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Sports / Soccer
Leaders Arsenal crush Derby with Adebayor treble
(Agencies)
Updated: 2007-09-23 17:12
LONDON – Togo striker Emmanuel Adebayor scored his first hat-trick in
English football on Saturday and proved he is ready to replace former
captain Thierry Henry as the attacking talisman of a vibrant Arsenal team.
Arsenal consolidated their position on top of the Premier League with a
5-0 victory over struggling Derby County, leaving most observers
satisfied that the team no longer misses Henry, who left the club to join
Barcelona.
Adebayor, 23, who has flourished since being given a chance to succeed
Henry, struck once in the first half and twice in the second as hapless
Derby were swept aside at the Emirates Stadium.
“Yes, he has great potential,” Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger told
reporters. “But we have him and Robin Van Persie scoring goals and we
have others who are also very capable of scoring.
“Now it is down to us to prove we can go on and go as far as we want to.
We kept our focus after the Champions League (win in midweek over
Sevilla) and it was nice to see the players enjoy the game so much.
Defending champions Manchester United meet Chelsea, minus Jose Mourinho
who has been replaced as manager by the little-known Israeli Avram Grant,
on Sunday when West Ham United go to Newcastle United and Everton visit
Aston Villa.
French defender Abou Diaby opened the scoring for Arsenal with a powerful
diagonal right-foot shot from 25 metres after only 10 minutes and from
then on it was one-way traffic.
Adebayor ran on to a pass from Spanish midfielder Cesc Fabregas to score
his first with an individual flourish 15 minutes later and added his
second early in the second half from the spot after Eduardo was fouled by
Matt Oakley.
Fabregas scored Arsenal’s fourth with a swerving long-range shot before
Adebayor competed his treble with another fine goal 10 minutes from time.
LIVERPOOL STALEMATE
Liverpool were held to a 0-0 home draw by promoted Birmingham City and
despite long spells of possession rarely threatened to score.
“It was very disappointing,” Liverpool manager Rafael Benitez told
reporters. “When you have that much possession and chances, you need to
score, but sometimes it can be very difficult against such well-organised
teams.”
In the remaining fixtures, Reading beat fellow-strugglers Wigan Athletic
2-1 thanks to a late goal from James Harper, following a cute reverse
pass by Dave Kitson.
Kitson had put Reading ahead in the first half before Marcus Bent, who
also hit the bar, equalised with a header from a fine cross by Jason
Koumas.
Sunderland earned a point from a closely-fought north-east derby clash at
Middlesbrough where substitute Liam Miller scored with an 89th minute
left-foot half-volley to level the scores.
In former Manchester United captain Roy Keane’s 50th game as manager,
Sunderland took the lead after two minutes through Grant Leadbitter.
Former Sunderland striker Argentine Julio Arca headed a 15th minute
equaliser and England winger Stewart Downing fired the home team ahead
with a powerful drive after 67 minutes before Miller’s late point-saver.
“I am very happy with the result because we looked to be buried before
that goal,” said Keane. “I was not so happy with the performance, but we
did show great spirit.”
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