0
LONDON, May 1: Reading spoilt Michael Owen's party on Monday when they beat Newcastle United 1-0 on the day the striker was celebrating playing his first match since June.
Dave Kitson's 51st minute goal sealed the points for Reading in a Premier League game where all the pre-match attention had been on Owen, who had not played since damaging knee ligaments in England's World Cup group stage draw with Sweden last June.Newcastle fans had been waiting a year and a day for Owen to re-appear for the club since his last league match on April 29, 2006.
They only had to wait seven minutes before they saw him put the ball in the back of the net, although he was ruled offside.
Owen marked his return with several bright runs but it was Reading who got on the scoreboard.
Reading winger Seol Ki-hyeon crossed from the right and John Oster left the ball for Kitson at the back post to volley it past Newcastle goalkeeper Steve Harper. It was Kitson's first league goal since the first day of the season.
The win put Reading back in a UEFA Cup qualifying spot, highlighting the fine year they have had in their first season in the Premier League. With two games to go, they are seventh in the table with 54 points. Newcastle are 12th.
Despite the good news for Newcastle that Owen lasted the whole game, the team were hit by two new injury problems early in the second half.
Midfielder Antoine Sibierski was taken off and television reported he had been taken to hospital with a suspected broken arm, while Emre was carried off the pitch on a stretcher.
Results:
Played on Monday:
Reading 1 Newcastle United 0
Played on Sunday:
Arsenal 3 Fulham 1
Played on Saturday:
Blackburn Rovers 4 Charlton Athletic 1
Chelsea 2 Bolton Wanderers 2
Everton 2 Manchester United 4
Manchester City 0 Aston Villa 2
Middlesbrough 2 Tottenham Hotspur 3
Portsmouth 2 Liverpool 1
Sheffield United 1 Watford 0
Wigan Athletic 0 West Ham United 3
—Reuters
Standings
(Tabulated under played, won, drawn, lost, goals for, goals against, points):
Manchester United 35 27 4 4 82 26 85
Chelsea 35 24 8 3 62 22 80
Liverpool 36 20 7 9 55 24 67
Arsenal 36 19 9 8 62 34 66
Bolton Wanderers 36 16 7 13 44 47 55
Everton 36 14 12 10 48 35 54
Reading 36 16 6 14 49 42 54
Portsmouth 36 14 11 11 45 39 53
Tottenham Hotspur 35 15 8 12 52 52 53
Blackburn Rovers 35 14 5 16 46 50 47
Aston Villa 36 10 16 10 38 39 46
Newcastle United 36 11 9 16 37 44 42
Manchester City 36 11 9 16 28 41 42
Middlesbrough 36 10 10 16 40 48 40
Sheffield United 36 10 8 18 31 50 38
Fulham 36 7 15 14 36 57 36
Wigan Athletic 36 9 8 19 35 57 35
West Ham United 36 10 5 21 31 58 35
Charlton Athletic 36 8 9 19 32 56 33
Watford 36 4 12 20 26 58 24
