Middlesbrough made a mockery of their 7/1 odds by crushing Chelsea 3-0 at the Riverside Stadium. Boro, with just one win in their last 11 Premiership matches, took the lead through Fabio Rochemback, while further strikes from Stuart Downing and Yakubu sealed a memorable victory. Chelsea, with just one win in their last five league matches, will have busted a few coupons at 2/5. Manchester United cut Chelseas lead at the top to 12 points with a convincing 3-1 win at Portsmouth. A Ruud van Nistelrooy goal and two from Ronaldo meant 8/15 United were cruising by half-time. Livepool at Evens kept up the pressure with a victory at Wigan. Defender Sami Hyypia was the unlikely match winner after 30 minutes. Arsenal and Bolton met for the second time in a fortnight and the match ended in a bad tempered draw. Kevin Nolan gave Bolton a shock lead after 12 minutes and the Trotters almost held out for an 11/2 win until Gilberto levelled the match in injury time. Evertons moved up to tenth with a 1-0 victory over Blackburn. Goalkeeper Iain Turner was sent off after nine minutes and was replaced by another debutante in 19-year-old John Ruddy. However, the 10-men of Everton took the lead through James Beattie after 33 minutes and held on to win at 5/4. Newcastle made it two wins out of two for caretaker manager Glenn Roeder with a 2-1 victory at Aston Villa. Shola Ameobi gave the Magpies the lead after two minutes but in-form Luke Moore levelled for Villa with his fifth goal in three matches. Charles NZogbia netted for the second successive week to seal a 14/5 win. A last gasp goal from Daryl Murphy salvaged a point for rock-bottom Sunderland. Tottenham Hotspur, 7/10 favourites on the day, took the lead on 38 minutes through Robbie Keane and were cruising to victory until two minutes remaining. Manchester City edged Charlton 3-2 thanks to a stunning 35 yard effort from Joey Barton. City, 9/10 favourites, took a first half lead through Richard Dunne but Darren Bent levelled. Substitute George Samaras made an instant impact and Barton blasted home on 62. The biggest win of the weekend came at Craven Cottage where Fulham crushed relegation threatened West Brom 6-1. Two goals each from Heidur Helguson and Collins John, Tomasz Radzinski and an own goal from Curtis Davies sealed a fine win at 5/6. |
