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Villains beat Boro Chelsea's Lampard secures 3-2 win over LeedsPosted: Tuesday January 28, 2003 6:32 PMLONDON (Reuters) -- Midfielder Frank Lampard scored one goal and made both the others as Chelsea twice came from behind to beat Leeds United 3-2 in a thrilling English premier league game at Stamford Bridge on Tuesday. Aston Villa won a seven-goal clash at Middlesborough 5-2, with England striker Darius Vassell scoring twice as the visitors earned their first away league win of the season and Boro suffered their first home defeat. Southampton edged Sunderland 1-0 away with James Beattie's 17th goal of the season, while defender-turned-goalscorer Steve Watson got both goals as Everton won 2-1 at struggling Bolton Wanderers. Chelsea's victory maintains their challenge for a Champions League place, if not an outside shot at the title, despite twice trailing to goals from Leeds' Australian striker Harry Kewell and defender Teddy Lucic. Lampard started out his one-man show by providing the cross for Iceland striker Eidur Gudjohnsen to score with a stunning overhead kick in the 57th minute. The Chelsea midfielder then added the second himself in the 80th minute with a rasping drive from the edge of the area and finished off with a shot that was turned into the net by Leeds defender Dominic Matteo three minutes later. Chelsea's points Fourth-placed Chelsea moved onto 44 points, behind Newcastle United (45), Manchester United (47) and leaders Arsenal (52). Lampard laid claim to two goals, telling Sky Sports: "They were both deflections, but the second one I'll have to claim. "It was unfortunate [for Matteo] -- when you're running back like that it's very hard to turn and clear the ball. But it was going in anyway." Leeds manager Terry Venables was clearly disappointed at losing a game he thought his team had won. "We'd done so well, we'd led twice and kept our team very compact. As the game went on, we got stretched a little bit -- but the goals they got, one's a deflection, one's an own goal. "You can't blame Dom -- you'd clear that 99 times out of 100. It was just one of those things," Venables said. "Overall I thought we deserved to at least get something out of the game, and I thought we were going to win it. Everyone's disappointed." Leeds slipped one place to 13th in the 20-team standings. Villa manager Graham Taylor was delighted with the upturn in his team's fortunes -- they had only scored four goals away in the league all season before Tuesday. Having been 2-0 up midway through the second half, Villa went in at the break drawing 2-2 after goals from Vassell and Iceland midfielder Joey Gudjonsson, on his debut, were cancelled out by Massimo Maccarone and Jonathan Greening. The turning point came just after the re-start when a stray drive from German midfielder Thomas Hitzlsperger found Gareth Barry in the area and the defender made no mistake. "Gareth got in the way of Thomas's shot," Taylor conceded. "But they're the little things that have been missing from our game, particularly in away matches -- that little rub of the green that hasn't always gone our way. "That set us up very well for the second half," he said, where further goals from Vassell and Dion Dublin followed. Dickov guides Leicester home at ReadingLONDON (Reuters) -- Leicester City closed to within two points of first division leaders Portsmouth on Tuesday after striker Paul Dickov struck twice in a 3-1 victory at Reading. Dickov put the visitors ahead after 17 minutes at the Madejski stadium and then converted a penalty before defender Matt Heath added a third before the break. Andy Hughes pulled one back after the re-start for Reading but the match was beyond the hosts' reach. The win left Leicester on 58 points, with Portsmouth on 60 and Reading, in seventh place, on 43.
Match reports
LONDON (Reuters) -- English Premier League match reports on Tuesday: BOLTON WANDERERS 1 EVERTON 2 Everton clocked their second consecutive league win thanks to an unlikely match-winner, defender Steve Watson, playing in a more midfield role. Bolton made a bright start, with a Michael Ricketts header and an Ivan Campo volley both flying wide of the mark as Sam Allardyce's men looked for points to avoid the drop. But they were rocked by Watson's two goals before the break -- a superb overhead kick that caught Jussi Jaaskelainen stranded and a tap-in after the Finnish goalkeeper had done well to parry Gary Naysmith's shot. Delroy Facey got Bolton's consolation goal in the 90th minute, but the defeat kept struggling Wanderers at the wrong end of the table. - - - - CHELSEA 3 LEEDS UNITED 2 Chelsea showed some poor defending but real fighting spirit as they twice came from behind to earn a precious victory thanks to midfielder Frank Lampard. Leeds were ahead after 18 minutes when a long ball upfield ball was headed on by Mark Viduka for fellow Australian Harry Kewell, who got behind his marker John Terry and chested the ball down for a tip-of-the-boot volley past Carlo Cudicini. Chelsea piled on the pressure and were rewarded when Iceland striker Eidur Gudjohnsen met Lampard's cross from the right with a stunning overhead kick in the 57th minute, which rocketed into the corner past goalkeeper Paul Robinson. Defender Teddy Lucic scored his first goal for Leeds in the 66th minute, prodding the ball home in a goalmouth melee after the Chelsea defense failed to clear Alan Smith's corner but Lampard leveled 10 minutes from time with a rasping shot after Boudewijn Zenden's cross into the box. Lampard finished off with a close-range shot that Leeds defender Dominic Matteo turned into his own net in the 83rd minute. - - - - MIDDLESBROUGH 2 ASTON VILLA 5 A night for Middlesbrough goalkeeper Mark Schwarzer to forget as Boro suffered their first home defeat of the season and Villa claimed their first away win. Schwarzer lost a one-on-one with England striker Darius Vassell after 24 minutes and seven minutes later allowed a long-range free kick from Iceland midfielder Joey Gudjonsson, making his debut on loan from Spanish club Real Betis, to slip past him. Boro hit back with two quick goals, a header from Italian striker Massimo Maccarone and a cool finish from Jonathan Greening, to go in all square at the break. But Villa were back in front just three minutes after the restart when a wild shot from German midfielder Thomas Hitzlsperger found defender Gareth Barry, who easily beat Schwarzer. Vassell put the result beyond doubt in the 81st minute with a searing shot and Dion Dublin turned it into a rout, nodding home a Barry cross in the 90th minute. - - - - SUNDERLAND 0 SOUTHAMPTON 1 Southampton striker James Beattie stepped up his bid for an England call-up for next month's friendly against Australia, scoring his 17th goal of the season to secure a morale-boosting victory for Gordon Strachan's side. The visitors had already threatened in the first half when French midfielder Fabrice Fernandes hit the post with a free-kick but Beattie made no mistake in the 50th minute, collecting a long ball upfield before rounding Danish goalkeeper Thomas Sorensen and slotting home. The win followed Southampton's last-minute equaliser in their 1-1 FA Cup fourth round draw last weekend with first division Millwall after losing their unbeaten home record to Liverpool in the league.
Copyright 2003 Reuters Limited. All rights reserved. |
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