LONDON, 27 November 2005 — Arsenal leapt to second in the Premier League when they thumped Blackburn Rovers 3-0 and Wigan Athletic lost 2-1 at home to Tottenham Hotspur yesterday.
Goals by Francesc Fabregas, Thierry Henry and Robin van Persie gave Arsenal a win that lifted their points tally to 26, eight fewer than champions Chelsea who were playing at Portsmouth in a match later.
Wigan slipped to third on 25 points after Dutch midfielder Edgar Davids netted his first goal for Spurs in their victory at the JJB Stadium. Spurs are up to fifth on 24 points.
On a day when fans paid their respects to former Manchester United great George Best, who died on Friday, improving Liverpool won 1-0 at Manchester City, Birmingham won 1-0 at bottom club Sunderland and Aston Villa beat Charlton, also 1-0. Some fans observed a minute’s silence for Best, others applauded his memory, although it was not well-observed everywhere and the tribute was cut short at the Manchester City-Liverpool match, BBC reported.
Best’s former club United, who are fourth on 24 points, play at West Ham today.
Arsenal were not entirely comfortable throughout the first half at Highbury.
However a low fourth-minute shot by Spanish midfielder Fabregas and French striker Henry’s sliding finish on the stroke of halftime, after he was sent through by Robert Pires, gave them control. Dutch substitute Van Persie underscored their victory with a spectacular last-minute strike from an acute angle.
Robbie Keane strengthened his case for a regular starting place with an eighth-minute goal to put Spurs in front at Wigan and Davids drilled in their second 13 minutes from time.
Pizarro Double Takes Bayern Six Points Clear
In Frankfurt, Claudio Pizarro scored twice to give Bayern Munich a 2-1 win at home to Mainz and take the champions six points clear at the top of the Bundesliga yesterday.
Pizarro, whose late double gave Bayern victory over Arminia Bielefeld last weekend, fired in the opener in the 28th minute and clinched victory with a second-half header after Benjamin Auer had grabbed an unlikely equalizer.
Werder Bremen, missing leading strikers Miroslav Klose and Ivan Klasnic, suffered a 2-1 defeat at Schalke 04, with Kevin Kuranyi getting both goals for the home side.
Kuwait, Iraq Draw in First Soccer Game Since War
Kuwait and Iraq drew 0-0 in a soccer friendly in the Gulf Arab state yesterday, the first encounter between their national teams since Iraq invaded its neighbor in 1990.
Iraqi troops sent in by Saddam Hussein occupied Kuwait for seven months, killing, jailing and torturing hundreds until evicted by US-led coalition forces in the 1991 Gulf War. Relations between the two neighbors have improved since Saddam was ousted by the US-led invasion of Iraq in March 2003.
Leading Kuwaiti daily newspaper Al-Qabas billed yesterday’s match as “historic”. The last Iraq-Kuwait soccer international, at the 1990 Gulf Cup in Kuwait, ended in a 1-1 draw.
Also watching the match was Sheikh Khaled Al-Fahd Al-Sabah, the deputy head of the Kuwaiti soccer federation.
Celtic Beaten at Home by Dunfermline
In Glasgow, leaders Celtic suffered a shock 1-0 home defeat by basement club Dunfermline in the Scottish Premier League yesterday but still stay top after rivals Hearts scraped a draw at Motherwell.
Dunfermline took a first-half lead when Greg Ross slotted the ball home from six meters after Andy Todd nodded it down to him on 17 minutes. Celtic have 38 points and Hearts 37 from 16 matches after their 1-1 draw at Motherwell. Motherwell’s on-loan Rangers player Brian McLean scored the 40th minute opener and Paul Hartley leveled with a last minute penalty.
