Arsenal extends championship lead

Press, 29 December 1986, Page 19

Arsenal extends championship lead

NZPA-Reuter London Arsenal’s centenary celebrations continued on Saturday with a 1-0 Highbury soccer victory against Southampton, a triumph which lifted it seven points clear of its closest challenger for the English league championship.

The London club, 100 years old on Christmas Day, had the mercurial striker, Charlie Nicholas, in its starting line-up for the first time since September, but it was Niall Quinn who stole the show by scoring in the seventythird minute. It took Arsenal’s unbeaten league run to 14

games and left it comfortably clear of Everton and Liverpool, split only by goal difference, in second and third place respectively. Liverpool made amends for its upset home defeat by Manchester United on Friday with a 1-0 win at Sheffield Wednesday. lan Rush scored his twentysecond goal of the season for Liverpool in the sixtyfourth minute. Tottenham thrashed West Ham, 4-0, on Friday to further boost its title hopes, but visited Coventry on Saturday and lost by the odd goal in seven. It even led twice as the ace marksman, Clive Allen, took his tally for the season to 28. Manchester United had

certainly produced the biggest upset of the twogame holiday programme by toppling Liverpool in its Anfield stronghold and was expected to follow up with a home triumph over Norwich.

But the Bryan Robson injury jinx struck again and then Norwich’s Kevin Drinkell scored the game’s only goal, 10 minutes from time.

The England midfielder, Robson, limped off three minutes before the interval. He had torn a hamstring in his right leg after stretching for a tackle. West Ham lost after leading Wimbledon twice. Tony Cottee hit his eighteenth goal of the season in the third minute but John Fashanu replied for Wimbledon nine minutes later. A thirty-sixth-min-ute header by Paul Hilton put West Ham ahead again but Andy Sayer made it 2-2. Carlton Fairweather hit the winner in the sixty-fourth minute. Chelsea lifted itself from the bottom of the table with a 4-1 triumph over Aston Villa. It also beat Southampton. Kerry Dixon scored twice and Nigel Spackman and Colin Pates scored one each, but Chelsea had the defender, Joe McLaughlin, carried off on a stretcher after a fourtieth-minute collision with Andy Gray. Paul Elliott replied late for Villa.

Oxford’s Gary Briggs was sent off against Queen’s Park Rangers, 1-0 winners through a fifty-ninth-minute goal from Robbie James. John Barnes was on target for Watford in the 1-0 victory over Newcastle.

The Scottish championship leader, Celtic, survived a scare at Clydebank and escaped with a 1-1 draw.

Clydebank went ahead in the first half but Brian McLair replied in the fifty-second minute and left Celtic five points clear of Rangers, who went to second with a 2-0 win against Dundee United. Ally McCoist and Robert Fleck scored early in the second half and the Rangers defence stood firm. Results.— English league Division one: Arsenal 1, Southampton 0; Chelsea 4, Aston Villa 1; Coventry 4, Tottenham 3; Manchester United 0, Norwich 1; Oxford 0, Queen’s Park Rangers 1; Sheffield Wednesday 0, Liverpool 1; Watford 1, Newcastle 0; West Ham 2, Wimbledon 3.

Division two: Brighton 1, Reading 1; Derby 3, Barnsley 2; Huddersfield 5, Bradford 2; Hull 0, Blackburn 0; Ipswich 3, Crystal Palace 0; Oldham 0, Leeds 1; Stoke 5, Shef-

field United 2; Sunderland 0, Grimsby 1; West Bromwich 0, Plymouth 0. Division three: Bournemouth 3, Fulham 2;. Bristol City 2, Walsall 1; Bury 0, Notts County 2; Carlisle 3, Rotherham 5; Chester 1, Blackpool 4; Darlington 1, Chesterfield 1; Doncaster 3, Bolton 0; Gillingham 1, Swindon 3; Mansfield 1, Middlesbrough 1; Newport 0, Port Vale 2; York 1, Wigan 1. Division four: Aidershot 1, Colchester 0; Burnley 4, Crewe 0; Halifax 3, Rochdale 1; Preston 0, Hartlepool 0; Scunthorpe 2, Lincoln 1; Stockport 3, Peterborough 1; Swansea 1, Hereford 3; Torquay 2, Orient 2; Tranmere 0, Wrexham 2; Wolverhampton 2, Exeter 2. Scotish league Premier division: Aberdeen 0, Hamilton 0; Clydebank I, Celtic 1; Dundee 2, Hibernian 0; Hearts 4, Falkirk 0; Motherwell 1, St Mirren 2; Rangers 2, Dundee United 0. Division one: Airdrieonians 1, Dumbarton 0; Clyde 0, East Fife 1; Forfar 1, Kilmarnock 1; Montrose 0, Partick 0; Morton 2, Dunfermline 2; Queen of South 2, Brechin 0. Division two: Ayr 0, St Johnstone 2; Berwick 2, Queen’s Park.l; East Stirling 1, Alloa 0; Raith 2, Albion 0; Stenhousemuir 0, Cowdenbeath 1; Stirling 2, Meadowbank 0; Stranraer 1, Arbroath 0.