Thursday, February 15, 2007

Manchester United maintains five-point Premiership lead

By Adrian Curtis Special to PA SportsTicker (takes from http://sports.yahoo.com)

Manchester United maintained its six-point lead over champions Chelsea with a 2-0 victory over Charlton on Sunday that had Sir Alex Ferguson refusing to look over his shoulder as the title run takes shape.

Park Ji-Sung headed home after 24 minutes and Darren Fletcher made the game safe with a second.
"We are playing well and with a lot of confidence" Ferguson said. "Sometimes in these situations, there is a tendency to look over your shoulder and concentrate on the team that is chasing. I prefer to look forward because we have some really promising games coming up."

Chelsea saw off Middlesbrough, 3-0, at Stamford Bridge with two goals from Didier Drogba and an own goal from Abel Xavier keeping them in touch with the leaders.

The Blues have won their last five games, and Mourinho wants his side to maintain the pressure on United.

"I wanted Chelsea to win and win and win and, in the main, that is what we have done," Mourinho said. "Now we must keep on doing it. Credit to Manchester United, they are doing it too this season. We are in a battle. We cannot afford not to keep on winning, neither can they. We are enjoying it. To go on enjoying it, we must keep on winning. It is a simple philosophy."

A controversial penalty gave Newcastle a 2-1 win over Liverpool at a soaked St James' Park.

Liverpool went ahead through Craig Bellamy, but Obafemi Martins equalized before Nolberto Solano hit the winner from the penalty spot.

United boss Glen Roeder hailed the spirit of defender Celestine Babayaro, who played just hours after learning his younger brother had died at a London hospital.

"His younger brother has been suffering from tuberculosis and at 11:30 p.m. on Friday night, he lost his life," Roeder said. "After consulting his older brothers, who thought his younger brother would have wanted him to play, he came out and played."

Liverpool boss Rafa Benitez said his side should have capitalized on their first-half chances.

"After the first half, the score could have been 0-3 or 0-4," he said. "But we conceded a stupid goal and then a stupid penalty, and after that, it is difficult to win."

Bolton briefly went into fourth place following its 2-1 win over Fulham.

Gary Speed opened the scoring from the penalty spot and Kevin Nolan added a second. But Zat Knight pulled one back, and Bolton boss Sam Allardyce had goalkeeper Jussi Jaaskelainen to thank for a crucial save in the dying moments.

"He is the best goalkeeper in the Premiership. That save proved it," Allardyce said. "His concentration was great and so was his positioning. He was there at such a crucial time and won us the three points."

Later Sunday, Arsenal leapfrogged back into fourth place, coming from behind yet again to beat struggling Wigan.

The Latics took a shocking lead on 35 minutes with a brilliant strike from Dutch midfielder Denny Landzaat. But an own goal from Fitz Hall and a winner from Tomas Rosicky gave Arsenal victory.

Wigan boss Paul Jewell was furious with referee Phil Dowd, who failed to award a penalty when Emile Heskey was fouled by Mathieu Flamini late in the second half.

"I thought we should have had a penalty which would hopefully have made it 2-0," Jewell blasted. "It is (a) penalty. He (Flamini) puts his hand on his shoulder. Why would Emile want to go down? Some of the officials don't understand the game.

"He (Dowd) has cost our team the points. It could cost us 50 million pounds."

West Ham manager Alan Curbishley refused to condemn the fans after a 1-0 loss in a relegation battle to bottom club Watford at Upton Park thanks to Darius Henderson's penalty.

The fans chanted that the players were "not fit to wear the shirts." To make matters worse, Marlon Harewood missed a second-half penalty.

"It's not nice, but the fans - and I'm not patronizing them - have been constant in their support for us," Curbishley said. "They have turned out in their droves and got behind us from the kickoff but we haven't delivered."

Andrew Johnson scored an early winner for Everton against Blackburn at Goodison Park just days after missing England's friendly with Spain due to an ankle injury.

Tottenham coach Martin Jol insists he is not under pressure after his side went down, 2-1, to Sheffield United at Bramall Lane.

Jermaine Jenas put Spurs ahead, but Rob Hulse and a penalty from Phil Jagielka left them still looking for their first league win this year.

"We are very concerned. We have to get it right," Jol said. "It's not hopeless, but we are not as strong a team as we were last season. No. The only pressure I put myself under is to win, but we have to be a lot stronger than we are."

Steve Sidwell's brace earned European hopefuls Reading a 2-0 win over Aston Villa at the Madejski Stadium. Sidwell has yet to sign a new deal, but manager Steve Coppell says there will be no pressure placed on the player, even though his current deal expires in the summer.

Portsmouth substitute Kanu put his team back on the winning track with a late winner against Manchester City after Pedro Mendes had opened the scoring before suffering a bad injury courtesy of Joey Barton.

Bernardo Corradi grabbed a 62nd-minute City equalizer before Kanu's heroics nine minutes from time.





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