August 24, 2003	Sunday	Jumadi-us-Sani 25

Please Visit our Sponsor (Ads open in separate window)

LONDON, Aug 23: Chelsea’s richly-assembled side maintained their perfect start to the season with a battling 2-1 win over Leicester City on Saturday despite having new midfielder Geremi sent off.

Geremi was shown the red card for a two-footed tackle on Riccardo Scimeca, but Leicester finished with nine men after Alan Rogers and Scimeca were also sent off late in the game.

Chelsea and Manchester United are the only teams with six points from two matches after the champions won 2-1 at Newcastle United in a noon kickoff.

Portsmouth almost chalked up a second successive win but had to settle for a 1-1 draw after a last-minute Manchester City equaliser in the first league match played at the new City of Manchester Stadium.

Wolverhampton Wanderers’ nightmare start to life in the premier league continued when they were thumped 4-0 at Molineux by Charlton Athletic, a week after losing their opening match 5-1 at Blackburn Rovers.

Blackburn, notionally top of the table after the first week, had debutant Steven Reid sent off and drew 2-2 at Bolton Wanderers, who picked up their first point of the season, as did Tottenham Hotspur, who came from behind to beat Leeds United 2-1 at White Hart Lane.

Everton also won their first match with a 3-1 home win over Fulham, while Southampton drew 0-0 with Birmingham City at St Mary’s.

results

Bolton Wanderers 2 Blackburn Rovers 2

Chelsea 2 Leicester City 1

Everton 3 Fulham 1

Manchester City 1 Portsmouth 1

Newcastle United 1 Manchester United 2

Southampton 0 Birmingham City 0

Tottenham Hotspur 2 Leeds United 1

W. Wanderers 0 Charlton Athletic 4

Resurgent Rangers

GLASGOW: Scottish champions Rangers recovered from twice trailing to crush Hibernian 5-2 at Ibrox on Saturday and retain top spot in the premier league.

Rangers trailed 1-0 and 2-1 before an own goal brought them level and second-half strikes by Dutchman Michael Mols, with his second of the game, Mikel Arteta and Chris Burke secured their third win in three league games this season.

Rangers, who face a Champions League qualifier against Danish side FC Copenhagen on Wednesday, are top with nine points, two clear of Celtic, for whom Alan Thompson scored another penalty as they won 2-1 at Partick Thistle.

Scotland captain Paul Lambert was also on target for an uninspired Celtic, who picked up the three points without ever finding their best form.

Scottish premier league results

Aberdeen 1 Dunfermline Athletic 2

Dundee 2 Livingston 1

Hearts 3 Dundee United 0

Motherwell 2 Kilmarnock 1

Partick Thistle 1 Celtic 2

Rangers 5 Hibernian 2

German first division results

Eintracht Frankfurt 0 Hertha Berlin 0

SC Freiburg 4 Borussia Moenchengladbach 1

VfB Stuttgart 2 Kaiserslautern 0

Werder Bremen 4 Schalke 04 1

Cologne 1 Borussia Dortmund 0

TSV 1860 Munich 1 VfL Wolfsburg 0

VfL Bochum 1 Bayer Leverkusen 0

—Reuters