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On Sunday, two more matches of the 27th round were played in the English Premier League. The favorites secured victories - Bolton defeated Fulham, while London's Arsenal, after a tough and back-and-forth battle at home, overcame Wigan.
2 - 1
23' [1 - 0] Garry Speed (from the penalty spot)
50' [2 - 0] Kevin Nolan
66' [2 - 1] Zat Knight
At the start of the match, both teams played sluggishly, with players struggling with the bumpy field. Just when Fulham seemed to be finding their rhythm and taking the initiative, the hosts unexpectedly broke through - Michael Brown brought down Nicolas Anelka from behind in the penalty area, leaving the referee with no choice but to award a penalty kick.
Taking the penalty kick, experienced 37-year-old G. Speed didn't make a mistake and effortlessly sent the ball into Jan Lastuvka's goal.
After conceding the goal, Fulham faltered and their game fell apart. In the first half alone, Abdoulaye Meite and Andranik Teymouria had chances, but the former lacked accuracy and the latter's shot was saved by the goalkeeper.
However, early in the second half, to the delight of the crowded spectators, Bolton doubled their lead - Nicky Hunt passed the ball into the penalty area, and although Stelios Giannakopoulos' shot hit the crossbar, Kevin Nolan was the first to react and beat J. Lastuvka for the second time.
After this episode, the visitors had no place to go and started to attack. Initially, Bolton defenders struggled to clear the ball from the goal line after a shot by Heidar Helguson, but a few minutes later Z. Knight revived Fulham's hopes of snatching at least a draw with a powerful shot, making the score 2-1.
However, for the remainder of the match, Fulham could only create one dangerous moment - a header by Tomasz Radzinski that was saved by goalkeeper Jussi Jaaskelainen just before the final whistle.
2 - 1
35' [0 - 1] Danny Landzaat
81' [1 - 1] Fitz Hall
84' [2 - 1] Tomas Rosicky
From the very beginning, the initiative belonged to the hosts, but even though they had more ball possession, Wigan created equally dangerous attacks in their opponent's half.
Theo Walcott, tearing apart the visitors' defense on the right flank, crossed the ball into the penalty area several times, but none of the Arsenal forwards managed to get to it in time. Shortly after, Thierry Henry, finding himself alone in front of the opponents' goal, uncharacteristically shot well over the crossbar.
Earlier, T. Rosicky missed the target with a long-range shot, while Jens Lehmann's alertness was tested by Danny Landzaat from 20 meters on the other side of the field. As it turned out later, this shot was just a warm-up.
In the 35th minute, after a long pass, Wigan forward Julius Aghahowa entered the penalty area. The defenders managed to clear the ball further from their goal, but Danny Landzaat, first to reach it, punished the hosts for their carelessness. The Dutchman's fantastic curling shot from over 30 meters left no chance for the opponents' goalkeeper and put the league's underdogs ahead at the fortress of the titled opponents - 0-1.
Tempers were high at the end of the first half. In the 45th minute, Emile Heskey could have sent opponents tumbling down but missed the target, followed by Thierry Henry's header just beside the post in a duel against defender Matt Jackson.
In the 51st minute, another great opportunity was created by E. Heskey. The former England national team forward received a lofted pass in the penalty area and decided to take the initiative himself, despite having the opportunity to pass the ball to a teammate, and made a mistake - his shot flew over the goal, leaving Wigan fans in the stadium holding their heads in disbelief.
As the match progressed, disputes and conflicts boiled on the field, hard for referee Phil Dowd to calm down. Arsenal pressed the opponents in their half, won many corners, but couldn't break through the visitors' defense.
In the 79th minute, E. Heskey managed to escape from defender Mathieu Flamini and enter the empty penalty area, but was brought down from behind. The contact between the striker and the Arsenal player was minimal, and the referee decided that no foul had occurred - no penalty kick was awarded.
This kept the hosts' hopes alive, and just two minutes later they restored parity - M. Flamini received the ball on the right attacking flank and crossed it into the penalty area, where in the scramble, defender F. Hallas scored an own goal as he had no other option. Wigan appealed for an offside, but the linesman did not raise the flag, and the goal stood to the visitors' misfortune.
Shortly after, in a nearly identical attack, another disaster hit Wigan's players - after a high pass from Julio Baptista on the right, T. Rosicky beat a helpless Chris Kirkland for the second time, practically securing the victory for the favorites.
All the efforts of the visitors to snatch at least a draw were in vain - Arsenal defended reliably and, no longer in a hurry, "took away" the hard-earned three points.
League Standings:
Top Scorers:
1. Didier Drogba (Chelsea) 17 goals
2. Cristiano Ronaldo (Man Utd) 15 goals
3-4. Robin van Persie (Arsenal) 11 goals
3-4. Yakubu Aiyegbeni (Middlesbrough) 11 goals
