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Tottenham Hotspur v West Brom Match facts

• Observer report
• Match facts
• Ratings

Premier League
Saturday 23 April 2011 15.00


Score line
Score Tottenham Hotspur 2 – 2 (HT 1 – 1) West Brom

1. Pavlyuchenko 27

1. Defoe 66

1. Odemwingie 5

1. Cox 81

Bookings

1. Dawson 90

1. Scharner 49

Tottenham Hotspur Tottenham Hotspur's Percentage Possession 61% 61.0 39% 39.0 Corners 11 91.0 1 9.0 Goal attempts 24 68.0 11 32.0 On target 3 50.0 3 50.0 Fouls 8 38.0 13 62.0 Offside 0 0.0 3 100.0 Tottenham Hotspur

• Heurelho Gomes,
• William Gallas,
• Benoit Assou-Ekotto (Sandro, 7),
• Michael Dawson,
• Younes Kaboul,
• Gareth Bale,
• Tom Huddlestone (Aaron Lennon, 63),
• Rafael van der Vaart,
• Luka Modric,
• Roman Pavlyuchenko (Peter Crouch, 88),
• Jermain Defoe

West Brom

• Scott Carson,
• Abdoulaye Méité,
• Jonas Olsson,
• Nicky Shorey,
• Jerome Thomas (James Morrison, 70),
• Paul Scharner (Simon Cox, 77),
• Youssuf Mulumbu,
• Chris Brunt,
• Steven Reid (Gonzalo Jara, 47),
• Peter Odemwingie,
• Carlos Vela

Referee Stuart Attwell Venue White Hart Lane Attendance 36,160

 

[Rutashubanyuma]

Tottenham Hotspur v West Brom Match facts

• Observer report
• Match facts
• Ratings

Premier League
Saturday 23 April 2011 15.00


Score line
Score Tottenham Hotspur 2 – 2 (HT 1 – 1) West Brom

1. Pavlyuchenko 27

1. Defoe 66

1. Odemwingie 5

1. Cox 81

Bookings

1. Dawson 90

1. Scharner 49

Tottenham Hotspur Tottenham Hotspur's Percentage Possession 61% 61.0 39% 39.0 Corners 11 91.0 1 9.0 Goal attempts 24 68.0 11 32.0 On target 3 50.0 3 50.0 Fouls 8 38.0 13 62.0 Offside 0 0.0 3 100.0 Tottenham Hotspur

• Heurelho Gomes,
• William Gallas,
• Benoit Assou-Ekotto (Sandro, 7),
• Michael Dawson,
• Younes Kaboul,
• Gareth Bale,
• Tom Huddlestone (Aaron Lennon, 63),
• Rafael van der Vaart,
• Luka Modric,
• Roman Pavlyuchenko (Peter Crouch, 88),
• Jermain Defoe

West Brom

• Scott Carson,
• Abdoulaye Méité,
• Jonas Olsson,
• Nicky Shorey,
• Jerome Thomas (James Morrison, 70),
• Paul Scharner (Simon Cox, 77),
• Youssuf Mulumbu,
• Chris Brunt,
• Steven Reid (Gonzalo Jara, 47),
• Peter Odemwingie,
• Carlos Vela

Referee Stuart Attwell Venue White Hart Lane Attendance 36,160

 

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Andy Johnson's late equaliser sends a shiver through Wolves

• Comments (&#8230😉

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• Observer report
• Match facts
• Ratings

Premier League

Wolverhampton Wanderers 1

• Fletcher 22

Fulham 1

• Andrew Johnson 80

• Stuart James at Molineux
• guardian.co.uk, Saturday 23 April 2011 17.38 BST
  
  Andy Johnson produces his later equalise for Fulham at Wolverhampton. Photograph: Michael Regan/Getty Images
  
  A sense of foreboding gripped the Wolverhampton Wanderers supporters drifting out of this stadium at the final whistle.
  A must-win game for the home team had looked like delivering the three points that would have boosted their survival hopes until Andy Johnson announced his arrival as a second-half substitute in dramatic fashion. The Fulham striker cancelled out Steven Fletcher's goal within seconds of stepping on the pitch.
  Mark Hughes, who had been sent off by Michael Oliver in the second half after he reacted angrily to Brede Hangeland's booking by aiming a couple of kicks at a water bottle in his technical area, celebrated in the stands. The equaliser was no more than his side deserved after Fulham dominated a fractious contest that produced several flashpoints, including a predictable tete-a-tete between Danny Murphy and Karl Henry at the end of the first half.
  Fletcher's goal, headed emphatically past Mark Schwarzer from Henry's excellent right-wing cross, had come against the run of play. Carlos Salcido had a shot turned around the post as early as the third minute and Clint Dempsey volleyed over from eight yards with the goal at his mercy.
  In between those two chances, Richard Stearman's reckless lunge on Eidur Gudjohnsen could easily have been punished with a red rather than yellow card.
  Oliver was not so lenient with Hughes, who was banished to the stands after his fit of pique on the touchline. Not that the Fulham manager was reduced to the role of spectator. With a mobile phone pressed to his ear, Hughes relayed the instructions to his assistant, Mark Bowen, that led to Johnson replacing Dempsey. Cue instant reward when Hangeland's punt upfield dropped to Johnson's feet and the striker drilled beyond Wayne Hennessey.
  
  

 

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Andy Johnson's late equaliser sends a shiver through Wolves

• Comments (…)

• Observer report
• Match facts
• Ratings

Premier League

Wolverhampton Wanderers 1

• Fletcher 22

Fulham 1

• Andrew Johnson 80

• Stuart James at Molineux
• guardian.co.uk, Saturday 23 April 2011 17.38 BST
  
  Andy Johnson produces his later equalise for Fulham at Wolverhampton. Photograph: Michael Regan/Getty Images
  
  A sense of foreboding gripped the Wolverhampton Wanderers supporters drifting out of this stadium at the final whistle.
  A must-win game for the home team had looked like delivering the three points that would have boosted their survival hopes until Andy Johnson announced his arrival as a second-half substitute in dramatic fashion. The Fulham striker cancelled out Steven Fletcher's goal within seconds of stepping on the pitch.
  Mark Hughes, who had been sent off by Michael Oliver in the second half after he reacted angrily to Brede Hangeland's booking by aiming a couple of kicks at a water bottle in his technical area, celebrated in the stands. The equaliser was no more than his side deserved after Fulham dominated a fractious contest that produced several flashpoints, including a predictable tete-a-tete between Danny Murphy and Karl Henry at the end of the first half.
  Fletcher's goal, headed emphatically past Mark Schwarzer from Henry's excellent right-wing cross, had come against the run of play. Carlos Salcido had a shot turned around the post as early as the third minute and Clint Dempsey volleyed over from eight yards with the goal at his mercy.
  In between those two chances, Richard Stearman's reckless lunge on Eidur Gudjohnsen could easily have been punished with a red rather than yellow card.
  Oliver was not so lenient with Hughes, who was banished to the stands after his fit of pique on the touchline. Not that the Fulham manager was reduced to the role of spectator. With a mobile phone pressed to his ear, Hughes relayed the instructions to his assistant, Mark Bowen, that led to Johnson replacing Dempsey. Cue instant reward when Hangeland's punt upfield dropped to Johnson's feet and the striker drilled beyond Wayne Hennessey.

