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| December 27, 2001 | Thursday | Shawwal 11, 1422 |
Newcastle thrash Boro to retain top spot
LONDON, Dec 26: Newcastle walloped Middlesbrough 3-0 to stay top of the English premier league Wednesday while Vladimir Smicer grabbed a late goal as Liverpool won 2-1 at Aston Villa.
Ryan Giggs and Ruud van Nistelrooy grabbed goals fot the champions as Manchester United made it four wins in a row with a 2-0 win at Everton.
Niall Quinn scored twice — with Kevin Kilbane also on the score sheet — as Sunderland beat Blackburn 3-0 at Ewood Park.
And, at Portman Road, Ipswich grabbed three points against fellow- strugglers Leicester, Marcus Bent (48) Sixto Peralta (55) scoring the goals.
Ipswich swap places with Leicester who are now bottom of the league.
Earlier in the day, Sylvain Wiltord hit the winner as Arsenal came from behind to beat Chelsea 2-1 — and Robbie Fowler’s hat trick secured Leeds a 3-0 win at Bolton.
Frank Lampard had threatened to cause an upset at Highbury when his second goal in as many games eased Chelsea into a first-half lead.
Giovanni van Bronckhorst was introduced after the interval as Arsenal looked to beef up their attacking options — and it paid dividends early on.
Sol Campbell headed his first goal for his new club to level maters before Arsenal forced the winner on 71 minutes when Wiltord pounced to rattle home through a crowd of players after Chelsea had failed to clear a van Bronckhorst free-kick.
Meanwhile, at the Reebok Stadium, England striker Fowler took his tally to five goals for his new club Leeds as they thrashed Bolton.
The former Liverpool striker also missed a late penalty as David O’Leary’s men bounced back from their weekend home defeat to Newcastle.
At Upton Park Sebastian Schemmel (5), Paolo di Canio (73), Trevor Sinclair (86) and Jermain Defoe (90) helped West Ham to a 4-0 thrashing over struggling Derby while James Beattie struck on 56 minutes as Southampton clocked up only their third win at their new St Mary’s stadium in a 1-0 victory over Spurs.
At Newcastle, former England skipper Alan Shearer broke the deadlock on the half-hour mark when he followed up his own shot to fire past Boro stopper Mark Crossley and score for the third consecutive game.
Gary Speed made the points safe on 58 minutes when he rose unmarked to power an unstoppable header past Crossley from close range.
Olivier Bernard completed the rout when he latched on to Craig Bellamy’s cross to shoot beyond Crossley with six minutes left on the clock.
Liverpool remain within touching distance of Bobby Robson’s charges after their 2-1 win over Villa — but their opening goal came courtesy of a Peter Schmeichel howler.
Villa squared matters after 20 minutes through Lee Hendrie.
Liverpool brought on on-loan striker Nicolas Anelka on 69 minutes and Liverpool restored their lead just four minutes lter. Patrik Berger sent through a teasing through ball and Smicer’s left-footed effort found its way past Schmeichel to seal the three points.
Meanwhile, Sweden striker Henrik Larsson scored a 90th minute winner for 10-man Celtic as the reigning champions edged Livingston 3-2 in the Scottish premier league in Glasgow.
Celtic, who suffered their first league defeat of the season last weekend, were twice pegged back after taking the lead before Joos Valgaeren was sent off in the 78th minute.
Celtic’s Lubomir Moravcik curled in a free-kick over the Livingston wall after 12 minutes, but Oscar Rubio headed an equaliser from another free-kick before the break.
Larsson restored Celtic’s lead with a low shot in the 50th minute after Paul Lambert burst through the Livingston defence. But it was soon cancelled out by Francisco Quino, only for Larsson to snatch the points with his second of the day.
Dundee United went down 2-0 at home to Hearts, Gary Wales firing home in the first half and Ricardo Fuller in the second.
Kilmarnock drew 0-0 with Dunfermline Athletic, while first-half goals from Grant Murray and Peter McDonald gave bottom club St Johnstone a 2-1 victory in a relegation dogfight with Motherwell.
Wednesday’s results:
English premier league:
Arsenal 2 Chelsea 1
Aston Villa 1 Liverpool 2
Blackburn Rovers 0 Sunderland 3
Bolton Wanderers 0 Leeds United 3
Everton 0 Manchester United 2
Fulham 0 Charlton Athletic 0
Ipswich Town 2 Leicester City 0
Newcastle United 3 Middlesbrough 0
Southampton 1 Tottenham Hotspur 0
West Ham United 4 Derby County 0
Scottish premier league
Aberdeen v Dundee postponed
Celtic 3 Livingston 2
Dundee United 0 Hearts 2
Kilmarnock 0 Dunfermline Athletic 0
Motherwell 1 St Johnstone 2
—dpa/Reuters
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