LONDON, 14 December 2003 — High-flying Chelsea were brought crashing to earth by Bolton Wanderers yesterday as the Premier League’s big spenders surrendered top spot after a shock 2-1 defeat at Stamford Bridge.
The Londoners, who topped their Champions League group in midweek with a comfortable win against Besiktas, were overtaken by Manchester United who beat fierce rivals Manchester City 3-1 at Old Trafford.
Chelsea slipped to their first home league defeat of the season when John Terry deflected substitute Henrik Pedersen’s last-minute cross past goalkeeper Carlo Cudicini.
It had looked as though Chelsea were heading for a routine three points earlier when Hernan Crespo glanced them in front after 22 minutes but Bolton failed to cave in. Chelsea had all the play but were pegged back six minutes before the break when Bolton defender Bruno N’Gotty rose unchallenged to head in Youri Djorkaeff’s inswinging free kick.
Defending champions United now top the standings with 37 points, one ahead of Chelsea and two in front of third-placed Arsenal who can go top with a victory at home to Blackburn Rovers today.
Fit-again England international Paul Scholes was the key to United’s victory against City, scoring with two fine headers in a lively lunchtime derby.
Liverpool slipped to their fourth home defeat of the season, going down 2-1 against Southampton who move into the top six thanks to goals from Brett Ormerod and Michael Svensson. Improving Newcastle United moved into fifth place after a 4-0 thrashing of Tottenham Hotspur as two stunning Laurent Robert volleys and a brace from Alan Shearer did the damage.
Everton eased their relegation worries thanks to Wayne Rooney’s winner in a 2-1 victory at free-falling Portsmouth, which leaves the south coast side just one place above the relegation zone.
Leicester City had Matt Elliott and goalkeeper Ian Walker sent off in a 2-0 home defeat by Birmingham, while Middlesbrough recorded their seventh consecutive clean sheet in a 0-0 stalemate at home to Charlton Athletic.
Bayern’s Makaay Ends Stuttgart’s Unbeaten Run
In Berlin, champions Bayern Munich handed VfB Stuttgart their first Bundesliga defeat of the season yesterday, beating them 1-0 courtesy of Dutch striker Roy Makaay.
Bayern rarely threatened at the Olympic stadium until Makaay exploited a blunder by the Stuttgart defense to hit the winner with an angled effort from just inside the box on 75 minutes. Werder Bremen moved back to the top with a 3-1 win at Bayer Leverkusen in a tense clash in which each team had a player sent off. Stuttgart, who had gone 15 matches without defeat, dropped to second place a point back.
Balde Begins Rehabilitation With Goal in Celtic Win
In Glasgow, Guinean defender Bobo Balde took his first, faltering steps toward rehabilitating himself with Celtic’s fans as he got on the scoresheet in his side’s 3-2 Scottish Premier League victory over Dundee yesterday.
Three days after his late rush of blood literally handed Olympique Lyon a late penalty to knock Celtic out of the Champions League, Balde struck in the 69th minute to put them 2-1 ahead in a tricky encounter.
Third-placed Hearts move on to 29 points after ending their four-game losing streak with a 2-1 home win over Kilmarnock.
Dundee United beat Livingston 2-0 at home while Aberdeen hammered manager-less bottom side Partick Thistle 3-0 at Firhill and Hibernian won 1-0 at Motherwell.
