The weekend

Well, the football was interesting enough. As devastating as Newcastle's fortunes were, Arsenal were equal in terms of delivering. Henry came in to the game in a foul mood and let Norwich feel the force. Devastating, like a hurricane to a barnyard, and as the Frenchman huffed and puffed, carrying the armband, he blew Norwich's house down. One-man show once again, and could be the difference between 2nd and 3rd place. Typically he scored with a classic shot from the left side, coming onto his right foot. Didn't Norwich do their homework, see Henry do it to Palace at Highbury? Huckerby scored a similar goal, good one too.

Bolton would be a hard game, they attack well in numbers, the likes of Speed and Giannakopoulos add pace, Gardner as back-up, Davies adds strength upfront plus Jaaskelainen is in good form in goal, while N'Gotty and Haim can be stubborn die-hard defenders. They pressured Liverpool in the first half for some 10-15mins, then the Reds began to settle after weathering the attacks. Finnan was great on the line twice with crucial intercepting headers. But the Liverpool side was patchy, Hyypia, Dudek and Morientes on the bench meant John Welsh and Traore came in with scott Carson in goal. I wish to take credit where Bolton fail to score, it is unusual for them not to.

Yet without someone leading like Gerrard, who knows what will happen. We had a glimpse of it against Bayer at Anfield but continuously in the league could be a different matter. He linked with Traore, who still looks out of sorts, who sent over a good cross for another anti-hero in Biscan to nod down and in. Fittingly for me was that the header went through the legs of Nolan and was retribution for when he scored the equaliser against us at Anfield in Jan 2002 and seemed delighted in doing so. The crucial thing was three points to pressurise Everton until Sunday.

Thankful to WBA for beating Everton. From when WBA played at the Valley, I felt they could upset Everton at the Hawthorns. Only Marcus Bent showed any energy to fight WBA, and they in turn had Horsfield, Campbell, Greening and Gera leading the fight for them. In Bent, Everton had pace, an eye for goal but lacking the precision, on three occasions he came close, particularly his shot after West Brom's goal. Good deep cross from Greening and Gera came in to nod home, similarly to Biscan. The injury time was 5mins and I feared it would be too much, but West Brom kept command while Everton showed little urgency in seeking their equaliser. WBA clearly deserved their win.


Redsman.