Newz Forum: SOCCER: Barclays Premiership results 27/11/04

Chelsea went five points clear at the top of the Barclays Premiership after a 4-0 win against Charlton at The Valley. Jose Mourinho's side were ahead after four minutes through Damien Duff's fine run and finish.

Ricardo Carvalho then hit his own post but John Terry's second-half brace sealed the win. The centre-back scored with a firm downward header from Duff's cross and then a tap-in after 50 minutes. Eidur Gudjohnsen added a fourth after 59 minutes when he stayed onside and finished past Dean Kiely.


Blackburn hauled themselves off the foot of the table with a vital 2-0 win against Fulham at Craven Cottage. Mark Hughes' side took the lead after 10 minutes through Paul Gallagher and then survived a scare when Tomasz Radzinski missed a great chance to equalise in the lunchtime clash. Zat Knight handled in the area with 14 minutes remaining, was sent off for a second bookable offence, and Paul Dickov secured the victory with a confident penalty.


New West Brom boss Bryan Robson suffered a 3-0 defeat at the hands of his old club Manchester United. The Red Devils struggled early on at The Hawthorns and Roy Carroll was forced to save from Zoltan Gera. But Paul Scholes smashed in from 20 yards early in the second half and Ruud van Nistelrooy added a second. Scholes tapped in late on to leave the Baggies bottom of the table.


Manchester City completed back-to-back Premiership wins for the first time in 19 months with a 2-0 Eastlands success over Aston Villa. Jon Macken poked home the opener on 29 minutes and Shaun Wright-Phillips blasted a superb second nine minutes later. David James made sure of the victory in the closing stages, saving a penalty from Juan Pablo Angel. To add to Villa's misery they had Lee Hendrie sent off in the dying seconds.


Managerless Portsmouth secured a hard-fought away victory against Bolton at the Reebok Stadium. Executive director Velimir Zajec was in charge for the first time after Harry Redknapp's resignation this week - and Pompey were under pressure for long periods. El-Hadji Diouf forced Jamie Ashdown into a save and Stelios Giannakopoulos also had a chance - but Arjan De Zeeuw headed the only goal of the game on the stroke of half-time.


Birmingham were held to a 1-1 draw by Norwich after failing to take advantage of their chances at St Andrews. Emile Heskey hit the bar from Darren Anderton's ninth-minute cross and Clinton Morrison headed in from close range for the opener. But the Canaries levelled through Darren Huckerby secured a valuable point for the visitors.


Southampton fought back twice to earn a point against Crystal Palace at St Mary's. Andrew Johnson headed the opener for the visitors just after half-time but the Saints hit back swiftly through Kevin Phillips. Wayne Routledge restored the lead before Andreas Jakobsson slid in to grab a point.

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