 

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Today's matches


FT Leeds United 0 - 0 Reading FT Nottingham Forest 3 - 2 Leicester City FT Doncaster Rovers 0 - 0 Crystal Palace FT Coventry City 1 - 1 Scunthorpe FT Leyton Orient 2 - 1 Peterborough FT Brentford 1 - 1 Colchester FT Dagenham & Redbridge 0 - 1 Plymouth Argyle FT Northampton 2 - 2 Rotherham FT Hartlepool 1 - 1 Tranmere FT MK Dons 1 - 3 Huddersfield
More matches

 

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Premier League, Stamford Bridge: The John Sullivan Memorial Minute-By-Minute Report

Chelsea v West Ham United - live!

• Hit F5 in frustration because our auto-refresh is broken
• Email scott.murray@guardian.co.uk sending chat, but no banter

• Scott Murray
• guardian.co.uk, Saturday 23 April 2011 16.32 BST <li class="history">Article history To receive updated content, refresh the page (F5 for a web browser).
  This page will update automatically every minute: On | Off
  
  
  Only Fools and Horses: the early years
  
  62 min: Drogba sends an almost identical ball into the box, only from open play this time. And instead of Terry failing to make decent contact, this time it's Lampard who fluffs his sidefoot. That should have been Chelsea's second, or their third, depending on whether we're totting up.
  60 min: Drogba takes a free kick from 35 yards out on the right. He sends the ball trunding down the corridor of uncertainty, across the face of goal behind the West Ham back line and in front of Green, but the onrushing Terry can't connect, despite getting into position and shaping to sidefoot home. That should have been Chelsea's second.
  59 min: Now Noble goes down. The physio comes on, followed soon by the stretcher bearers. He'll not finish the match. Keane comes on in his stead.
  56 min: Essien stretches for a ball and goes down immediately, clutching his knee. He limps off, to be replaced by Yossi Benayoun.
  54 min: The ball is holding up in quite a few places here. It's far from critical at the moment, but if the rain keeps pelting down like this, the referee will have a decision to make.
  52 min: Da Costa meets a right-wing West Ham corner with a powerful header, forcing Mikel to clear a couple of yards from the line. West Ham are not giving this up by any stretch.
  49 min: Malouda drops a shoulder down the left and stands one up in the middle, but Bridge is on hand to head clear with Kalou knocking around. Down the other end, Ba and Cole get in each other's way as the former enters the Chelsea box with he ball at his feet.
  46 min: Drogba sends a clever ball through the West Ham box, right to left diagonally, but nobody in blue is there to whack it home. Green lets it bounce out to the left of goal. There is quite a lot of standing water on the pitch after a half-time deluge. The ball is holding up in a few patches, albeit only slightly.
  And we're off again! It's still pelting down. Also some thunder and lightening. All the lights are back on, though. That's great news, what with this being 2011. "Only Fools and Horses might have been set in South London," begins Steven Hughes, "but I get reminded of it every time I use my season ticket as the programme was filmed down in Bristol, near to City's Ashton Gate or even in its car park. I'd always look in the background, when the programme showed the market stalls, as I could sometimes just make out the back of the Wedlock Stand as the camera came down from a crane shot while Nelson Mandela House itself was, and is, just behind the ground's Dolman Stand."
  HALF TIME: Chelsea 1-0 West Ham United. And that's it for the half. West Ham were the better team for the majority of that, but Lampard's strike has eased some of the tension around Stamford Bridge. Where half the health-and-safety lights are still out, but the animated advertising board is already back on. God bless the priorities of capitalism!
  45 min: Some of the floodlights have failed at Stamford Bridge, as well as some of the lights in the stand concourses. Some good news, though: the animated advertising board around the pitch is also jiggered.
  44 min: GOAL!!! Chelsea 1-0 West Ham United. Chelsea have been poor for the last half hour, but suddenly they wake up just like Luiz did a couple of minutes earlier. Drogba slides a pass down the inside-left channel behind the West Ham back line. Cole scoots clear and pulls a low ball into the centre, where Lampard sidefoots home with violence. As crisp a finish as you'll get.
  42 min: With Cole chasing a long ball in the Chelsea area, Cech comes out to punch clear. He gets the ball, but also his team-mate Luiz, knocking him out cold for a minute or so. The big defender is quickly roused and back up on his feet, happy to say.
  40 min: Ba is causing bother. He scoots into Chelsea territory again, and slips a ball out left to Cole, who was free in acres. Sadly for West Ham, the ball pushes Cole out wide and the chance for a shot is gone. If Ba's pass was well weighted, that could have been the opening goal. "Can I point out to Gary Naylor and your good self that there is no such car as a Robin Reliant?" honks Tom Shaw. "It is a Reliant Robin, and it has nothing to do with Only Fools and horses anyway because Del Boy drove a Reliant REGAL. How do I know? Don't ask."
  37 min: Drogba tries to buy a free kick just outside the West Ham area by flipping himself over the back of Noble. The referee is, quite rightly, having none of it, and Ba tears up the other end, his shot from the inside-left channel spooning up off Terry and forcing Cech to carry it over the byline. They sling a couple of corners into the box, but cause little in the way of serious trouble. "Looking around the first few rows at the Bridge, I feel like I am being asked to judge the worst 'wet t-shirt' competition in history," shudders Craig Smaaskjaer. "Come on lads, lay off the cheeseburgers: Bad for both your health and ours."
  35 min: Cutting inside from the right, Ivanovic is under a ball looping over the West Ham back line. He hits a first-time volley that flies straight out for a throw on the other side. Just as West Ham have improved, so Chelsea are getting slowly worse after a bright start.
  33 min: A bit of thunder and lightening in West London now.
  31 min: A West Ham corner on the left. The ball flies over all the big lads and is sent flying goalwards by an improvised twist and backheel by Sears. The effort's too close to Cech, though, and saved without too much fuss. After a slow start, West Ham are right in this game now.
  29 min: Ivanovic is booked for a slide on Ba. There's not much in the challenge, to be honest. Maybe a wee bit of mouth after the event.
  28 min: Da Costa makes what is possibly the worst clearance in the history of All Football. He takes a wild swipe at the ball, but only manages to dribble a pathetic effort a foot in front of him to Kalou, who immediately feeds Drogba to the right of the box. The striker lashes a stupendously useless shot miles over the bar. Where's Fernando?
