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The Saturday was particularly unsuccessful for London's "Chelsea" star defender John Terry. The guests took the lead already in the second minute of the match, as Fabio Rochemback scored after a Yakubu pass, outwitting J. Terry. Just ten minutes later, "Middlesbrough" could have doubled the lead, but Stewart Downing's shot from eighteen meters was brilliantly saved by Petr Cech.
However, the hosts managed to double the lead in the first half, with Downing once again making the difference - receiving the ball outside the penalty area after J. Terry had cleared it, the Englishman entered the penalty area, outsmarted the defender, and sent the ball into the far corner of the goal with a weak but very accurate shot.
The second half started with a strong pressure from "Chelsea", but the excellent performance of the "Middlesbrough" goalkeeper prevented the league leaders from scoring. In the middle of the half, Yakubu scored a goal that turned the result into a rout: receiving the ball in the left corner after a defender's mistake, the Nigerian entered the penalty area, outwitted J. Terry, and sent the ball into P. Cech's goal.
Although "Chelsea" had several opportunities to soften the result before the end of the match, "Middlesbrough" also did not pull back, almost scoring a fourth goal in the 83rd minute - only a great save by P. Cech saved the London team.
12 points behind "Chelsea" is now "Man Utd", who, thanks to a fantastic performance by Cristiano Ronaldo, defeated "Portsmouth" away. The guests took the lead after Ryan Giggs shot a deflected ball into an empty net, and Ruud van Nistelrooy directed it, and just before the break, C. Ronaldo added two goals with accurate shots. In the second half, the hosts played more successfully and managed to score a consolation goal at the end of the match, but it did not save them from defeat.
It has been a tougher period for "Liverpool" lately - Rafa Benitez's team defeated "Wigan" only after a single goal by defender Sami Hyypia. Meanwhile, all three teams below Liverpool managed to earn just one point each: "Tottenham" failed to beat the bottom-placed "Sunderland" away, and "Arsenal" snatched a deserved point at home against "Bolton" with a goal from Gilberto Silva in the last minute.
"Everton" extended their unbeaten streak to seven matches, defeating "Blackburn" at home with a minimal advantage, while "Man City" beat "Charlton" 3-2. In the latter match, four out of five goals were scored in fifteen minutes of the second half, and an unstoppable shot by Joey Barton from 30 meters determined the victory for the Manchester team.
The biggest victory of the season was achieved by "Fulham", crushing "West Brom" 6-1 at home. London's team players Heidar Helguson and Collins John scored two goals each, Tomas Radzinski added one, and an own goal by Curtis Davies. A consolation goal for the guests was scored by Kevin Campbell.
After Graeme Souness's dismissal, "Newcastle" secured their second consecutive victory, this time winning against local team "Aston Villa" in Birmingham - although an early goal by Shola Ameobi was "equalized" by Stefan Moore, Newcastle's victory was sealed by Charles N'Zogbia.
In the last round of matches, on Monday the "West Ham" club will seek a victory against "Birmingham" to have a chance in the battle for a place in European cup tournaments, while on Tuesday, in a postponed match for the Club World Championship, "Liverpool" will host the "Arsenal" team at their stadium.
26th round statistics
0 - 1 30` [0 - 1] Sami Hyypia
1 - 1 12` [0 - 1] Kevin Nolan 90` [1 - 1] Gilberto Silva
1 - 2 2` [0 - 1] Shola Ameobi 16` [1 - 1] Stefan Moore 29` [1 - 2] Charles N'Zogbia
61` Celestine Babyaro ("Newcastle") sent off the field
6 - 1 4` [1 - 0] Heidar Helguson 40` [2 - 0] Heidar Helguson 48` [3 - 0] Tomasz Radzinski 58` [4 - 0] Curtis Davies (own goal) 83` [5 - 0] Collins John 85` [5 - 1] Kevin Campbell 90` [6 - 1] Collins John
1 - 0 33` [1 - 0] James Beattie
9` Iain Turner ("Everton") sent off the field
3 - 0 2` [1 - 0] Fabio Rochemback 45` [2 - 0] Stewart Downing 68` [3 - 0] Yakubu
1 - 3 18` [0 - 1] Ruud Van Nistelrooy 38` [0 - 2] Cristiano Ronaldo 45` [0 - 3] Cristiano Ronaldo 88` [1 - 3] Matthew Taylor
1 - 1 38` [0 - 1] Robbie Keane 89` [1 - 1] Daryl Murphy
3 - 2 22` [1 - 0] Richard Dunne 51` [1 - 1] Darren Bent 54` [2 - 1] Giorgios Samaras 62` [3 - 1] Joey Barton 67` [3 - 2] Marcus Bent
League Table
