Bordeaux drawn 2-2 at Toulouse.