  26 min: West Ham have woken up. Sears tears down the left, outstripping Cole and sending a cross to the far post, where Spector stoops low to head towards the bottom-right corner. Cech is on hand to knock the ball round the post. A lovely sweeping move. The resulting corner, not so good.
  25 min: Finally, some action up front for West Ham. Ba picks the ball up 30 yards from goal on the left, and hammers an immediate rising shot goalwards. Cech is forced to palm the powerful effort over the bar. A decent whack, albeit straight at the keeper. The corner is a waste of time. "Vince was played by Paul Nicholas (who looked a lot like his namesake, Chelsea midfielder Peter Nicholas)," writes Gary Naylor. "Paul (not Peter - obviously) was in the original cast of Hair. Earlier this week, I was in the audience for Joseph and the amazing technicolor dreamcoat at Wimbledon when the cast left the stage to dance in the aisles, very close to where I was sitting. They did that in Hair too, but at least in Joseph, the lads' hip thrusts and wiggling were executed when fully clothed."
  23 min: Quite a lot of aimless passing going on at the moment. Let's be kind and blame the conditions.
  20 min: Lovely triangles by Chelsea straight down the middle of the field. Eventually Kalou exchanges dinks with Drogba and is released into the box down the inside-right channel, but the ball takes a flyer off the greasy turf and into the arms of Green. For a microsecond there, Kalou was clear.
  18 min: Malouda runs onto a long ball down the left. He cuts inside, drops a shoulder past two players, and romps into the box, before dragging a dreadful low effort well wide left.
  16 min: So here's half a chance for West Ham, as they earn a free kick 35 yards out, on the left. But with the box loaded, Noble hoicks it straight into Cech's arms.
  15 min: This is all Chelsea. Think of West Ham as Everton at Old Trafford, only with less ambition. Yes, believe it or not, that is possible.
  13 min: Cole takes a wild swipe at the ball in the area. Then Malouda has a go. Then Drogba. Then the ball's cleared. A right old mêlée, in other words. The ball hits a West Ham hand when Malouda takes a shot, but from point-blank distance that would have been as harsh a penalty award as they come.
  11 min: A shot on the turn from the edge of the area by Drogba. It's heading into the bottom-right corner, but there's no pace on the ball and Green can snaffle with ease. "Penny from Just Good Friends grew up in Chipping Ongar if I recall correctly," writes Mo Holkar, "so West Ham would have been her nearest team of any stature. Not sure if the footy would have really been her game, though: I see her more as a hockey girl."
  9 min: It is lashing down at Stamford Bridge. The ground appears to have its own microecosystem; everywhere around it is bathed in sunshine! "In the 1984 Christmas special of Just Good Friends, Vince mentions being an Arsenal man while talking to either Lennie or Les," recalls Deepak, perhaps too readily, some would say. Not me, though. This is as close as we get to culture on the Guardian sports desk.
  7 min: Hitzlsperger is booked for upending Malouda. It's not a terrible challenge in itself, but he's already been whistled for a couple of niggly fouls, and the referee appears to have a short temper today.
  5 min: West Ham can't get hold of the ball at all. Essien dinks a high ball down the inside-left channel. Cole should have got on the end of it, but pulled out of a challenge with Green pelting straight towards him. "I think Carlo himself may have been studying the buying skills of Del Boy a bit too closely," begins David Flynn, before slipping into character. "Come on bruv, how was I meant to know Fernando's head was all over the place and he had the touch of a three-legged mule? Scouse Kenny told me he'd come good and 50million seemed like a bargain at the time. Anyway, cheer up Rodski, this time next year you'll still be a billionaire."
  2 min: An immediate chance for Chelsea. Drogba flicks the ball down the middle. Malouda nips past the sleeping Da Costa and is clear on goal, but instead of lifting the ball over the advancing Green, he hammers it straight at the goalie. What a chance! Torres would have scored that.
  And we're off! It is tipping down at Stamford Bridge. The rain hasn't dampened Wayne Bridge's hot funk with John Terry; the full back again refuses Terry's hand in the pre-match exchanges, avoiding eye contact to boot. West Ham get the ball rolling. "I remember the 80s and I am sure we had chairs back then at least," writes David1. Yuppie show-off.
  Carlo's brave face: In his pre-match interview, Ancelotti kids on that Manchester United's late winner against Everton didn't deflate his playes. Right, aye. "I never really got John Sullivan's work, but Balham/Tooting can ill-afford to lose its celebrities," writes Gary Naylor. "Just Jimmy White, Paul Merton and Darren Bent left flying the flag now. And would it be poor taste to suggest a Robin Reliant as a hearse?" Not at all. Presumably the coffin gets crammed in the back with a load of boxes of knock-off "stock", and is accidentally sold by Del en route to the service in a classic switcheroo. It's what he would have wanted.
  Referee: Phil Dowd (Staffordshire)
  West Ham United: Green, Jacobsen, Gabbidon, da Costa, Bridge, Spector, Noble, Hitzlsperger, Sears, Cole, Ba.
  Subs: Boffin, Tomkins, Boa Morte, Kovac, Piquionne, Obinna, Keane.
  Chelsea: Cech, Ivanovic, David Luiz, Terry, Cole, Essien, Mikel, Lampard, Kalou, Drogba, Malouda.
  Subs: Turnbull, Torres, Benayoun, Zhirkov, Ferreira, Bertrand, Anelka.
  While we're waiting for the teams, time to address more serious issues. "Rodney wasn't a Charlton fan, his Mum was," insists Owen Worth, with reference to the fact that Charlton was also the character's middle name. "He used to support Chelsea. There are many references to this in a number of episodes. Also I doubt Vince would have fitted in with the Shed End in the 1980s." I take your point. Though Stamford Bridge has always been a broad church. I was looking at young Mr Pinner as a kind of prototype Tim Lovejoy.
  Team news: Fernando Torres is on the bench again. Oh Fernando! West Ham meanwhile will be missing Matthew Upson, out with a chest infection, joining Footballer of the Year Scott Parker on the sidelines. Full line-ups coming your way soon.
  Anyway, the football. Chelsea need to win, to retain a slim hope of winning the title. West Ham need to win, every point vital in their relegation battle. And poor Fernando Torres, dreaming of 2008, really needs a goal. This could be a cracker.
  Anyway, in lieu of a solemn hymn, here's a blast of the original theme to Only Fools and Horses:
  
