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Faltering finishes Man Utd, Arsenal blow leads late, settle for draws
Updated: Saturday December 30, 2000 1:30 PM
LONDON (AP) -- Arsenal missed a chance to gain ground on Premiership leader Manchester United on Saturday by conceding two second-half goals in a 2-2 draw to Sunderland, while Ipswich continued its surprising climb up the table. Man United also allowed a late equalizer by host Newcastle in a 1-1 draw. The defending champions maintained an eight-point lead over Arsenal at 47 points to 39, and Ipswich nudged into third place with 37 points by defeating Tottenham 3-0. Four Premiership matches -- Aston Villa vs. Leicester, Bradford vs. Liverpool, Everton vs. Leeds and West Ham vs. Chelsea -- were postponed due to extremely cold and snowy weather. Newcastle appeared headed to a home defeat after Man United staked an early 1-0 lead on a penalty shot by midfielder David Beckham and kept Magpies scoreless deep into the second half. But manager Bobby Robson took a gamble with 15 minutes remaining by bringing on three substitutions; Stephen Glass, Lomana Lua Lua and Daniel Cordone. All three touched the ball in an attack that ended with Glass slamming home a loose ball with just nine minutes remaining. "I think the introduction of Cordone, Lua Lua and Glass just gave us some fresh legs at the most crucial time of the match," Robson said. "They're hungry players and they proved it." Arsenal started strong as midfielder Patrick Vieira -- sent off against Sunderland in the opening game of the season -- scored in the fifth minute by comfortably out-jumping the scrum on a corner kick and nodding home a header. Lee Dixon doubled the lead as the Gunners had at least half-a-dozen good chances in the first half, but Sunderland stole the momentum in the second half and forced the draw. A Vieira hand ball led to a Kevin Phillips penalty shot in the 53rd minute and the equalizer came in the 83rd as Gavin McCann ran down a loose ball and sent a shot that curled around 'keeper Alex Manninger and into the net. Ipswich left Tottenham still looking for its first away win of the season. Spurs got off to a bad start as Ipswich captain Matt Holland broke clear in the 9th minute and sent a cross from the left side that was flat missed by Alun Armstrong but collected by Marcus Stewart, who easily tapped the ball in from six yards (meters) out. Armstrong did not miss a second chance in the 62nd minute. A series of crisp Ipswich passes collapsed the Tottenham defense, and Stewart found Armstrong unmarked in perfect position for another short goal. Substitute Jamie Clapham added a third goal just before injury time. Four matches were postponed in the English First Division due to weather. In the remaining matches: on Saturday: Blackburn 1, Crewe 0; Bolton 0, West Brom 1; Huddersfield 0, Sheffield Wednesday 0; Nottingham Forest 0, Norwich 0; Queens Park Rangers 1, Crystal Palace 1; Sheffield United 3, Preston 2; Wolves 3, Stockport 2. In a Friday night match, Watford beat home side Barnesly 1-0. Only two of six matches in the Scottish Premier League survived the weather: Hibernian 1, Dundee United 0; St. Johnstone 2, Hearts 2. Arsenal 2, Sunderland 2 (2-0) It was a tale of two halves at Highbury as Arsenal dominated the first and fell apart in the second. The penalty came when the referee ruled that Vieira had handled the ball while trying to clear his area after a throw-in. Phillips got his 10th goal of the season and fourth in two matches on the spot-kick. Gunners striker Thierry Henry was silenced except for a couple off target chances after bagging a hat trick on Boxing Day against Leicester. He was substituted out late in the second half Ipswich 3, Tottenham 0 (1-0) Spurs manager George Graham left record signing Sergei Rebrov and Chris Armstrong out of the starting lineup in the hope of breathing new life into the team, which hasn't won in six matches. The changes made little difference as Spurs failed to score in their third straight match. "That was easily our worst performance of the season." Graham said. "We've lost confidence away from home." Manchester City 1, Charlton 4 (0-2) Slack defense by Man City gave Finnish midfielder Jonatan Johansson two goals and Charlton a rare win away from home. Johansson grabbed his first in the 26th minute when City defender Richard Dunne failed to clear his lines. The second came 11 minutes later when a bad pass was intercepted by Radostin Kishishev, who drove downfield and squared the ball to the Finn, who drilled it high into the net. Graham Stuart added a third off a second-half penalty, and Claus Jensen made it 4-0 just a minute before full time. City manager Joe Royle brought in fresh signing Darren Huckerby just before halftime in hope of inspiring some offense, and the former Leeds player scored a consolation goal off a 90th minute penalty. Middlesbrough 1, Coventry 1 (0-1) New head coach Terry Venables' honeymoon appeared over at Middlesbrough, but a late equalizer by Alen Boksic salvaged a point for the rebounding club. In a close battle of clubs flirting with relegation, Boro defender Noel Whelan had a 26th birthday to forget by scoring an own goal that cost his team two points. It came in the 41st minute as Whelan tried to clear a poorly delivered Coventry corner but mistakenly smashed the ball past startled 'keeper Mark Schwartzer. Newcastle 1, Manchester United 1 (0-1) Ryan Giggs was brought down by Andy Griffin inside the penalty area, and after several seconds of deliberation the referee awarded the penalty. Beckham ignored the protests from the St. James' Park fans as he blasted the spot-kick into the roof of the net for his eighth league goal of the season. Southampton 1, Derby 0 (0-0) Southampton forward James Beattie scored his 10th goal in 10 games in the 73rd minute to break Derby's streak of two matches without conceding a goal. Beattie headed home a cross by Marian Pahars, leaving Derby hovering above the relegation zone. The match nearly didn't happen as the referee decided on a second inspection of The Dell pitch -- patched with frost and ice and lines painted red to make them visible -- to let play begin.
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