LONDON, 29 February 2004 — Arsenal soared nine points clear at the top of the premier league yesterday after beating Charlton Athletic 2-1 while title rivals Manchester United were held to a 1-1 draw by Fulham. Big-spending Chelsea snatched a late and barely deserved 1-0 win at Manchester City to take second place, edging ahead of champions United on goal difference.
Yesterday’s results could prove to be the turning point in the premier league season as they left Arsenal on 67 points and Chelsea and United on 58 with just 11 games left to play. Away from the title race, Everton beat Aston Villa 2-0, Blackburn Rovers drew 1-1 with Southampton and the relegation dogfight between Leicester City and Wolverhampton Wanderers finished goalless.
But the spotlight was clearly trained on London, where Arsenal remained unbeaten in their 27 games this season after scoring twice in the opening four minutes.
Robert Pires, scoring his 50th goal for the club, and France teammate Thierry Henry soon had Charlton on the ropes at Highbury, though the visitors rallied in the second half and Claus Jensen’s strike could easily have been followed by an equalizer. But Arsenal hung on grimly for a seventh consecutive league win, rounding off an excellent week after beating Celta Vigo 3-2 away in the first leg of their Champions League first knockout round tie.
By contrast, United’s season is running into trouble after a second half equalizer from Fulham’s Portuguese forward Luis Boa Morte cost them victory at Loftus Road.
As if part of a script, striker Louis Saha put United ahead in the 14th minute, just a month after his acrimonious departure from Fulham, and the Frenchman had to put up with the constant boos and jeers of his former fans.
United boss Alex Ferguson reshuffled his pack for the game, surprisingly deciding to leave top scorer Ruud van Nistelrooy, winger Ryan Giggs and goalkeeper Tim Howard on the bench.
Midfielder and skipper Roy Keane had to fill in as a center back as Ferguson was missing three defenders — England’s Rio Ferdinand and Gary Neville, through suspension, and France’s Mikael Silvestre, through injury.
But Ferguson’s gamble, and the enforced absences, came back to haunt the Scot after Boa Morte’s equalizer as they slipped to third in the table, just days after losing 2-1 in Porto in the Champions League.
Substitute Eidur Gudjohnsen grabbed Chelsea’s winner in the 82nd minute after City had dominated possession and squandered a host of chances at the City of Manchester stadium.
West Bromwich Albion lost a chance to join Norwich City at the top of the English First Division when they were beaten 1-0 at home by Rotherham. Midfielder Chris Sedgwick scored 17 minutes from time to leave West Brom on 60 points, three behind Norwich whose game at Sunderland was postponed because of bad weather.
Wigan consolidated their third place on 57 points with a 1-0 home win over Walsall, striker Nathan Ellington scoring nine minutes from time.
Sheffield United started the day fourth on 52 points but fell out of the promotion playoff places with a 2-1 defeat at Reading, whose 34th-minute penalty winner was converted by former Manchester City striker Shaun Goater. Ipswich Town and Millwall are fourth and fifth, both on 53 points after they registered 2-0 wins over Preston North End and Burnley.
Hearts Keep Dunfermline at Bay in Fight for UEFA Cup Spot
Hearts kept a tight grip on third place, worth a UEFA Cup berth next season, with a 0-0 draw at fourth-placed Dunfermline Athletic in the Scottish Premier League.
Hearts have 47 points, nine more than Dunfermline. Leaders Celtic, unbeaten on 73 points, and second-placed Rangers, on 60, were scheduled to play on Sunday, at home to Livingston and away to Dundee United respectively.
Motherwell, fifth on 36 points, hammered another nail in the relegation coffin of bottom club Partick Thistle with a 3-0 home win. Steve Hammell, David Clarkson and Derek Adams scored.
Partick have 12 points, 14 less than Aberdeen, who won 1-0 at Hibernian with a fifth-minute strike by defender Scott Morrison. Australian Danny Invincibile scored twice as Kilmarnock, one point above Aberdeen, came from behind to beat Dundee 4-2.
Werder Beat Dortmund to Close In on Title
Werder Bremen closed in on the Bundesliga title with a 2-0 home victory over Borussia Dortmund yesterday that kept them seven points clear at the top. French defender Valerien Ismael opened the scoring with a deflected free kick in the 57th minute for the northerners, chasing their first league crown since 1993.
Brazilian striker Ailton raced into the box unchallenged to complete the home side’s victory with his 20th league goal this season four minutes from time.
Three-times champions Werder struggled in a tight first half but stepped up a gear after the break to underline their title claims.
Dortmund, needing to secure a UEFA Cup spot to save their season, remained in sixth place but dropped 18 points off the lead. Champions Bayern Munich stayed second after a 2-0 home win over VfL Wolfsburg courtesy of a superb volley from Dutch striker Roy Makaay on 11 minutes followed by a second-half effort from midfielder Bastian Schweinsteiger. Bayern did enough to take the points but were not as impressive as when they drew 1-1 with Real Madrid in the first knockout round of the Champions League on Tuesday with their finest performance of an erratic season. Third-placed VfB Stuttgart, who lost 1-0 at home to Chelsea in the Champions League on Wednesday, slipped 12 points off the pace by managing only a 0-0 home draw with Schalke 04.
At the other end of the table, Eintracht Frankfurt moved out of the relegation zone with a convincing 3-1 home win over fellow strugglers Borussia Moenchengladbach that lifted them two places to 14th in the 18-team table. Bottom club Cologne moved closer to the second division with a 3-1 loss to TSV 1860 Munich, their seventh home defeat of the season. They are three points adrift of Hertha Berlin and five behind Kaiserslautern and Borussia Moenchengladbach.
On Sunday Hertha visit Hanover 96 while Kaiserslautern travel to SC Freiburg.
Ittihad Score Fine Victory
Hassan Adawi adds: Al-Ittihad defeated Al-Akhdood of Najran 3-0 in the Crown Prince Soccer Cup at the Prince Abdullah Al-Faisal Stadium in Jeddah yesterday.
Ittihad racked up the goals in the first half with all three Brazilians netting one apiece. The first goal in the 21st minute was scored by Semba, the second ten minutes later was hit home by Chico and the third was slotted in by Gentile in the 42nd minute.