  It was written by Ronnie Hazlehurst, incidentally, subject of the only other Memorial Minute-By-Minute in the history of the Guardian. Big fan of Ronnie's, but not sure the 1970s-style light entertainment segue into the episode works so well here. Probably for the best that it was replaced by Sullivan's own themes (which have, on the DVDs, airbrushed Hazelhurst's first-series theme totally out of the picture, a Stalinist revision that's not really on, but now's probably not the time). Anyway, all together now: God bless Hooky Street...
  None of the characters in Sullivan's work appear to have supported either of the teams playing tonight. Wolfie Smith, eponymous star of Sullivan's first hit, Citizen Smith, was a Fulham fan. Del Boy and Rodney, meanwhile, were Charlton Athletic supporters. No idea who Penny Warrender from Just Good Friends cheered on. Vince looked like he might have been a Chelsea fan, though. Yes, he could easily have been a Chelsea fan.
  John Sullivan RIP: A sad day for anyone who sat cross-legged in front of the television during the 1970s and 1980s, as one of the finest sitcom scriptwriters in the history of com dies. So this has got nothing to do with football? So sue me!
  
  

 

[Rutashubanyuma]

Premier League, Stamford Bridge: The John Sullivan Memorial Minute-By-Minute Report

Chelsea v West Ham United - live!

• Hit F5 in frustration because our auto-refresh is broken
• Email scott.murray@guardian.co.uk sending chat, but no banter

• Scott Murray
• guardian.co.uk, Saturday 23 April 2011 16.32 BST <li class="history">Article history To receive updated content, refresh the page (F5 for a web browser).
  This page will update automatically every minute: On | Off
  
  
  
