LONDON, 27 December 2003 — Manchester United stayed top of the English Premier League with a 3-2 win over Everton while Arsenal laid on a Christmas feast for their fans with a 3-0 win over struggling Wolverhampton Wanderers yesterday.
The shock result of the day came at The Valley where Chelsea’s expensively assembled side crashed to a spectacular 4-2 defeat to modest London rivals Charlton Athletic. After 18 games United have 43 points while Arsenal are second with 42 and Chelsea are in third on 39.
England midfielder Nicky Butt hammered United in front after 10 minutes, but Gary Neville headed into his own net to pull Everton level four minutes later.
Neville atoned for his mistake just before the interval with a perfect cross for Kleberson, who made no mistake with a strong header. Substitute David Bellion edged United closer to their 14th league win of the season, side-footing home Ronaldo’s cross, but United suffered a late scare when Duncan Ferguson made it 3-2 in the final minute.
Arsenal were simply too strong for bottom club Wolves as they powered to their 12th league win, inspired by two goals from Thierry Henry. The Premier League’s only unbeaten side took the lead with an own goal from defender Jody Craddock after 14 minutes. Henry then took centre stage, finding the net in the 20th and 89th minutes to maintain the pressure on United. “I thought we were very sharp today and dominated the game for 90 minutes,” said Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger.
Chelsea slipped off the pace in the three-way championship race as they slumped to a 4-2 defeat at London rivals Charlton Athletic. Claudio Ranieri’s side went behind to a header by Hermann Hreidarsson after just 42 seconds, but soon leveled through England defender John Terry.
But Charlton shrugged off the setback and overwhelmed their glamorous neighbors with goals from Matt Holland, Jonatan Johansson and Jason Euell to go 4-1 up after 53 minutes. Iceland striker Eidur Gudjohnsen reduced the deficit but it was too little, too late to prevent Chelsea crashing to their third league defeat.
Liverpool relieved some of the pressure on their under-fire manager Gerard Houllier with a thumping 3-0 home win over in-form Bolton Wanderers. A Sami Hyypia header in the 32nd minute — his first goal since May — put Liverpool in front before French youngster Florent Sinama Pongolle and Czech veteran Vladimir Smicer wrapped up a comfortable win. Henrik Pedersen scored a late consolation goal for the visitors.
Southampton were left looking for their first win at Fulham since 1947 as they crashed to a 2-0 defeat at the Londoners. Frenchman Louis Saha scored both goals as Fulham moved above Southampton into fourth place.
Portsmouth arrested their slide down the table with a 2-0 win at home to Tottenham, secured by two breathtaking long-range free kicks from Patrick Berger. Brazlian midfielder Juninho scored twice for Middlesbrough but Markus Babbel was the toast of Ewood Park as he scored both goals for Blackburn Rovers in a 2-2 draw.
German defender Babbel had headed Rovers in front in the fifth minute as Boro conceded their first goal for 372 minutes. Juninho looked to have sealed victory for the visitors only for Babbel to snatch a dramatic equalizer in the dying seconds.
Newcastle took their unbeaten run to seven games as substitute Darren Ambrose cancelled out Paul Dickovs goal to steal a 1-1 draw at struggling Leicester City.
Late goals from Robbie Savage and Mikael Forsell snatched a 2-1 win for battling Birmingham City after Robbie Fowler had put Manchester City into an early lead. Leeds United’s mini-revival under caretaker manager Eddie Gray continued with a 0-0 draw at home to Aston Villa.
Ronaldo Wants Olympic Gold: Report
In Rio De Janeiro, Real Madrid’s Brazilian superstar Ronaldo has admitted his new year won’t be complete without having the chance to win the Olympic gold medal in Athens next summer. Ronaldo, who was the hero for Brazil in last year’s World Cup finals in Asia where he scored two goals in the final over Germany, said he wants to make himself available for selection to Olympic team coach Ricardo Gomes.
“I’m going to be a fan while waiting for the pre-Olympic team to win its ticket (in the qualifying tournament being held in Chile). Then I would like to make myself available for selection to Gomes for the Olympic Games,” Ronaldo told O Globo newspaper.
The 27-year-old striker’s interest is understandable given his contribution to Brazil’s two World Cup victories in the past decade (1994, 2002). However, it seems mainly to stem from the unfinished business of Atlanta in 1996 — when Brazil could only walk away from the tournament with the bronze medal.
