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In the English Premier League on Saturday, six matches from the 14th round took place, before which a minute of silence was held to honor the late football legend George Best. After the matches, the favorites celebrated victories - league leader Chelsea, as well as Arsenal, Liverpool, Tottenham, Aston Villa breaking their unsuccessful streak, and Birmingham winning against the underdogs.
Having sacked their coach this week, Portsmouth welcomed the league-leading Chelsea team from London and had to admit the superiority of their famous opponents. The first goal for the visitors was scored by the Argentine H. Crespo, while the second was added by F. Lampard with a penalty, making him the record holder in the Premier League - the defender has not missed a single game since September 2001 and played his 160th consecutive match, surpassing goalkeeper David James' record.
Rising to the second position were the dominant Arsenal who convincingly defeated the Blackburn team. Goals for the Gunners were scored by F. Fabregas, T. Henry, and R. van Persie. Meanwhile, another London club Tottenham conquered the resistance of Wigan as away; the scorers for the winning team were R. Keane and E. Davids, with L. McCulloch providing a consolation goal for the defeated team towards the end of the match.
Liverpool continues to climb higher after a fierce battle in Manchester, defeating local team Man City. The sole goal was scored by the Norwegian J. A. Riise with a powerful strike from the penalty area. Birmingham also secured a minimal victory away, defeating the absolute underdog Sunderland and increasing their lead to four points.
Continuing their fourth consecutive defeat was Charlton, who had a successful start to the season but this time lost to Aston Villa in Birmingham. The winning goal for the hosts, allowing them to move up to the fourteenth position in the tournament table, was scored by S. Davis, capitalizing on a rebound from M. Baros' shot off the crossbar.
Saturday's results:
- Arsenal 3 - 0 Blackburn
- 4' [1 - 0] Francesc Fabregas
- 45' [2 - 0] Thierry Henry
- 90' [3 - 0] Robin van Persie
- Aston Villa 1 - 0 Charlton
- 69' [1 - 0] Steve Davis
- Blackburn 0 - 1 Liverpool
- 61' [0 - 1] John Arne Riise
- Manchester City 0 - 1 Birmingham
- 68' [0 - 1] Julian Gray
- Portsmouth 1 - 2 Chelsea
- 8' [0 - 1] Robbie Keane
- 77' [0 - 2] Edgar Davids
- 88' [1 - 2] Lee McCulloch
- Sunderland 0 - 2 Birmingham
- 27' [0 - 1] Hernan Crespo
- 67' [0 - 2] Frank Lampard (11m.)