  
  62 min: Drogba sends an almost identical ball into the box, only from open play this time. And instead of Terry failing to make decent contact, this time it's Lampard who fluffs his sidefoot. That should have been Chelsea's second, or their third, depending on whether we're totting up.
  Only Fools and Horses: the early years 60 min: Drogba takes a free kick from 35 yards out on the right. He sends the ball trunding down the corridor of uncertainty, across the face of goal behind the West Ham back line and in front of Green, but the onrushing Terry can't connect, despite getting into position and shaping to sidefoot home. That should have been Chelsea's second.
  59 min: Now Noble goes down. The physio comes on, followed soon by the stretcher bearers. He'll not finish the match. Keane comes on in his stead.
  56 min: Essien stretches for a ball and goes down immediately, clutching his knee. He limps off, to be replaced by Yossi Benayoun.
  54 min: The ball is holding up in quite a few places here. It's far from critical at the moment, but if the rain keeps pelting down like this, the referee will have a decision to make.
  52 min: Da Costa meets a right-wing West Ham corner with a powerful header, forcing Mikel to clear a couple of yards from the line. West Ham are not giving this up by any stretch.
  49 min: Malouda drops a shoulder down the left and stands one up in the middle, but Bridge is on hand to head clear with Kalou knocking around. Down the other end, Ba and Cole get in each other's way as the former enters the Chelsea box with he ball at his feet.
  46 min: Drogba sends a clever ball through the West Ham box, right to left diagonally, but nobody in blue is there to whack it home. Green lets it bounce out to the left of goal. There is quite a lot of standing water on the pitch after a half-time deluge. The ball is holding up in a few patches, albeit only slightly.
  And we're off again! It's still pelting down. Also some thunder and lightening. All the lights are back on, though. That's great news, what with this being 2011. "Only Fools and Horses might have been set in South London," begins Steven Hughes, "but I get reminded of it every time I use my season ticket as the programme was filmed down in Bristol, near to City's Ashton Gate or even in its car park. I'd always look in the background, when the programme showed the market stalls, as I could sometimes just make out the back of the Wedlock Stand as the camera came down from a crane shot while Nelson Mandela House itself was, and is, just behind the ground's Dolman Stand."
  HALF TIME: Chelsea 1-0 West Ham United. And that's it for the half. West Ham were the better team for the majority of that, but Lampard's strike has eased some of the tension around Stamford Bridge. Where half the health-and-safety lights are still out, but the animated advertising board is already back on. God bless the priorities of capitalism!
  45 min: Some of the floodlights have failed at Stamford Bridge, as well as some of the lights in the stand concourses. Some good news, though: the animated advertising board around the pitch is also jiggered.
  44 min: GOAL!!! Chelsea 1-0 West Ham United. Chelsea have been poor for the last half hour, but suddenly they wake up just like Luiz did a couple of minutes earlier. Drogba slides a pass down the inside-left channel behind the West Ham back line. Cole scoots clear and pulls a low ball into the centre, where Lampard sidefoots home with violence. As crisp a finish as you'll get.
  42 min: With Cole chasing a long ball in the Chelsea area, Cech comes out to punch clear. He gets the ball, but also his team-mate Luiz, knocking him out cold for a minute or so. The big defender is quickly roused and back up on his feet, happy to say.
  40 min: Ba is causing bother. He scoots into Chelsea territory again, and slips a ball out left to Cole, who was free in acres. Sadly for West Ham, the ball pushes Cole out wide and the chance for a shot is gone. If Ba's pass was well weighted, that could have been the opening goal. "Can I point out to Gary Naylor and your good self that there is no such car as a Robin Reliant?" honks Tom Shaw. "It is a Reliant Robin, and it has nothing to do with Only Fools and horses anyway because Del Boy drove a Reliant REGAL. How do I know? Don't ask."
  37 min: Drogba tries to buy a free kick just outside the West Ham area by flipping himself over the back of Noble. The referee is, quite rightly, having none of it, and Ba tears up the other end, his shot from the inside-left channel spooning up off Terry and forcing Cech to carry it over the byline. They sling a couple of corners into the box, but cause little in the way of serious trouble. "Looking around the first few rows at the Bridge, I feel like I am being asked to judge the worst 'wet t-shirt' competition in history," shudders Craig Smaaskjaer. "Come on lads, lay off the cheeseburgers: Bad for both your health and ours."
  35 min: Cutting inside from the right, Ivanovic is under a ball looping over the West Ham back line. He hits a first-time volley that flies straight out for a throw on the other side. Just as West Ham have improved, so Chelsea are getting slowly worse after a bright start.
  33 min: A bit of thunder and lightening in West London now.
  31 min: A West Ham corner on the left. The ball flies over all the big lads and is sent flying goalwards by an improvised twist and backheel by Sears. The effort's too close to Cech, though, and saved without too much fuss. After a slow start, West Ham are right in this game now.
  29 min: Ivanovic is booked for a slide on Ba. There's not much in the challenge, to be honest. Maybe a wee bit of mouth after the event.
  28 min: Da Costa makes what is possibly the worst clearance in the history of All Football. He takes a wild swipe at the ball, but only manages to dribble a pathetic effort a foot in front of him to Kalou, who immediately feeds Drogba to the right of the box. The striker lashes a stupendously useless shot miles over the bar. Where's Fernando?
  26 min: West Ham have woken up. Sears tears down the left, outstripping Cole and sending a cross to the far post, where Spector stoops low to head towards the bottom-right corner. Cech is on hand to knock the ball round the post. A lovely sweeping move. The resulting corner, not so good.
  25 min: Finally, some action up front for West Ham. Ba picks the ball up 30 yards from goal on the left, and hammers an immediate rising shot goalwards. Cech is forced to palm the powerful effort over the bar. A decent whack, albeit straight at the keeper. The corner is a waste of time. "Vince was played by Paul Nicholas (who looked a lot like his namesake, Chelsea midfielder Peter Nicholas)," writes Gary Naylor. "Paul (not Peter - obviously) was in the original cast of Hair. Earlier this week, I was in the audience for Joseph and the amazing technicolor dreamcoat at Wimbledon when the cast left the stage to dance in the aisles, very close to where I was sitting. They did that in Hair too, but at least in Joseph, the lads' hip thrusts and wiggling were executed when fully clothed."
  23 min: Quite a lot of aimless passing going on at the moment. Let's be kind and blame the conditions.
  20 min: Lovely triangles by Chelsea straight down the middle of the field. Eventually Kalou exchanges dinks with Drogba and is released into the box down the inside-right channel, but the ball takes a flyer off the greasy turf and into the arms of Green. For a microsecond there, Kalou was clear.
  18 min: Malouda runs onto a long ball down the left. He cuts inside, drops a shoulder past two players, and romps into the box, before dragging a dreadful low effort well wide left.
  16 min: So here's half a chance for West Ham, as they earn a free kick 35 yards out, on the left. But with the box loaded, Noble hoicks it straight into Cech's arms.
  15 min: This is all Chelsea. Think of West Ham as Everton at Old Trafford, only with less ambition. Yes, believe it or not, that is possible.
  13 min: Cole takes a wild swipe at the ball in the area. Then Malouda has a go. Then Drogba. Then the ball's cleared. A right old mêlée, in other words. The ball hits a West Ham hand when Malouda takes a shot, but from point-blank distance that would have been as harsh a penalty award as they come.
  11 min: A shot on the turn from the edge of the area by Drogba. It's heading into the bottom-right corner, but there's no pace on the ball and Green can snaffle with ease. "Penny from Just Good Friends grew up in Chipping Ongar if I recall correctly," writes Mo Holkar, "so West Ham would have been her nearest team of any stature. Not sure if the footy would have really been her game, though: I see her more as a hockey girl."
  9 min: It is lashing down at Stamford Bridge. The ground appears to have its own microecosystem; everywhere around it is bathed in sunshine! "In the 1984 Christmas special of Just Good Friends, Vince mentions being an Arsenal man while talking to either Lennie or Les," recalls Deepak, perhaps too readily, some would say. Not me, though. This is as close as we get to culture on the Guardian sports desk.
  7 min: Hitzlsperger is booked for upending Malouda. It's not a terrible challenge in itself, but he's already been whistled for a couple of niggly fouls, and the referee appears to have a short temper today.
  5 min: West Ham can't get hold of the ball at all. Essien dinks a high ball down the inside-left channel. Cole should have got on the end of it, but pulled out of a challenge with Green pelting straight towards him. "I think Carlo himself may have been studying the buying skills of Del Boy a bit too closely," begins David Flynn, before slipping into character. "Come on bruv, how was I meant to know Fernando's head was all over the place and he had the touch of a three-legged mule? Scouse Kenny told me he'd come good and 50million seemed like a bargain at the time. Anyway, cheer up Rodski, this time next year you'll still be a billionaire."
  2 min: An immediate chance for Chelsea. Drogba flicks the ball down the middle. Malouda nips past the sleeping Da Costa and is clear on goal, but instead of lifting the ball over the advancing Green, he hammers it straight at the goalie. What a chance! Torres would have scored that.
  And we're off! It is tipping down at Stamford Bridge. The rain hasn't dampened Wayne Bridge's hot funk with John Terry; the full back again refuses Terry's hand in the pre-match exchanges, avoiding eye contact to boot. West Ham get the ball rolling. "I remember the 80s and I am sure we had chairs back then at least," writes David1. Yuppie show-off.
  Carlo's brave face: In his pre-match interview, Ancelotti kids on that Manchester United's late winner against Everton didn't deflate his playes. Right, aye. "I never really got John Sullivan's work, but Balham/Tooting can ill-afford to lose its celebrities," writes Gary Naylor. "Just Jimmy White, Paul Merton and Darren Bent left flying the flag now. And would it be poor taste to suggest a Robin Reliant as a hearse?" Not at all. Presumably the coffin gets crammed in the back with a load of boxes of knock-off "stock", and is accidentally sold by Del en route to the service in a classic switcheroo. It's what he would have wanted.
  Referee: Phil Dowd (Staffordshire)
  West Ham United: Green, Jacobsen, Gabbidon, da Costa, Bridge, Spector, Noble, Hitzlsperger, Sears, Cole, Ba.
  Subs: Boffin, Tomkins, Boa Morte, Kovac, Piquionne, Obinna, Keane.
  Chelsea: Cech, Ivanovic, David Luiz, Terry, Cole, Essien, Mikel, Lampard, Kalou, Drogba, Malouda.
  Subs: Turnbull, Torres, Benayoun, Zhirkov, Ferreira, Bertrand, Anelka.
  While we're waiting for the teams, time to address more serious issues. "Rodney wasn't a Charlton fan, his Mum was," insists Owen Worth, with reference to the fact that Charlton was also the character's middle name. "He used to support Chelsea. There are many references to this in a number of episodes. Also I doubt Vince would have fitted in with the Shed End in the 1980s." I take your point. Though Stamford Bridge has always been a broad church. I was looking at young Mr Pinner as a kind of prototype Tim Lovejoy.
  Team news: Fernando Torres is on the bench again. Oh Fernando! West Ham meanwhile will be missing Matthew Upson, out with a chest infection, joining Footballer of the Year Scott Parker on the sidelines. Full line-ups coming your way soon.
  Anyway, the football. Chelsea need to win, to retain a slim hope of winning the title. West Ham need to win, every point vital in their relegation battle. And poor Fernando Torres, dreaming of 2008, really needs a goal. This could be a cracker.
  Anyway, in lieu of a solemn hymn, here's a blast of the original theme to Only Fools and Horses:
  
