The Hindu : Sport / Football : Blackburn out of danger zone

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Tuesday, Mar 08, 2005

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Sport - Football

Blackburn out of danger zone

LONDON, MARCH 7. Blackburn moved seven points clear of the relegation zone on Sunday with a 1-0 win over Everton off a Jonathan Stead goal.

Blackburn moved up two places in the Premier League standings to 14th with the win. Everton stays in fourth place, the final Champions League spot.

The Toffees have an eight-point buffer from fifth-place Liverpool with nine games remaining.

"There was plenty missing. We can't argue, we didn't perform very well. We just didn't get up to scratch," Everton manager David Moyes said. "But we are in good league position and a lot of clubs would like to be here, we know we are not going to get relegated."

Stead's goal, a drive from just inside the box that Everton goalkeeper Nigel Martyn got a hand on but couldn't stop, came in the 71st minute.

Blackburn goalkeeper Brad Friedel made several saves. He caught an early Tim Cahill attempt, stopped Marcus Bent just before halftime and blocked a Leon Osman strike with two minutes left.

"There are still nine games to go and it is going to be tough, but it has taken a lot of pressure off us," Rovers midfielder David Thompson said.

West Bromwich Albion boosted its chances of staying in next season's Premier League with a 2-0 win over Birmingham.

Neil Clement and Kevin Campbell scored to help West Brom off the bottom of the standings for the first time since the end of November.

West Brom moved up to 19th, but is only five points from safety. Norwich, with 20 points, goes bottom, with West Brom on 21 and Southampton on 24.

Crystal Palace, out of the relegation zone, has 26 points.

Clement headed West Brom ahead after 53 minutes and Campbell volleyed the second after 64 minutes.

"It's a nice boost to be off the bottom of the table," West Brom manager Bryan Robson said. "We are pleased about that. We know there is still a hard fight ahead of us but this one gives us a little bit of encouragement."

Chelsea has 68 points, followed by Man United with 63 and Arsenal with 61.

The results:

EPL: West Brom 2 bt Birmingham 0; Everton 0 lost to Blackburn 1.

La Liga: Real Betis 2 drew with Getafe 2; Espanyol 2 bt Levante 1; Numancia 1 drew with Villarreal 1; Mallorca 3 bt Real Sociedad 2; Zaragoza 1 bt Racing Santander 0; Athletic Bilbao 3 bt Albacete 1; Deportivo La Coruna 1 bt Malaga 0.

Serie A: Fiorentina 2 bt Reggina 1; Inter Milan 2 bt Lecce 1; Messina 1 bt Lazio 0; Parma 3 bt Cagliari 2; Sampdoria 1 bt Chievo 0; Siena 2 lost to Brescia 3; Udinese 0 lost to Bologna 1; Livorno 2 drew with Palermo 2.

Bundesliga: Mainz 05 5 bt SC Freiburg 0; VfB Stuttgart 2 bt Arminia Bielefeld 1; Hamburger SV 1 bt Bayer Leverkusen 0; Borussia Moenchengladbach 1 bt VfL Wolfsburg 0; Hannover 96 0 lost to Hansa Rostock 1; VfL Bochum 0 lost to Schalke 2; Bayern Munich 1 bt Werder Bremen 0; Hertha Berlin 1 drew with FC Kaiserslautern 1; FC Nuremberg 2 drew with Borussia Dortmund 2. — AP

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