Man United stays on top of English Premiership
By Vic Mills
LONDON (JP): Manchester United remains one point clear of Liverpool, with Newcastle United moving ahead of Arsenal into third place after a weekend of missed chances and resolute defense in the Premiership race.
In an intriguing tactical battle at Stamford Bridge, Manchester United, a goal down to a second-minute Gianfranco Zola strike, fought back to share the points with another astonishing volley from David Beckham.
Outnumbered in midfield and without the suspended Eric Cantona, United was forced to play catch-up football throughout the first half. Better organized and more purposeful after the interval, the equalizer had an air of inevitability about it.
It was the case of another false dawn on Merseyside where Liverpool, so prolific against Leeds United in mid-week, missed out on the chance to go top after being held goalless by Blackburn Rovers.
An outstanding performance by Scottish international defender Colin Hendry kept Liverpool at bay, albeit with a little help from the woodwork as Robbie Fowler twice hit the post and Dominic Matteo headed against the crossbar.
Reflecting the cold Caledonian countenance of its manager, Newcastle United gave a hint of things to come as it ground out a 1-0 win at Middlesbrough, thanks to an 8th minute goal from Les Ferdinand.
Kenny Dalglish set the tone for the afternoon by placing Faustino Asprilla, David Ginola and Peter Beardsley on the substitutes bench and pairing Robert Lee with Lee Clark in midfield in the absence of the suspended David Batty.
Unlucky not to take at least a point, Middlesbrough hit the post twice and had a Fabrizio Ravanelli goal disallowed for a foul on Philippe Albert.
At Highbury, Vinny Jones, profiting from a poor clearance by Lee Dixon, volleyed Arsenal to a third consecutive home defeat. With just three losses in 33 games, Wimbledon stands as the capital's most consistent club.
A subdued Ian Wright and the absence through injury of England internationals David Seaman, Tony Adams, Martin Keown and David Platt did little to help Arsenal's cause.
With goals something of a rarity over the weekend, it was left to two of the Premiership's smaller clubs to show the way. West Ham United made light of its league position to beat Tottenham 4- 3 in a thriller at Upton Park, with goals from new boys Paul Kitson and John Hartson and two from club captain Julian Dicks.
Building on its Cup form, Leicester City beat fellow relegation candidates Derby County 4-2 at Filbert Street. Stung into action by a 2nd-minute Dean Sturridge goal, Ian Marshall blasted a hat-trick in the first half hour as Leicester stormed back. Steve Claridge put the issue beyond doubt in the second half, with Sturridge scoring a second late in the game.
With just one defeat in 18 games, Sheffield Wednesday added to its growing reputation by coming back from two goals down to beat Southampton 3-2 at the Dell. A 28th-minute opener from Egil Ostenstadt and a Matthew Le Tissier penalty gave the Saints a comfortable half-time lead. Not to be denied, Wednesday drew level with two goals inside four minutes from David Hirst. Andy Booth converted a late winner to keep Southampton second to bottom and deep in trouble.
Elsewhere in the relegation zone, Sunderland lost at home to a second-half Lee Bowyer goal for Leeds United, while Coventry City and Everton played a goalless draw as did Nottingham Forest and Aston Villa.
Goals
There was no shortage of goals in Spain over the weekend, with Real Madrid and Barcelona leading the way. Having lost its unbeaten league record to Rayo Vallecano in midweek, Real Madrid bounced back to hit six against Oviedo with Croatian international Davor Suker notching a hat-trick.
Brazilian Renaldo hit a hat-trick too as Barcelona, having themselves gone down in midweek to Real Sociadad, offered manager Bobby Robson something of a lifeline by beating Zaragoza 4-1 at the Nou Camp. The victory leaves Barcelona six points adrift of Real Madrid at the top.
The match of the day in Holland saw Ajax record an emphatic 3- 0 win over arch-rivals Feyenoord. Ajax stands fifth in the Dutch first division, 15 points behind leaders PS Eindhoven, who moved three clear of Feyenoord with a 2-1 home victory over AZ Alkmaar.
Italian league
In Italy, there was no change at the top of Serie A, where Juventus remained five points clear of Sampdoria. The Juventus pre-match buildup was not for the faint-hearted, as its team bus was stoned en route to the stadium.
Alessandro Del Piero fashioned the perfect reply to the hooligans with a headed goal after 16 minutes, his eighth goal of the season, a lead they held until four minutes into the second half when Anselmo Robbiati equalized.
Sampdoria left it late in Naples as Croatian midfielder Sinisa Mihajlovic equalized just three minutes from the end after Alain Boghossian had given Napoli a 58th minute lead.
It was another weekend of contrasting fortunes for the Milanese clubs. Interzionale beat Atlanta 2-0 at the San Siro to move third, while AC Milan went down 1-0 to relegation, threatened Perugia and now stand 11th in Serie A.
Reduced to nine men before the interval with Paulo Maldini and Christophe Dugarry sent off for dangerous play, Milan's fortunes hit rock bottom in the second half when Dutch star Edgar Davids was carried off with a broken leg.
In the German Bundesliga, Bayern Munich extended its lead at the top, despite being held to a 1-1 draw at Bochum. Jurgen Klinsmann struck a 65th minute equalizer to stretch Bayern's lead to three points over Borussia Dortmundm, which was beaten 2-0 away at Fortuna Duesseldorf.
The French first division provided one of the few shocks of the weekend, with leader AC Monaco beaten for the first time in 10 games, 2-0 at Metz. Second place Paris St. Germain failed to capitalize, however, and could only draw 2-2 at home to Guincamp.