  It was written by Ronnie Hazlehurst, incidentally, subject of the only other Memorial Minute-By-Minute in the history of the Guardian. Big fan of Ronnie's, but not sure the 1970s-style light entertainment segue into the episode works so well here. Probably for the best that it was replaced by Sullivan's own themes (which have, on the DVDs, airbrushed Hazelhurst's first-series theme totally out of the picture, a Stalinist revision that's not really on, but now's probably not the time). Anyway, all together now: God bless Hooky Street...
  None of the characters in Sullivan's work appear to have supported either of the teams playing tonight. Wolfie Smith, eponymous star of Sullivan's first hit, Citizen Smith, was a Fulham fan. Del Boy and Rodney, meanwhile, were Charlton Athletic supporters. No idea who Penny Warrender from Just Good Friends cheered on. Vince looked like he might have been a Chelsea fan, though. Yes, he could easily have been a Chelsea fan.
  John Sullivan RIP: A sad day for anyone who sat cross-legged in front of the television during the 1970s and 1980s, as one of the finest sitcom scriptwriters in the history of com dies. So this has got nothing to do with football? So sue me!
  
  

 

[Rutashubanyuma]

Upcoming Games

Sunday, April 24, 2011​

Week 34​

Reebok Stadium

Expand

Bolton Wanderers​

11:00 AM ET

Arsenal​

Goals Cards Substitutions

Monday, April 25, 2011​

Week 34​

Ewood Park

Expand

Blackburn Rovers​

3:00 PM ET

Manchester City​

Goals Cards Substitutions

Tuesday, April 26, 2011​

Week 34​

Britannia Stadium

Expand

Stoke City​

2:45 PM ET

Wolverhampton​

Goals Cards Substitutions

Wednesday, April 27, 2011​

Week 33​

Craven Cottage

Expand

Fulham​

3:00 PM ET

Bolton Wanderers​

 

[Rutashubanyuma]

Today's Games

Today's Games Week 1: 08/14/10 - 08/16/10 Week 2: 08/21/10 - 08/23/10 Week 3: 08/28/10 - 08/29/10 Week 4: 09/11/10 - 09/13/10 Week 5: 09/18/10 - 09/19/10 Week 6: 09/25/10 - 09/26/10 Week 7: 10/02/10 - 10/03/10 Week 8: 10/16/10 - 10/18/10 Week 9: 10/23/10 - 10/24/10 Week 10: 10/30/10 - 11/01/10 Week 11: 11/06/10 - 11/07/10 Week 12: 11/09/10 - 11/10/10 Week 13: 11/13/10 - 11/14/10 Week 14: 11/20/10 - 11/22/10 Week 15: 11/27/10 - 11/28/10 Week 16: 12/04/10 - 12/06/10 Week 17: 12/11/10 - 12/13/10 Week 18: 12/18/10 - 12/20/10 Week 19: 12/26/10 - 12/27/10 Week 20: 12/28/10 - 12/29/10 Week 21: 01/01/11 - 01/02/11 Week 22: 01/04/11 - 01/05/11 Week 23: 01/12/11 - 01/16/11 Week 24: 01/22/11 - 01/26/11 Week 25: 02/01/11 - 02/02/11 Week 26: 02/05/11 - 02/06/11 Week 27: 02/12/11 - 02/14/11 Week 28: 02/15/11 - 02/28/11 Week 29: 03/01/11 - 03/09/11 Week 30: 03/19/11 - 03/20/11 Week 31: 04/02/11 - 04/03/11 Week 32: 04/09/11 - 04/11/11 Week 33: 04/16/11 - 04/27/11 Week 34: 04/20/11 - 04/26/11 Week 35: 04/30/11 - 05/01/11 Week 36: 05/07/11 - 05/10/11 Week 37: 05/14/11 - 05/17/11 Week 38: 05/22/11​

Saturday, April 23, 2011​

Week 34​

Stamford Bridge

Expand

Chelsea​

1 : 0
68'

West Ham​

Match Stats | Match Trax

(44') Frank Lampard
Goals

(29') Branislav Ivanovic
Cards Thomas Hitzlsperger (7')

(57') Yossi Benayoun

Michael Essien

Substitutions Robbie Keane (60')

Mark Noble

Saturday, April 23, 2011​

Week 34​

Old Trafford

Expand

Manchester United​

1 : 0
Final

Everton​

Match Stats | Match Trax

(84') Javier Hernández
Goals

(54') Anderson
Cards Tim Cahill (55')

Tim Howard (82')

(57') Patrice Evra

John O'Shea

(63') Michael Owen

Nani

(74') Ryan Giggs

Darron Gibson

Substitutions Tim Cahill (46')

Diniyar Bilyaletdinov

Victor Anichebe (46')

Jermaine Beckford

Magaye Gueye (75')

Seamus Coleman

Villa Park

Expand

Aston Villa​

1 : 1
Final

Stoke City​

Match Stats | Match Trax

(43') Darren Bent
Goals Kenwyne Jones (20')

Cards Marc Wilson (56')

Glenn Whelan (64')

Asmir Begovic (85')

(67') Marc Albrighton

Stewart Downing

(79') Gabriel Agbonlahor

Emile Heskey

Substitutions Dean Whitehead (73')

Matthew Etherington

Ricardo Fuller (75')

Rory Delap

Salif Diao (88')

Kenwyne Jones

Anfield

Expand

Liverpool​

5 : 0
Final

Birmingham​

Match Stats | Match Trax

 

[Rutashubanyuma]

Stadium Of Light

Expand

Sunderland​

4 : 2
Final

Wigan Athletic​

Match Stats | Match Trax

(55') Asamoah Gyan

(66') Jordan Henderson

(73') Stephane Sessegnon

(77') Jordan Henderson
Goals Mohamed Diame (52')

Franco Di Santo (90')

(86') Lee Cattermole
Cards Gary Caldwell (54')

Antolín Alcaraz (72')

(10') Anton Ferdinand

Phillip Bardsley

(26') Steed Malbranque

Danny Welbeck

(64') Sulley Ali Muntari

Asamoah Gyan

Substitutions Victor Moses (68')

James McCarthy

Ronnie Stam (75')

Emmerson Boyce

Franco Di Santo (84')

Charles N'Zogbia

White Hart Lane

Expand

Tottenham Hotspur​

2 : 2
Final

West Brom​

Match Stats | Match Trax

(27') Roman Pavlyuchenko

(67') Jermain Defoe
Goals Peter Odemwingie (5')

Simon Cox (81')

(90') Michael Dawson
Cards Paul Scharner (45')

(7') Sandro

Benoit Assou-Ekotto

(63') Aaron Lennon

Tom Huddlestone

(88') Peter Crouch

Roman Pavlyuchenko

Substitutions Gonzalo Jara (45')

