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| December 10, 2001 | Monday | Ramazan 24, 1422 |
Manchester United suffer another devastating blow
LONDON, Dec 9: Manchester United’s English Premiership hopes suffered another devastating bodyblow on Saturday after they crashed to a 1-0 home defeat against West Ham.
A 63rd-minute goal from striker Jermain Defoe sent Sir Alex Ferguson’s Red Devils spinning to their second successive English Premiership defeat at Old Trafford following last week’s rout by Chelsea.
The loss - United’s sixth of the season - left the reigning champions 11 points behind league leaders Liverpool, who tightened their grip at the top with a 2-0 win over Middlesbrough at Anfield.
England Under 21 star Defoe headed in a Paolo di Canio cross to earn three points for the Hammers.
United, who had started with Ruud van Nistelrooy, Juan Sebastian Veron and David Beckham all on the bench, struggled to make any impression on the Londoners to the misery of the home fans.
At Anfield, Michael Owen edged closer to a ton of goals for Liverpool as the Merseysiders defeated ‘Boro to go six points clear.
Owen bagged his 20th goal of the season and his 99th in a Liverpool shirt when he netted with a rare long-range effort to open the scoring on 27 minutes.
In-form Czech international Patrik Berger added Liverpool’s second on the stroke of halftime as the Reds took control.
Elsewhere, Spurs squandered the chance to go second when they were soundly beaten 3-1 by Charlton at The Valley.
Charlton were given a dream start on four minutes when midfielder Graham Stuart drilled in a Jason Euell cross from the left-wing after a blunder by Spurs defender Dean Richards.
The Addicks were sent into raptures 15 minutes later when Charlton went 2-0 up, Kevin Lisbie, the goal hero in the midweek win against Chelsea at Stamford Bridge, lashing a low shot past Neil Sullivan.
Lisbie completed a miserable afternoon for Glenn Hoddle’s Spurs by scoring a second 13 minutes from time. Uruguayan midfielder Gustavo Poyet scored a late consolation for Spurs.
At Craven Cottage, Fulham striker Barry Hayles put Jean Tigana’s men a goal up against Everton, heading in a Rufus Brevett cross.
Hayles added a second on 50 minutes to seal a deserved victory in a match that saw Everton’s David Weir and Fulham’s Luis Boa Morte both sent off after an ugly brawl late in the second half.
At Filbert Street, Leicester’s problems deepened when they were thrashed 4-0 by visiting Southampton.
Southampton took the lead through a 12th-minute volley from Swedish midfielder Anders Svensson after good work down the right by Marian Pahars.
Striker James Beattie put the Saints two goals up midway through the half before Svensson netted his second 15 minutes from time to make the game safe. Pahars completed the scoring with a 90th-minute goal.
Meanwhile, Derby earned only their third win of the season with a scrappy 1-0 win over Bolton Wanderers at Pride Park. Forward Malcolm Christie scored the Rams’ winner.
MILAN: Ronaldo scored his first goal in over two years and Christian Vieri his seventh inside a week as Inter Milan won 3-1 at Brescia on Sunday to stay top of Italy’s Serie A.
Inter coach Hector Cuper chose to play the ‘dream pair’, who cost Inter $77 million in transfer fees, in tandem from the start for the first time since the Milan derby on October 23, 1999.
Ronaldo, making just his second start of the season, opened the scoring in the 19th minute but a minute later Albanian Igli Tare had equalised for Brescia.
Vieri then scored twice in the second half to add to his midweek UEFA Cup hat-trick against English club Ipswich Town and his double against Atalanta last Sunday.
Second place Chievo remain two points behind Inter after they won 2-1 at home to Lecce thanks to a 77th minute Eugenio Corini penalty.
AS Roma are level with Chievo on 26 points thanks to Diego Fuser’s winning goal in their 2-1 victory at lowly Parma.
Karel Poborsky, Hernan Crespo and Claudio Lopez were on target in Lazio’s 3-0 win over struggling Fiorentina.
AC Milan face Juventus at the San Siro stadium later on Sunday.
ENGLISH PREMIERE LEAGUE RESULTS
Charlton 3 Tottenham 1
Derby 1 Bolton 0
Fulham 2 Everton 0
Leicester 0 Southampton 4
Liverpool 2 Middlesbrough 0
Manchester United 0 West Ham 1
SUNDAY’S RESULTS
Blackburn 1 Leeds 2
Ipswich 0 Newcastle 1
Sunderland 0 Chelsea 0
Arsenal 3 Aston Villa 2
Spanish first division
Sevilla 3 Athletic Bilbao 3
Tenerife 0 Real Madrid 2
FRENCH FIRST DIVISION
AJ Auxerre 2 Monaco 0
Olympique Marseille 3 Lorient 2
Sedan 0 Stade Rennes 0
Nantes 1 Montpellier 2
En Avant Guingamp 1 RC Lens 0
Bastia 2 Troyes 0
ITALIAN LEAGUE RESULTS:
Brescia 1 Inter Milan 3
Chievo Verona 2 Lecce 1
Lazio 3 Fiorentina 0
Parma 1 AS Roma 2
Perugia 2 Venezia 0
Torino 1 Atalanta 2
Udinese 2 Verona 1
—Reuters
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