|
 |   |
|
EVENTS Fantasy Central Inside Game Multimedia Central Statitudes Your Turn Message Boards Email Newsletters Golf Guide Cities Work in Sports
CNNSI.com GROUP
COMMERCE |  |
Owen limps off Wednesday wins at Spurs to climb off the bottom
Posted: Saturday January 22, 2000 02:15 PM
LONDON (AP) -- Swedish star Niclas Alexandersson lifted Sheffield Wednesday off last place in the Premier League on Saturday with the only goal in a 1-0 upset win at Tottenham. The Swede's first half strike gave Wednesday its first away win of the season as Danny Wilson's team made it three games unbeaten. The win gave Wednesday 16 points from 22 games and Graham Taylor's Watford, a 3-2 loser at fellow struggler Bradford, dropped to last with 14 from 23. A Peter Beagrie penalty and strikes by Gareth Whalley and Andrew O'Brien gave Bradford the points at Valley Parade where Watford hit back through Micah Hyde and Icelandic forward Heidar Helguson. With four of the top five teams not in action on Saturday, fourth place Liverpool had the chance to make ground on top club Leeds but labored to a 0-0 tie at home to struggling Middlesbrough. Further bad news for Liverpool and England was that Michael Owen once again went off injured after just 29 minutes. The talented England forward has been repeatedly hit by hamstring and leg muscle injuries. The tie meant that Gerard Houllier's team remains fourth with 41 points from 23 games while leader Leeds, 44 from 21, visits fifth place Sunderland on Sunday. Second place and defending titlist Manchester United, 43 from 19, hosts third place Arsenal, 43 from 22, on Monday. Aston Villa and Chelsea tied 0-0 with George Weah, on-loan to the Blues from AC Milan, twice foiled by Villa 'keeper David James. Costa Rican striker Paolo Wanchope, whose form since he moved to West Ham from Derby has been poor, scored twice in a 3-1 win at Leicester, where the home lineup missed eight regular players because of injury and suspension. Paolo Di Canio scored the other Hammers goal while Emile Heskey replied for the Foxes. Newcastle's charge up the standings was halted by a 2-0 loss at Wimbledon, whose scorers were Robbie Earle and Marcus Gayle and Bobby Robson's team slipped back two places to 15th. Southampton improved its survival chances with a 2-0 victory over Everton with goals from Norwegian signing Jo Tessem and Matthew Oakley, while fourth-from-last Derby was held 0-0 at home by Coventry. Division One leader Charlton moved four points clear after a 3-0 win at Norwich with all three goals coming from Andy Hunt while second place Manchester City lost 1-0 at improving Sheffield Wednesday and Barnsley moved up to third by crushing Blackburn 5-1. Scottish champion and Premier League leader Rangers scored a 5-0 victry over last place Aberdeen at Ibrox Park to open up a seven point gap. Craig Brown, Giovanni van Bronkhorst, Artur Numan, Danny Wallace and Barry Ferguson were all on the mark. Celtic can cut that back to four by winning at Kilmarnock on Sunday. Match detailsAston Villa 0 Chelsea 0 George Weah hit the post and then had a header and a shot acrobatically saved by David James. At the other end, Villa defender Ugo Ehiogu headed into the crowd instead of the Chelsea net from close range. Bradford 3 Watford 2 (2-1) Peter Beagrie gave Bradford the lead with a 25th minute penalty after Dean Windas had been pushed over but Micah Hyde leveled for the Hornets in the 33rd. Four minutes later Gareth Whalley restored Bradford's lead and Andrew O'Brien made it 3-1 four minutes into the second half. Heidar Helguson added a second for Watford three minutes from the end. Derby 0 Coventry 0 Belgian striker Cedric Roussel, who confirmed his transfer to the Sky Blues having previously been on loan from Ghent, hit the post on 73 minutes after a clearance by Derby's Lars Bohinen had been charged down. Derby's Jamaican striker Deon Burton hit the Sky Blues crossbar. Leicester 1 West Ham 3 (1-2) Paolo Wanchope fired the Hammers ahead in the 13th minute only or Emile Heskey to level in the 24th. Wanchope struck again in the final minutes of the first half and Paolo Di Canio added West Ham's third in the 64th. Liverpool 0 Middlesbrough 0 Defense-minded Boro had five players across the midfield and only one striker as Bryan Robson's team sought a tie after a run of embarrassing losses. Liverpool almost grabbed the three points near the end but Boro's Australian goalkeeper Mark Schwarzer saved well from Patrik Berger and defender Gary Pallister block Danny Murphy's follow up shot. Manager Gerard Houllier told reporters Owen had made a "wise decision" in coming off after a recurrence of a hamstring strain, and that the 20-year-old would undergo tests to determine the extent of the problem. Owen missed five months and several Euro 2000 qualifiers last year because of his injury. He returned early this season. Liverpool's attacking options already were hurt by the suspension of Titi Camara and Robbie Fowler's injury. Southampton 2 Everton 0 (0-0) Norwegian forward Jo Tessem fired Saints ahead two minutes into the second half with a 20-yard strike and Matthew Oakley beat two Everton defenders before shooting the second in the 56th minute. There were no heroics this week from American striker Joe-Max Moore, who came on in the 79th minute. Tottenham 0 Sheffield Wednesday 1 (0-1) Niklas Alexandersson netted his sixth goal of the season seven minutes before half time with a low right foot shot after good approach work by Dutchmen Gerald Sibon and Wim Jonk. Spurs hit back and David Ginola hit the post and Wednesday goalkeper Pavel Srnicek made several good saves. Wimbledon 2 Newcastle 0 (0-0) Robbie Earle rolled in his fifth goal of the season after Magpies goalkeeper flapped at a free kick. Marcus Gayle added the second in the 69th when he headed in Kenny Cunningham's right wind cross for his seventh of the season.
| ||||||||||||||||||||