Steven Reid

James Morrison (70')

Jerome Thomas

Simon Cox (77')

Paul Scharner

Molineux

Expand

Wolverhampton​

1 : 1
Final

Fulham​

Match Stats | Match Trax

(22') Steven Fletcher
Goals Andrew Johnson (80')

(14') Richard Stearman

(90') Jody Craddock
Cards Chris Baird (46')

Brede Hangeland (57')

(59') Michael Mancienne

Nenad Milijas

(77') Sylvain Ebanks-Blake

Steven Fletcher

(86') Michael Kightly

Adlene Guedioura

Substitutions Bobby Zamora (69')

Eidur Gudjohnsen

Gael Kakuta (70')

Danny Murphy

Andrew Johnson (80')

Clint Dempsey

Bloomfield Road

Expand

Blackpool​

1 : 1
Final

Newcastle​

Match Stats | Match Trax

 

[Rutashubanyuma]

Adel Taarabt rescues point for QPR but promotion party goes on hold

• Comments (&#8230😉

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• Min-by-min
• Observer report
• Match facts
• Ratings

Championship

Cardiff City 2

• Bothroyd 6,
• Bellamy 35

QPR 2

• Taarabt 10,
• Taarabt 71

• Joe Lovejoy at Cardiff City Stadium
• guardian.co.uk, Saturday 23 April 2011 15.23 BST
  
  QPR's Adel Taarabt acknowledges the fans at the end of the npower Championship game between Cardiff City and Queens Park Rangers at Cardiff City Stadium. Photograph: Stu Forster/Getty Images
  
  It was a result neither team really wanted, but it threatens far more damage to Cardiff than Rangers, who can celebrate promotion to the Premier League in front of their home crowd by beating Hull at Loftus Road on Monday.
  The Welsh club needed to win to displace Norwich, but are instead threatened with another ordeal by play-off, where they lost to Blackpool in the final last season. The East Anglian team, who thrashed arch rivals Ipswich 5-1 on Thursday, are now favourites for the second automatic promotion place.
  Cardiff travel to Preston on Monday where they could be without the talismanic Craig Bellamy. The man Dave Jones describes as "the catalyst of all we do" suffers from wear and tear ailments which usually prevent him from playing twice in the same week, let alone two games in three days.
  Ominously for Jones and his team, in third place, their last match is away to Burnley, themselves on the verge of the play-offs.
  On one albeit superficial level, this was a shoot-out between the two best players to be found outside the Premier League, and in that context Adel Taarabt came out on top, scoring twice to take his tally for the season to 18 in 41 Championship appearances. Bellamy has run into a rich vein of form at the right time, but suffers by comparison with his tally of 10 in 32.
  For once, the occasion lived up to its billing, with tasty fare provided for the stadium's record attendance [26,058] and the BBC's armchair audience. It was acclaimed by both sides as one of the matches of the season, and understandably so.
  The bar was raised to stratospheric level in the fifth minute, with one of the goals of the season. Jay Bothroyd, supplied by Bellamy, cut in from the right, bemusing Clint Hill, then smacked an unstoppable left-footed shot across Paddy Kenny and into the keeper's top right corner.
  It was a gem that would not have been out of place in the Champions League, but within four minutes Taarabt did his best to match it. After taking a corner on the left, the Football League's player of the year received the ball back via Alejandro Faurlín's head and curled a right-foot shot high and to Stephen Bywater's left.
  The QPR manager Neil Warnock said: "When the first goal went in I thought: 'That's why he [Bothroyd] plays for England,' then when Adel scored it was: 'That's why he's top man for us.'"
  The tone set, the two sides went at it hammer and tongs. Bellamy, running the channels with increasing influence, had a shot from the left saved before restoring his team's the lead. Matt Connolly made a mess of combating Bothroyd's cross from the right, handling the ball to no effect. He would have conceded a penalty had not the referee Lee Mason, who had an excellent match, allowed advantage when Bellamy scored from close in.
  Back came QPR to equalise again after 70 minutes, when Wayne Routledge's lofted pass enabled Taarabt to turn Kevin McNaughton before drilling home his second from 15 yards. After that it was anybody's game, both teams threatening to win it but having to settle for a point apiece.
  Warnock's post-match comments were as entertaining as events on the pitch. "Bloody hell, it was hot out there," he gasped. "Lucky I had my factor 15 on. I thought it was a great advert for the Championship and at half-time I thought we could win it if we stopped defending like fairies."
  Of Taarabt, he said: "Adel owed us that because he's had one or two walkabouts lately. But I don't blame him really. In our last away game, at Barnsley, two of the tackles on him were manslaughter and I had to bring him off to protect him. The lad is our shining light. He puts bums on seats, he's why people pay their money to watch."
  Hull on Monday was no gimme, he added. "They are 17 undefeated away from home, and it could be our hardest game of the season. I think it could be the same for Cardiff at Preston."
  Jones, who agreed the tussle had been "terrific", admitted Cardiff had conceded the initiative to Norwich. "Let's see what they can do with it," he said. "We're not going to wallow in self-pity. We're guaranteed a place in the play-offs, so that's stage one. Now we have to do stage two, and that will lead us to the holy grail."
  
  

 

[Rutashubanyuma]

Adel Taarabt rescues point for QPR but promotion party goes on hold

• Comments (…)

#content > .six-col { float: none; }.m-sport { border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(0, 128, 0); }.m-sport #tabs { border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(153, 153, 153); }.m-sport h2 { margin-top: 0pt; border-top: 0pt none; font-size: 14px ! important; padding: 9px 0pt 12px ! important; }.m-sport th { padding-right: 30px; text-align: left; vertical-align: top; width: 150px; }.m-sport li { display: inline; color: rgb(102, 102, 102); }.football .article-attributes { border-top: medium none ! important; }

• Min-by-min
• Observer report
• Match facts
• Ratings

Championship

Cardiff City 2

• Bothroyd 6,
• Bellamy 35

QPR 2

• Taarabt 10,
• Taarabt 71

• Joe Lovejoy at Cardiff City Stadium
• guardian.co.uk, Saturday 23 April 2011 15.23 BST
  
  QPR's Adel Taarabt acknowledges the fans at the end of the npower Championship game between Cardiff City and Queens Park Rangers at Cardiff City Stadium. Photograph: Stu Forster/Getty Images
  
