LONDON, 19 October 2003 — Arsenal went top of the Premier League yesterday after a goalkeeping howler by Carlo Cudicini gifted them a 2-1 derby win over Chelsea at Highbury.
Thierry Henry bundled home the 75th minute winner after Cudicini’s nightmare fumble to leave Arsenal top on 23 points, one clear of champions Manchester United, who had earlier snatched a 1-0 victory at Leeds United.
Chelsea’s expensively-assembled side, who canceled out Edu’s deflected opener for Arsenal with a stunning strike by Argentine Hernan Crespo, are third on 20 points after their first league defeat of the season.
Elsewhere, Manchester City thrashed Bolton Wanderers 6-2, former Liverpool midfielder Patrik Berger scored in Portsmouth’s 1-0 victory over his old club and Newcastle United beat Middlesbrough 1-0 with a Shola Ameobi goal in the northeast derby.
Chelsea have never won a Premier League game at Highbury but looked good for a draw until their Italian keeper came out to collect an innocuous cross from Robert Pires and somehow allowed the ball to slip straight through his hands.
Henry had missed two earlier chances against the former league leaders, who were watched by their Russian billionaire owner Roman Abramovich, but this time the ball struck the France striker and rolled into the net. Manchester United snatched their win after lowly Leeds raised their game and looked set for a deserved draw when skipper Roy Keane headed home a fine cross by Gary Neville.
United’s Dutch striker Ruud van Nistelrooy missed chances in both halves while Paul Scholes should have made it 2-0 in stoppage time, hitting the bar from close range.
Nicolas Anelka and Shaun Wright-Phillips, who was red-carded in the 62nd minute, got two goals apiece for Manchester City as Kevin Keegan’s side moved up to fourth on 15 points. Goal difference put them ahead of Fulham, who were held 0-0 at home by a Wolverhampton Wanderers side who finally got off the bottom of the table.
Leverkusen Take Bundesliga Lead With 4-1 Win
In Berlin, Bayer Leverkusen crushed Hertha Berlin 4-1 yesterday to move back into first place in the Bundesliga, overtaking Werder Bremen who lost at home to VfB Stuttgart. Leverkusen, unbeaten in five matches, moved to 22 points, one ahead of Stuttgart who stayed unbeaten with a 3-1 win over previous leaders Bremen.
Borussia Dortmund went to third with a 6-2 win over Hanover 96 and Bayern Munich fell to fifth after a goalless draw at Borussia Moenchengladbach. Leverkusen, with seven victories in nine matches, sent winless Hertha into last place with the lopsided victory in Berlin’s Olympic Stadium and further raised speculation that Hertha coach Huub Stevens would be fired by the end of the weekend.
Leverkusen, 2002 Champions League finalists before narrowly escaping relegation last season, dominated the nervous Berlin side who were still suffering from their shock exit from the UEFA Cup in the first round this week against Poland’s Groclin Grodzisk. Velappan said the task force consisted of representatives from Hong Kong, Malaysia and Singapore, and other national associations, as well as representatives from the AFC.
Late Vieri Penalty Saves Inter at Brescia
In Milan, an 87th minute penalty from Christian Vieri earned Inter Milan a 2-2 draw at Brescia yesterday.
Inter, who are now without a win in four games in Serie A, had to fight back from two goals down but the result will do little to ease the pressure on coach Hector Cuper.
Former European Player of the Year Roberto Baggio opened the scoring for Brescia, against his old club, in the 21st minute by tapping into an empty net after Inter keeper Francesco Toldo had made a hash of a header back from defender Jeremie Brechet. Baggio then set up Brescia’s second, four minutes after the interval, with a fine cross which was headed home by Andrea Caracciolo.
Inter’s comeback began with a diving header from substitute Julio Ricardo Cruz in the 62nd minute. Then the Argentine striker was ruled to have been fouled by Brescia defender Dario Dainelli three minutes from the end allowing Vieri to blast home the spot kick.
