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| Saturday, November 16, 2002 15:29 EST |
Arsenal routs Tottenham Hotspur
[Reuters]
LONDON -- Champions Arsenal stormed back to
the top of the English premier league by battering north London
rivals Tottenham Hotspur 3-0 on Saturday.
Goals by Thierry Henry, Freddie Ljungberg and Sylvain
Wiltord at Highbury sealed an easy win against the out-for-form
Spurs, who had Welsh winger Simon Davies sent off in the first
half.
Arsenal leads the table on 32 points, two clear of Liverpool,
who will replace Arsenal if they beat Sunderland at Anfield on
Sunday.
Third-placed Chelsea moved to within four points of
Liverpool with a 1-0 victory over Middlesbrough on Saturday.
In the day's other games Newcastle leapt to sixth with a 2-1
home victory over Southampton, Charlton moved clear of the drop
zone with a 1-0 win at Manchester City and West Bromwich Albion
played out a goalless draw with local rivals Aston Villa.
At Highbury, Henry danced through the Tottenham defence,
teased Spurs defender Stephen Carr and then placed a calm
left-footed shot past Kasey Keller to give Arsenal a 13th-minute
lead.
Spurs' problems were compounded by the 27th-minute dismissal
of Davies for a second yellow card, although his second booking,
for a foul on Arsenal captain Patrick Vieira, looked harsh.
It could have been worse with Sylvain Wiltord and Henry
denied further Arsenal goals only by the linesman's offside flag
before halftime.
Ten minutes after the break, Gilberto Silva broke into the
penalty area to set up Swedish midfielder Ljungberg for the
second.
Spurs' misery continued as defender Dean Richards missed a
sitter and Wiltord wrapped up the win from a Robert Pires pass
after Henry's initial shot was saved.
The defeat meant Spurs extended their poor record against
Arsenal to one win in 15 meetings. It is nine years since
they last won at Highbury.
Arsenal tops the table for the first time since Oct. 6.
After five games unbeaten, Chelsea have crept quietly into
the title race and had Celestine Babayaro to thank for another
precious three points.
The Nigerian wing-back slammed the ball into the
Middlesbrough net after 47 minutes to settle a tight encounter
in west London.
At St James' Park, James Beattie brought Champions League
qualifiers Newcastle United down to earth with a stunning
second-minute volley to give Southampton the lead.
But Newcastle striker Shola Ameobi made it 1-1 four minutes
before halftime from a Kieron Dyer cross and Irish defender
Aaron Hughes finished off a flowing move to give them the lead
nine minutes into the second half.
Newcastle jumped three places to sixth with the win.
In the day's other derby match, Villa should have beaten
struggling West Brom at the Hawthorns when Gareth Barry earned
them a penalty in the second-half.
England striker Dion Dublin took the kick but West Brom's
outstanding goalkeeper Russell Hoult pulled off a fine save.
Manchester City came back to earth with a thump following
the euphoria of last Saturday's derby win over Manchester United
when South African striker Shaun Bartlett's close range finish
at Maine Road gave Charlton Athletic a valuable victory.
The three points lifted Charlton three points clear of
third-from-bottom West Ham, whose home game against Manchester
United is one of the highlights of Sunday's program.
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