  It was a result neither team really wanted, but it threatens far more damage to Cardiff than Rangers, who can celebrate promotion to the Premier League in front of their home crowd by beating Hull at Loftus Road on Monday.
  The Welsh club needed to win to displace Norwich, but are instead threatened with another ordeal by play-off, where they lost to Blackpool in the final last season. The East Anglian team, who thrashed arch rivals Ipswich 5-1 on Thursday, are now favourites for the second automatic promotion place.
  Cardiff travel to Preston on Monday where they could be without the talismanic Craig Bellamy. The man Dave Jones describes as "the catalyst of all we do" suffers from wear and tear ailments which usually prevent him from playing twice in the same week, let alone two games in three days.
  Ominously for Jones and his team, in third place, their last match is away to Burnley, themselves on the verge of the play-offs.
  On one albeit superficial level, this was a shoot-out between the two best players to be found outside the Premier League, and in that context Adel Taarabt came out on top, scoring twice to take his tally for the season to 18 in 41 Championship appearances. Bellamy has run into a rich vein of form at the right time, but suffers by comparison with his tally of 10 in 32.
  For once, the occasion lived up to its billing, with tasty fare provided for the stadium's record attendance [26,058] and the BBC's armchair audience. It was acclaimed by both sides as one of the matches of the season, and understandably so.
  The bar was raised to stratospheric level in the fifth minute, with one of the goals of the season. Jay Bothroyd, supplied by Bellamy, cut in from the right, bemusing Clint Hill, then smacked an unstoppable left-footed shot across Paddy Kenny and into the keeper's top right corner.
  It was a gem that would not have been out of place in the Champions League, but within four minutes Taarabt did his best to match it. After taking a corner on the left, the Football League's player of the year received the ball back via Alejandro Faurlín's head and curled a right-foot shot high and to Stephen Bywater's left.
  The QPR manager Neil Warnock said: "When the first goal went in I thought: 'That's why he [Bothroyd] plays for England,' then when Adel scored it was: 'That's why he's top man for us.'"
  The tone set, the two sides went at it hammer and tongs. Bellamy, running the channels with increasing influence, had a shot from the left saved before restoring his team's the lead. Matt Connolly made a mess of combating Bothroyd's cross from the right, handling the ball to no effect. He would have conceded a penalty had not the referee Lee Mason, who had an excellent match, allowed advantage when Bellamy scored from close in.
  Back came QPR to equalise again after 70 minutes, when Wayne Routledge's lofted pass enabled Taarabt to turn Kevin McNaughton before drilling home his second from 15 yards. After that it was anybody's game, both teams threatening to win it but having to settle for a point apiece.
  Warnock's post-match comments were as entertaining as events on the pitch. "Bloody hell, it was hot out there," he gasped. "Lucky I had my factor 15 on. I thought it was a great advert for the Championship and at half-time I thought we could win it if we stopped defending like fairies."
  Of Taarabt, he said: "Adel owed us that because he's had one or two walkabouts lately. But I don't blame him really. In our last away game, at Barnsley, two of the tackles on him were manslaughter and I had to bring him off to protect him. The lad is our shining light. He puts bums on seats, he's why people pay their money to watch."
  Hull on Monday was no gimme, he added. "They are 17 undefeated away from home, and it could be our hardest game of the season. I think it could be the same for Cardiff at Preston."
  Jones, who agreed the tussle had been "terrific", admitted Cardiff had conceded the initiative to Norwich. "Let's see what they can do with it," he said. "We're not going to wallow in self-pity. We're guaranteed a place in the play-offs, so that's stage one. Now we have to do stage two, and that will lead us to the holy grail."
  
  

 

[Rutashubanyuma]

Manchester United can beat Arsenal and Chelsea, says Sir Alex Ferguson

&#8226; Record 19th title in sight after 1-0 defeat of Everton
&#8226; 'I told players to just win games' against two other contenders

• Tim Rich at Old Trafford
• guardian.co.uk, Saturday 23 April 2011 22.01 BST <li class="history">Article history
  
  Sir Alex Ferguson says Javier Hernández, pictured scoring the winner against Everton, is 'special'. 'We did not expect this kind of return' in his first season, said the Manchester United manager. Photograph: Lee Smith/Action Images
  
  Sir Alex Ferguson said there was no reason why a record 19th championship could not be wrapped up inside a couple of weeks after Manchester United secured a late 1-0 victory over Everton.
  United need seven points from their four remaining fixtures to guarantee the title but Ferguson was irked by suggestions that, because their next two league games are against Arsenal and Chelsea, the two London teams still have a chance of overhauling them.
  "The thing that puzzles me is that people keep saying we still have to play Arsenal and Chelsea and they talk about these games as if we are going to lose them," the Manchester United manager said after Everton's defensive resilience was broken by Javier Hernández's 83rd-minute header.
  "Why can't we win these games? Why can't we go to the Emirates Stadium and win, as we have done previously? I told the players to forget about all that nonsense and just win their games."
  Manchester United have won their last two games at the Emirates, where they go next Sunday, and should they overcome Arsenal and beat Chelsea, Ferguson will lift the 12th Premier League title of his career on 8 May.
  Of those dozen championships, this is likely to draw the least acclaim with United producing few performances that would disprove the charge by the Marseille manager, Didier Deschamps, that this is a team "that lacks fantasy".
  Nevertheless, Ferguson paid tribute to a side who have dropped only two points at Old Trafford all season and have now snatched half a dozen victories in the final 10 minutes.
  "There is that winning attitude about them," he said. "We will keep our heads down and not get carried away. There are only four games left and the way they are going about their business and the effort they have shown, it gives them an outstanding chance of being champions. You can test people's character but they keep coming through.
  "We had some great openings and could have had this match finished by half-time but it is in the traditions of Manchester United that we don't do that. We always wait until the very end and keep everyone high on the edge of their seats but we get there."
  Ferguson appeared agitated on the touchline, complaining about what he regarded as Everton's time-wasting and arguing that they should not have been allowed the five minutes of stoppage time that produced. The manager said he was confident a goal would come.
  "I could feel it coming," he said of a match that produced no injury issues before Tuesday's Champions League semi-final first leg against Schalke. "We had the momentum and the crowd was up. When the crowd gets going at Old Trafford they suck the ball in. It was a tight game and some of Everton's defending was fantastic.
  "We had shots blocked near the line and their goalkeeper made two or three great saves. You say to yourself: 'It's going to be a late one' but you can just smell the history of the club when it comes to scoring late and so it was here.
  "The important thing is that we never gave up; we took gambles and we took risks. We put Wayne Rooney in the middle of the pitch and we brought Michael Owen and Ryan Giggs on." Hernández's goal was his 19th in his first season in the English game &#8211; as many as Ole Gunnar Solskjaer scored in his first season at Old Trafford.
  "We did not expect this kind of return," Ferguson said. "We thought his first year would be an introduction to the club; getting him adapted to English football and strengthening him up. But he has done all these things and more. He is special."