Crouch Receives More Criticism

The weekend saw yet more turmoil for Liverpool's Peter Crouch as he missed a penalty on an afternoon that he had a number of opportunities to end his scoring drought. The 6ft 7" striker asked to step up and take the spot-kick however it was to his dismay that it was saved by Portsmouth keeper Jamie Ashdown. It was struck with no real conviction and there was an obvious lack of influential confidence. However luckily for Liverpool, Bolo Zenden reacted instantly and headed home off the rebound. Later on Crouch found himself one-on-one with Ashdown however he struck at a comfortable height for the keeper and it was parried away.

Shortly after Zenden's goal, Djibril Cisse found himself on the right of midfield aiming to whip an in swinging cross in to the box however the ball was hit with too much power and only managed to fin itself in the back of the Pompey goal. Cisse was delighted although his honesty was shown as he signalled to the touchline that it was a fluke.

Fernando Morientes also joined the party with a powerful shot which found James Ashdown's bottom left hand corner. The Spaniard is now starting show why he has such a high value and The Kop are loving him.

In other matches, Middlesborough gained a controversial victory over Fulham. Fulham's Collins John gave Fulham the lead after only nine minutes with a superb spinning volley which will surely be in the contest for goal of the month. However the controversy was sparked when Yakubu scored from Hasslebainks assist. The pass looked to be offside nevertheless the goal was given. The match ended 3-2.

Chelsea ended their so called 'losing streak' with an impressive victory over Newcastle United. The Magpies suffered a heavy defeat of three goals to none which ended their good form of late. Despite Newcastle's injuries with many players still on the sidelines, Chelsea did not have it all their own way in the first half. Everybody but the referee spotted John Terry's foul on Lee Bowyer however, the man in charge failed to award Newcastle a rightful penalty. The first and second goals were scored due to a Titus Bramble, ever so common mistake. Hernan Crespo and Joe Cole capitilised with quality and class. The Newcastle strength in midfield certainly was shown with Emre, Solano, and Parker holding out the Chelsea Pack. Nevertheless in the closing minutes Damien Duff put the game to bed with a long-range drive that caught a deflection off Scott Parker and rolled into the back of the net.

Everton continued their inconsistent run of form when they were comprehensively beaten by The Baggies at The Hawthorns. Nathan Ellington grabbed two, the first being from the spot. Tony Hibbert was judged to have fouled Ellington although; it looked to be outside the box. Nevertheless the penalty was given and Ellington converted comfortably. Clement scored the second with a header in the fiftieth minute. Soon after Ellington got his second with a fine curling effort. To ad insult to injury Robbie Earnshaw came off the bench to the score the fourth. The game was all over with the scoreline finishing 4-0 to The Midlands side.

In the London derby of Spurs versus West Ham, Mido put Tottenham ahead in the fifteenth minute with a delightful cushioned header which looped over Shaka Hislop. The scoreline stayed like this until the final minute when Anton Ferdinand - younger brother to Rio, managed to scramble the ball back into the net on a corner set piece. The game was a stalemate.

Arsenal scored three whilst, Wigan scored two in order to end the recently promoted sides run of good form. All the goals were scored in the fist half including a superb Henry free-kick.

Man Utd won at The Valley as they aim to recover from Roy Keane's shock exit. Charlton scored one though The Red Devils managed to put three away.

Also Sunderland lost against Villa, 1-3. Kevin Phillips scored against his former club which silenced all the abuse he was receiving from crazy Sunderland fans.

Meanwhile, Man City drew at home against Blackburn. No goals were scored.