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Leeds stays on top Man United downs Bradford; Sunderland crumbles
Posted: Sunday December 26, 1999 03:27 PM
LONDON (AP) -- Leeds hit back from a goal down to edge Leicester 2-1 on Sunday and stay two points clear of defending champion Manchester United in the Premier League. Strikes by Michael Bridges and Lee Bowyer mean that David O'Leary's team have 44 points from 19 games -- its halfway point of the campaign -- while United, a 4-0 winner over struggling Bradford, has 42 from 18. South African midfielder Quentin Fortune ended 75 minutes of Bradford resistence at Old Trafford by scoring the first United goal, and more then followed quickly from Dwight Yorke, Andy Cole and Roy Keane. Third place Sunderland surprisingly crumbled 5-0 at Everton with Scottish midfielder Don Hutchison scoring twice and Arsenal lost 3-2 at Coventry while Newcastle and Liverpool tied 2-2, Michael Owen netting both goals for the visitor. England midfielder Tim Sherwood scored twice as Tottenham returned to form with a 4-0 crushing of next-to-last Watford at White Hart Lane. David Ginola and Steffen Iverson had scored before half time for Spurs which came off a 6-1 loss at Newcastle in an FA Cup replay. Two first half goals from Norwegian striker Tore Andre Flo guided Chelsea to a 2-1 win at Southampton to revive the title hopes of Gianluca Vialli's team which fielded Brazilian defender Emerson Thome -- a recent signing from Sheffield Wednesday -- for the first time. Kevin Davies replied late for the Saints. Last-place Sheffield Wednesday gained a rare victory, a 1-0 scoreline over sliding Middlesbrough and moved within two points of Watford. In other games it was: Derby 0-Aston Villa 2 and Wimbledon 2-West Ham 2. After Hutchison's two strikes at Goodison Park, Francis Jeffers added a third for Everton just before half time. And it got worse for Sunderland as Mark Pembridge and Kevin Campbell added two more after the break. Veteran Scottish midfielder Gary McAllister scored with a deflected 25-yard shot and Moroccan forward Mustapha Hadji floated another shot past David Seaman as Coventry took control against Arsenal at Highfield Road. Although Fredrik Ljungberg hit back for the Gunners, Robbie Keane made it 3-1 and Davor Suker's strike four minutes from the end was too late for Arsene Wenger's team to avoid a fifth loss which leaves fourth-place Arsenal eight points behind Leeds at the halfway stage. Newcastle went ahead at St. James Park when Alan Shearer netted his 17th goal of the season only for Owen, his England strike partner, to turn the game Liverpool's way with two goals. But Bobby Robson's team, climbing steadily away from relegation trouble, gained a deserved point thanks to a header from Duncan Ferguson. Derby lost for the eighth time in nine home league games as second half strikes by Dutch midfielder George Boateng an Ian Taylor gave Villa a 2-0 victory to ease the pressure on manager John Gregory. Peter Atherton was Sheffield Wednesday's matchwinning hero in the first half against Middlesbrough at Hillsborough and not even the first appearance of teen-age Argentina star Carlos Marinelli as a second half substitute could turn the game. Wimbledon was forced to play without leading scorers Carl Cort and Marcus Gayle but still took the lead through Hermann Hreidarsson in the 33rd minute. The Hammers' Trevor Sinclair leveled on the stroke of halftime and Frank Lamard added a second nine minutes from the end but Neal Ardley snatched a point for the home team with a leveler in the 85th after West Ham goalkeeper Shaka Hislop had dropped a cross. Manchester City climbed to the top of division one with a 2-0 win at West Bromwich Albion as Huddersfield surrendered the leadership after a 1-1 tie at Crewe. In another division one game, Ian Moore, who started the game on the bench because he had been stuck in traffic and arrived late, went on to score twice in Stockport's 3-2 win over Wolves, his winner coming in the final minute.
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