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On Saturday, the 21st round of "Premier League" matches were played in England. Unexpectedly, defending champions "Chelsea" lost two points at home in a London derby, drawing 2-2 with "Fulham". The leaders "Manchester United" didn't waste time and increased their lead over the London club to six points by defeating "Reading" 3-2 at home.
Saturday also saw more unexpected results: London's "Arsenal" suffered a narrow 1-0 loss to "Sheffield United" away, while Liverpool's "Everton" crushed "Newcastle" 3-0.
London's "West Ham" continued to struggle - despite recently changing coaches and playing well against "Man Utd", they lost 1-0 at home to "Man City".
The match between "Watford" and "Wigan" was interrupted due to rain. With the score tied at 1-1 in the 55th minute, the referee stopped the game, which was later abandoned altogether.
One of the most interesting matches took place at Manchester's "Old Trafford" stadium, where leaders "Man Utd" faced off against newcomers "Reading". The home team created the first opportunity, with Marcus Hahnemann deflecting Cristiano Ronaldo's shot from a sharp angle.
However, the home team took the lead just five minutes later, when Edwin van der Sar saved Nicky Shorey's penalty shot, but Ibrahima Sonko scored with a header. "Man Utd" quickly tried to equalize, with Cristiano Ronaldo striking the crossbar after a pass from M.Carrick.
In the second half, after eight minutes, English wonderkid Wayne Rooney had a great opportunity but was stopped by several defenders. Ryan Giggs, who came on as a substitute, then scored from a pass by Cristiano Ronaldo.
But the leaders showed their fighting spirit in the 59th minute when Cristiano Ronaldo netted his second goal of the match, doubling the lead for "Man Utd". At the end of the game, Leroy Lita scored a consolation goal for "Reading".
The victory was a gift for "Man Utd" manager Sir Alex Ferguson on his 65th birthday, extending their lead over closest rivals "Chelsea". "Reading" now occupies the 9th position.
In other matches, a London derby saw "Fulham" and champions play out a surprising 2-2 draw. The home team took the lead in the 16th minute, and their defender Moritz Volz's goal was the 15,000th in Premier League history.
In the 62nd minute, Didier Drogba scored to put "Chelsea" ahead, but Carlos Bocanegra equalized for "Fulham" six minutes later.
Here are the results:
Statistics
"Blackburn" 2 - 1 "Middlesbrough"
9' [1 - 0] Shabani Nonda
61' [1 - 1] Yakubu Aiyegbeni (pen.)
74' [2 - 1] Benny McCarthy
"Bolton" 3 - 2 "Portsmouth"
2' [0 - 1] Matthew Taylor
30' [1 - 1] Abdoulaye Diagne-Faye
40' [2 - 1] Ivan Campo
62' [3 - 1] Nicolas Anelka
89' [3 - 2] Andy Cole
"Charlton" 2 - 1 Aston Villa
39' [0 - 1] Gareth Barry (pen.)
57' [1 - 1] Darren Bent
90' [2 - 1] Bryan Hughes
60' Gareth Barry (Aston Villa) was sent off
And so on...
