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Today, the 17th round matches of the English Premier League took place, where spectators certainly did not lack excitement - a total of 24 goals were scored in seven matches, or an average of about 3.4 goals per match. The most intense matches took place in Portsmouth, where the local team defeated West Bromwich Albion after Bulgarian Svetoslav Todorov's goal, and in London, where Fulham won by one goal against Blackburn Rovers. In other matches, the winner did not raise many doubts. Michael Owen, who scored a hat-trick, led Newcastle to victory in the most productive matches of the day. Goals from R. van Nistelrooy and W. Rooney allowed Manchester to beat Aston Villa and solidify their second place in the standings. Playing at home, Everton's footballers suffered a real humiliation - Bolton's team scored four goals against them. Three of them were scored by Liverpool's team in just five minutes. Wigan's team played fairly confidently, with H. Camara scoring a hat-trick at home against Charlton Athletic. In the later match between Manchester City and Birmingham, the Manchester team also left no chances for the visitors, crushing them 4-1. Saturday Statistics: Manchester United 0 - 2 Bolton Wanderers 10` [0 - 1] R. van Nistelrooy 51` [0 - 2] W. Rooney Manchester City 4 - 1 Birmingham City 1` [1 - 0] D. Sommeil 15` [2 - 0] J. Barton (pen.) 40` [3 - 0] A. Sibierski 70` [4 - 0] B. Wright-Phillips 76` [4 - 1] J. Jarosik 90` N. Vaesen (Birmingham) sent off Charlton Athletic 0 - 4 Wigan Athletic 27` [0 - 1] K. Davies 75` [0 - 2] S. Giannakopoulos 79` [0 - 3] G. Speed (pen.) 80` [0 - 4] S. Giannakopoulos Fulham 2 - 1 Blackburn Rovers 45` [1 - 0] P. B. Diop 52` [2 - 0] L. B. Morte 90` [2 - 1] Z. Knight (own goal) Portsmouth 1 - 0 West Bromwich Albion 56` [1 - 0] S. Todorov Wigan Athletic 3 - 0 Charlton Athletic 9` [1 - 0] H. Camara 51` [2 - 0] H. Camara 63` [3 - 0] H. Camara Newcastle United 2 - 4 Aston Villa 5` [0 - 1] M. Owen 20` [1 - 1] N. Solano (own goal) 43` [1 - 2] M. Owen 66` [1 - 3] A. Shearer 73` [2 - 3] M. Harewood 90` [2 - 4] M. Owen
