The Hindu : Sport / Football : Campbell's goal helps Arsenal win

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Tuesday, Dec 21, 2004

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Sport - Football

Campbell's goal helps Arsenal win

LONDON, DEC. 20. Sol Campbell scored a rare goal from 25-yards on Sunday as Arsenal captured a 1-0 victory at Portsmouth to regain second place in the Premier League and cut Chelsea's lead to five points.

There were only 14 minutes left at Fratton Park when the Pompey midfield allowed the England centre-back, who occasionally scores from close range at set pieces, to charge forward into the huge space outside the area.

Campbell had plenty of time and room to drive a 25-yard shot that flew past surprised 'keeper Jamie Ashdown to give the England defender his first goal for 16 months.

The victory means that Arsene Wenger's men climbed above Everton and have 38 points from 18 games while Chelsea, which outplayed Norwich 4-0 on Saturday, has 43. Everton dropped two points on Saturday when it was held 0-0 by struggling Blackburn and has 37.

``We are very hungry,'' said Wenger who has led the Gunners to three league titles in six seasons. ilan Baros scored one goal and set up another as Liverpool came from behind to beat Newcastle 3-1.

After Patrick Kluivert had fired the Magpies ahead at Anfield, an own goal by Titus Bramble and a Neil Mellor goal assisted by Baros turned the game around before the Czech star hit the third. Newcastle had Lee Bowyer sent off 13 minutes from the end for two yellow cards.

Almunia, who is keeping German international Jens Lehmann off the starting line-up, made a shaky start to his Arsenal career with blunders in his first three games. But he appears to be growing in confidence and made an acrobatic stop to keep out a 20-yard shot from Czech midfielder Patrick Berger.

After Campbell had given Arsenal the lead, the Spanish goalkeeper made two more saves, diving to block an 18-yard strike by Steve Stone and recovering to block the follow up shot from Lomana Lualua.

Hat-trick by Defoe

In Saturday's other games, Manchester United stayed fourth with a 5-2 win over Crystal Palace, while fifth place Middlesbrough and Tottenham each made it four league victories in a row. Boro gained a 3-0 victory over Aston Villa and England striker Jermain Defoe scored a hat-trick as Spurs outplayed Harry Redknapp's Southampton 5-1.

Barren encounter

Espanyol drew 0-0 with last-place Numancia on Sunday to extend its unbeaten run to four and reclaim second place in the Spanish league.

Espanyol, the far lesser known of Barcelona's two clubs which finished 16th last season and has finished no higher than ninth in the last five years, has lost only one of its last nine and has climbed from eighth place more than two months ago.

Barcelona heads the standings with 39 points from 16 games, with Espanyol one ahead of Real Madrid and Valencia.

On Saturday, Barcelona drew 1-1 with Valencia, Madrid edged Racing Santander 3-2 and Levante drew 1-1 with Albacete.

Inter Milan unbeaten

Defender Sinisa Mihajlovic scored his second goal of the season in the 35th minute to give Inter Milan a 1-0 win over Brescia and lift it into fourth place in the Italian Serie A.

Inter remained the only unbeaten team in the league after 16 rounds, but trails leader Juventus by 15 points after winning only four and drawing 12 matches.

Juventus leads with 39 points following a goalless draw on Saturday against AC Milan, which is second with 35 points, four ahead of Udinese. Inter is a distant fourth with 24, the same as Sampdoria and Palermo.

The results:

EPL: Liverpool 3, Newcastle 1; Arsenal 1, Portsmouth 0. (On Saturday): Birmingham 4, West Bromwich Albion 0; Blackburn 0, Everton 0; Bolton 0, Manchester City 1; Chelsea 4, Norwich 0; Middlesbrough 3, Aston Villa 0; Tottenham 5, Southampton 1; Manchester United 5, Crystal Palace 2.

Primera Liga: Villarreal 3, Malaga 0; Real Sociedad 1, Getafe 1; Zaragoza 0, Athletic Bilbao 2; Mallorca 1, Osasuna 2; Numancia 0, Espanyol 0; Sevilla 2, Real Betis 1; Atletico Madrid 1, Deportivo la Coruna 0. (On Saturday): Levante 1, Albacete 1; Racing Santander 2, Real Madrid 3;

Barcelona 1, Valencia 1.

Serie A: Bologna 2, Reggina 0; Fiorentina 2, Chievo Verona 0; Inter Milan 1, Brescia 0; Lecce 1, Sampdoria 4; AS Roma 5, Parma 1; Siena 1, Livorno 1; Udinese 3, Lazio 0; Palermo 3, Cagliari 0. (On Saturday): Messina vs. Atalanta, abandoned due to rain; Juventus 0, AC Milan 0. — AP

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