with a curling shot 17 minutes from time.
Three of the 30 goals scored in nine top-level matches came from Michael Owen who inspired improving Newcastle to a 4-2 win at West Ham, while Senegal’s Henri Camara also notched a hat-trick as Wigan bounced back to winning ways, 3-0 at home to out-of-sorts Charlton. Another struggling side, Birmingham, were hammered 4-1 at Manchester City, while Everton crashed 4-0 at home to fifth-in-the-table Bolton who scored three times in the last 15 minutes.
Goals from Ruud van Nistelrooy and Wayne Rooney at Villa Park earned second-placed Manchester United a 2-0 win over Aston Villa, while Tottenham are up to third after Mido, the powerful Egypt frontman, headed an 83rd-minute equaliser in a 3-3 draw at Middlesbrough for whom Nigeria’s Yakubu scored twice.
Bulgaria’s Svetoslav Todorov chipped in his first club goal in two-and-a-half injury-plagued years as Portsmouth, deep in relegation trouble, celebrated new manager Harry Redknapp’s first home match by battling to a 1-0 win over West Bromwich. And Papa Bouba Diop, the muscular midfielder from Senegal, opened the scoring for Fulham as they beat visitors Blackburn 2-1.
In the Championship, leaders Reading are now six points clear after stretching their unbeaten run to 23 matches with a 2-0 win at Millwall. Striker Dean Ashton, a target for several big clubs, hit a hat-trick as Norwich, playing at home, came from behind to beat Southampton 3-1 in the snow.
Celtic, having just signed Irish legend Roy Keane, now head the Scottish Premier by four points, despite being held 1-1 at Inverness for whom Craig Dargo scored in the first minute and then missed a penalty. Second-placed Hearts lost ground by going down 1-0 to a Peter Lovenkrands goal at Rangers.
Post published in: Zimbabwe Sports News