LONDON, 26 September 2004 — Champions Arsenal retained their two-point lead at the top of the Premier League with a 1-0 win at Manchester City as title rivals Chelsea beat Middlesbrough 1-0 yesterday.
Manchester United’s revival continued when they ended Tottenham Hotspur’s unbeaten run with a 1-0 victory at White Hart Lane, courtesy of a Ruud van Nistelrooy penalty.
Liverpool cantered to a 3-0 victory over Norwich City, Dutch newcomer Patrick Kluivert and skipper Alan Shearer scored in Newcastle United’s 3-1 victory over 10-man West Bromwich Albion, and Fulham were 1-0 winners over struggling Southampton.
Arsenal’s England full back Ashley Cole scored his first league goal for over two years to take his team back to the top after Chelsea’s earlier win at the Riverside.
Cole’s 14th-minute strike extended Arsenal’s record unbeaten league run to 47 games and left them on 19 points. Chelsea are second on 17 points, with Everton third on 13 before their game at Portsmouth today.
Chelsea had to be patient at Middlesbrough, Ivory Coast striker Didier Drogba scoring the 81st-minute winner with a deflected low drive after midfielder Frank Lampard had squared a free kick.
Yet to produce sparkling football under new coach Jose Mourinho, Chelsea ground out their third 1-0 league win and have conceded only one goal in seven league games.
Manchester United manager Alex Ferguson watched his team clock up their first away win of the season and take provisional fourth place on 12 points.
United’s winner came just before the break when Van Nistelrooy converted from the spot following a challenge by Spurs’ Swedish defender Erik Edman on John O’Shea.
Celtic striker Henri Camara scored twice to lead the Scottish champions to a 3-0 win over Dunfermline Athletic in the Premier League.
The day’s individual scoring honors, however, went to Kilmarnock striker Kris Boyd who claimed all five goals in his team’s 5-2 drubbing of Dundee United, equaling the league record.
Camara swept the ball home on 38 and 54 minutes from close range after Stanislav Varga had put the league leaders ahead with a 20th-minute header. Celtic lead the standings on 19 points from seven games. Motherwell moved up to second on 13 after coming from behind to win 3-2 at Livingston.
Aberdeen remained third on 12 after suffering their first league defeat of the season, 1-0 to Hibernian at Pittodrie courtesy of Derek Riordan’s excellent long-range effort.
Wolfsburg Stay Top With Last-Gasp Win
A last-minute goal from Argentine striker Diego Klimowicz gave VfL Wolfsburg a 2-1 home win over Kaiserslautern yesterday to keep them top of the Bundesliga.
Kaiserslautern seemed set for a share of the points after striker Carsten Jancker put them level eight minutes from time but Klimowicz then struck from close range to hand the surprise leaders their fifth victory in six games.
Bulgaria striker Martin Petrov had opened the scoring on 13 minutes with a free kick for Wolfsburg, who stay one point clear of second-placed VfB Stuttgart.
First-half goals from defenders Philipp Lahm and Martin Stranzl and a late penalty by Silvio Meissner gave Stuttgart a convincing 3-0 home win over Bayer Leverkusen.
A hat trick by Germany striker Miroslav Klose helped Werder Bremen to a 4-1 win at VfL Bochum that kept the champions in third place, three points off the pace.
Klose, who came on for the second half, scored three times in 19 minutes, inflicting on Bochum their first defeat of the season.
Bayern Munich moved up to fourth with a 3-1 home win over SC Freiburg in which Dutch striker Roy Makaay scored a goal and set up another.
At the other end of the table Hanover 96 recorded their first victory of the season by beating Schalke 04 1-0 courtesy of a late goal from substitute striker Clint Mathis.
Real Slump to Defeat by Classy Bilbao
Trouble-torn Real Madrid slumped to their second defeat in three Primera Liga games when they lost 2-1 at Athletic Bilbao. Classy Athletic, without a win in their previous four matches, dominated at a packed San Mames, outplaying their bemused opponents who once again struggled to find any fluency.
Center-forward Ismael Urzaiz gave the Basques a deserved lead when he made the most of poor defending to slot home after a great cross from Asier del Horno in the 11th minute.
The home side swamped Real in midfield with their slick passing play and pacy attacks on the wings and it came as no surprise when they extended their lead on the stroke of halftime when Santi Ezquerro nodded home another fine cross from Del Horno.
Real pulled a goal back in an isolated attack at the start of the second half when skipper Raul scored his first goal in six months with a well-struck curling shot from the edge of the area. The comeback never materialized, however, as Athletic continued to control the game and threatened to extend their lead with a series of swift attacks.
Earlier, Atletico Madrid bounced back from a midweek defeat at Levante to claim a 1-0 home win over Villarreal and join Valencia and Barcelona at the top of the standings.
Ten-man Monaco Stay Top After Goalless Draw
A goalless draw at second-placed Olympique Lyon helped 10-man Monaco stay one point clear at the top of Ligue 1.
Monaco lead the standings on 17 points from five wins two draws and a defeat. Scoring chances were rare during the first half in a Gerland stadium packed by 41.404 spectators. Monaco’s first real opportunity came in the 57th minute when France goalkeeper Gregory Coupet foiled Emmanuel Adebayor.
Nine-Man Bologna Beat Troubled Roma
AS Roma’s troubled season continued with a 3-1 defeat yesterday to a Bologna side forced to play the final 40 minutes with just nine men.
Impressive Bologna were 3-0 up within the opening 37 minutes thanks to two goals from French forward Mourad Meghni and a strike from Giacomo Cipriani.
Despite the dismissal of Cipriani in the 39th minute and a red card shortly after the break for Greek midfielder Theodoros Zagorakis, Roma could only pull one back from Francesco Totti.
Coach Rudi Voller, meanwhile, has quit after their 3-1 defeat away to Bologna, the Serie A club has confirmed. Under the former Germany coach, Roma have taken just four league points from a possible 12.
