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On Wednesday, six matches of the 2nd round took place in the English Premier League championship. A sensation occurred in the match between Middlesbrough and champions Chelsea. In extra time, Middlesbrough managed to snatch a victory with a score of 2-1 against Chelsea. Meanwhile, another giant, Man Utd, unlike Chelsea, crushed Charlton 3-0 away and became the sole leader of the tournament. The first matches of the 2nd round started at Villa Park stadium, where the local Aston Villa hosted visitors from Reading. The match started energetically, and in the 4th minute, Reading took the lead with Kevin Doyle. After conceding the goal, the Aston Villa team did not give up, and in the 14th minute, Juan Pablo Angel managed to equalize the score with a header, but the linesman ruled it offside. From that moment on, Reading faced difficulties. In the 33rd minute, Ibrahim Sonko was sent off for a harsh foul in the penalty area against Luke Moore, and Juan Pablo Angel stepped up to take the penalty kick. The Colombian forward missed the target and leveled the score. In the middle of the second half, Peter Whittingham appeared instead of Jlloyd Samuel for Aston Villa, who perfectly passed the ball to team captain Gareth Barry in the 61st minute, and he scored the second goal past Reading goalkeeper Magnus Hahnemann. This was Aston Villa's first victory of the season under the new coach Martin O'Neill. At the same time, a match was held in Manchester, where the local Man City and Portsmouth clashed. Man City suffered a crushing defeat to Chelsea last weekend, losing 3-0, and wanted to retaliate against Portsmouth. In contrast, the changes in Portsmouth this summer helped the team defeat Blackburn 3-0 by the same scoreline in the first round. The match started evenly. Neither team showed superiority. However, Manchester players showed more desire to win all three points. In the 23rd minute, Joey Barton took a shot from distance, but former teammate goalkeeper David James easily caught the ball. In the second half, Joey Barton repeated his attempt in the 49th minute with a dangerous penalty shot, but the ball did not find the target inside the Portsmouth goal. Portsmouth lost Portuguese defender Pedro Mendes in the 52nd minute, who suffered a serious injury. The match continued with no significant attacks, and it ended in a goalless draw. This meant that Man City earned their first points in the championship and climbed off the bottom of the league table. A sensation occurred in the match between Middlesbrough and champions Chelsea. As expected, Chelsea players were more active at the start of the match and managed to score a goal in the 17th minute when Wayne Bridge provided the assist to new signing Andriy Shevchenko. The Ukrainian striker scored his first goal in the league. Chelsea continued their pressure, and in the 23rd minute, another newcomer Salomon Kalou took a shot, but this time missed the target. In the 31st minute, the Ukrainian legionnaire struck a precise shot from about 30 yards, but Middlesbrough goalkeeper Mark Schwarzer played excellently. There weren't many more dangerous moments in the first half, and the players went for a break with the score 1-0. The second half started quietly, but in the 62nd minute, Chelsea launched a dangerous attack. A. Shevchenko burst down the wing and provided an excellent pass to Frank Lampard, who headed the ball strongly from about 12 yards, hitting the crossbar. However, Chelsea's game collapsed after this dangerous moment. In the 80th minute, Paulo Ferreira fouled Fabio Rochemback. The young Stewart Downing stepped up to take the penalty kick. He delivered an accurate cross to Emanuel Pogatetz, who headed in to equalize against Chelsea's goalkeeper Carlo Cudicini. In extra time, Australian national team captain and striker Mark Viduka managed to score another goal and snatch a surprising victory against Chelsea. After this setback, Chelsea currently occupy the 7th position in the league table. Meanwhile, Chelsea's main rivals, Man Utd, crushed Charlton away and now lead the league table. Man Utd players started the first half very actively. Several Cristiano Ronaldo attacks and Wayne Rooney's attempts almost resulted in goals. However, the first real opportunity was recorded in the 25th minute when Ryan Giggs's penalty shot hit the post. The same R. Giggs in the 43rd minute carried out an excellent run on the left wing, but his shot into the penalty area went weakly straight to goalkeeper Stephen Andersen. Finally, the first goal of the match came at the start of the second half. In the 49th minute, Darren Fletcher took advantage of Jon Fortune's mistake and scored the first goal for Man Utd from close range. The "Red Devils" sharpened their attacks more and more, and in the 58th minute, Ji-Sung Park hit the post. Towards the end of the match, the second goal came in the 80th minute. This time, Frenchman Louis Saha broke through into the penalty area and directed the ball into the bottom right corner of the goal with a strong shot. It seemed that the match would end with this result, but veteran Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, who came on as a substitute, sealed the deal for Manchester United in these matches. In the 89th minute, L. Saha provided an excellent assist to the Norwegian, who only had to send the ball into the empty net. The 3-0 victory made the "Red Devils" the sole leaders of the championship. In another match, Blackburn and Everton teams met. The match ended in a 1-1 draw. In the 50th minute, Blackburn's newcomer Benni McCarthy scored, while Everton equalized in the 85th minute through Australian Tim Cahill. The match between Fulham and Bolton ended with the same result. In the 73rd minute, Senegalese El-Hadji Diouf gave the lead to the visitors, while in the 90th minute, a penalty awarded to Fulham was calmly converted by Jimmy Bullard. Results of Wednesday's 2nd round of the English Premier League: Aston Villa 2 - 1 Reading 4' [0 - 1] Kevin Doyle 34' [1 - 1] Juan Pablo Angel (pen.) 61' [2 - 1] Gareth Barry Man City 0 - 0 Portsmouth Middlesbrough 2 - 1 Chelsea 17' [0 - 1] Andriy Shevchenko 80' [1 - 1] Emanuel Pogatetz 90' [2 - 1] Mark Viduka Charlton 0 - 3 Man Utd 49' [0 - 1] Darren Fletcher 80' [0 - 2] Louis Saha 90' [0 - 3] Ole Gunnar Solskjaer Blackburn 1 - 1 Everton 50' [1 - 0] Benni McCarthy 85' [1 - 1] Tim Cahill Fulham 1 - 1 Bolton 73' [0 - 1] El-Hadji Diouf 90' [1 - 1] Jimmy Bullard
