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| December 14, 2001 | Friday | Ramazan 28, 1422 |
Man Utd rekindle hopes while Liverpool draw
LONDON, Dec 13: Manchester United crushed Derby County 5-0 at Old Trafford on Wednesday to dispel any lingering doubts about their intention of retaining their Premier League title at the end of the season.
Meanwhile, league leaders Liverpool were held to a 0-0 draw at home by Fulham — who have not won a match at Anfield since they first played there in 1934 — to open up a four-point lead at the top of the table over Arsenal.
Michael Owen went close to scoring but remained on 99 goals in his Liverpool career.
The match was never a classic, but Fulham did enough to earn a point and stretch their unbeaten league run to eight matches. They became the first side to prevent Liverpool from scoring in the league this season.
Manchester United’s victory moved them up from ninth to fifth place on 24 points, and while they may still be nine points behind Liverpool, past history proves they cannot be written off at this stage of the season.
Bookmakers William Hill immediately slashed their title odds from 10-1 to 11-2 — even if England skipper David Beckham was again left on the bench.
United, beaten in their last three Premier League games and written off by many observers for a fourth successive title, raced into a 2-0 lead after only 10 minutes with goals from Ole Gunnar Solskjaer (6) and skipper Roy Keane (10) — his first of the season.
Solskjaer scored after trapping the ball on his chest and eluding the Derby defenders before lashing the ball home.
Keane scored when he was left unmarked at the far post after a blind-side run to net from close-range. It was his first goal for United since last March.
Solskjaer (58), Ruud van Nistelrooy, with a 63rd-minute close-range volley and Paul Scholes (89), with a clever turn and shot, completed United’s scoring.
Scholes’ goal was the 9,999th in the premier league since the English league structure was reformed in 1992.
While United rekindled their hopes of the title, Derby became even more embroiled in the relegation fight.
They remain 18th in the 20-team league with only 13 points from 16 matches. Only Leicester, who also have 13 points, and Ipswich, on nine, are below them.
Dutchman Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink scored in the last minute to give Chelsea a 1-0 win over premier league rivals Newcastle United and a place in the semifinals of the English League Cup on Wednesday.
The result stretched Newcastle’s hoodoo of failing to win in London to 29 matches, but there was delight for the Chelsea faithful who saw their team join Tottenham Hotspur and Blackburn Rovers in the last four.
Either Watford or Sheffield Wednesday will accompany them when they play their quarter-final next Wednesday.
Just minutes before Hasslebaink scored the winner, Newcastle had a great chance to win the match but Andy O’Brien skied the ball over the bar from close range with only goalkeeper Carlo Cudicini to beat.
In the English FA Cup, Stoke City, second in the second division, beat Halifax Town, the 92nd and bottom-ranked team in the English League, 3-0 in their second round replay to seal a third round tie with premier league Everton next month.
Stoke won with goals from Bjarni Gudjonsson (22), Chris Iwelumo (27) and Brynar Gunnarsson (47).
ROME: Italian champions AS Roma paid for complacency as they lost 1-0 in the first leg of their Italian Cup quarter-final against Brescia at the Stadio Olimpico on Wednesday.
Brescia midfielder Markus Schopp scored the only goal of the game from a corner eight minutes from the end to give the visitors a valuable first-leg advantage.
In the night’s other game Juventus thrashed Sampdoria 5-2 in a delayed second round, second leg match to reach the quarter-finals 7-3 on aggregate.
Roma created few chances although forward Marco Delvecchio — replacing injured Argentina striker Gabriel Batistuta — missed clear opportunities in each half.
The Italy forward had one effort cleared off the line by Vittorio Mero and hit the side netting after latching onto a mistake by Alessandro Calori.
Missing the inspiration of captain Francesco Totti, Roma’s finest effort was a free kick by Christian Panucci which hit the post soon after Brescia’s goal.
Juventus thrashed Sampdoria with a display of attacking prowess that suggests their recent indifferent form is behind them.
The under-strength Turin side were 5-1 up by halftime.
Enzo Maresca put them ahead in the fifth minute and former Italy international defender Ciro Ferrara added a second with a point blank header before Sampdoria’s Pasquale Luiso pulled one back a minute later.
Uruguay forward Marcelo Zalayeta added a third while Nicola Amoruso effectively killed off the tie with a penalty after Edgar Davids had been brought down in the penalty area.
Amoruso added another just before the interval following neat work by Zalayeta. Davide Possazini scored a consolation for Sampdoria 10 minutes from time.
English premier league results
Liverpool 0 Fulham 0
Man Utd 5 Derby County 0
English League Cup
Quarter-final result
Chelsea 1 Newcastle United 0
Played on Tuesday:
Blackburn Rovers 4 Arsenal 0
Tottenham Hotspur 6 Bolton Wanderers 0
Italian Cup results
Second round, second leg Juventus 5 Sampdoria 2
(Juventus won 7-3 on aggregate)
Scottish premier league
Rangers 1 Hibernian 1 —Reuters
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