Beckham scores Eriksson England's 98th goal

England need to score two more goals to amass a 100 under Swedish coach Sven-Goran Eriksson.

David Beckham's second goal against Azerbaijan on March 30 has increased their total to 98. The goals were scored by 23 different players.

From a total of 51 matches, England won 28, drew 15 and lost eight; goals for 98, against 46, including 19 clean sheets.

The scorers:
21 - Owen; 15 - Beckham; 9 - Rooney; 8 - Lampard; 6 - Vassell, Gerrard; 4 - Fowler, Heskey, Scholes and four own goals; 3 - Joe Cole; 2 - Sheringham; 1 - Ehiogu, Barmby, Andy Cole, Murphy, Campbell, Ferdinand, Smith, Jeffers, Southgate, Bridge, Wright-Phillips, Defoe.

Other soccer items for March:

¤ Arsenal midfielder Jermaine Pennant, currently on loan at Birmingham, is jailed for three months after admitting drink-driving while banned.

¤ Sir Bobby Robson is given the Freedom of Newcastle in recognition of his achievements in football.

¤ Manchester United's Alex Ferguson and Wayne Rooney are named Manager and Player of the Month, respectively.

¤ Chelsea and Liverpool reach the quarter-finals of the Champions League after aggregate wins over Barcelona 5-4 and Bayer Leverkusen 6-2. Arsenal and Manchester United bow out to Bayern Munich (2-3) and Milan (0-2).

¤ In the fourth round, first legs of the UEFA Cup Middlesbrough lose 2-3 to Sporting Lisbon at the Riverside, while Newcastle topple Olympiakos 3-1 in Greece.

¤ The new Wembley Stadium will open in March 2006 with an England Under-21 match or a schoolboy international. The 2006 FA Cup final is expected to be the first official fixture at the new stadium.

¤ Kevin Keegan leaves Manchester City after serving just over three-and-a-half years of his five-season contract. City confirm that coach Stuart Pearce will take charge of first-team affairs until the end of the season.

¤ England will play friendlies against the US in Chicago on May 28 and Colombia in New Jersey on May 31.

¤ Arsenal's Thierry Henry is presented with a special award for being the first player to score 20 Premiership goals this season.

¤ The chairman of UEFA's referees committee blames Chelsea's Jose Mourinho for the retirement of Anders Frisk. Frisk controlled the Londoners' 1-2 loss in Barcelona. Referees committee president Volker Roth said that people like Mourinho are the enemy of football.

¤ While Newcastle move into the quarter-finals of the UEFA Cup at the expense of Olympiakos 7-1 on aggregate, Middlesbrough are eliminated by Sporting 2-4 on two legs.

¤ UEFA clear Mourinho of causing referee Anders Frisk to resign.

¤ Everton's Australian Tim Cahill is voted Oceania Footballer of the Year.

¤ Former Ipswich, Wolves and Newcastle manager Bill McGarry dies at the age of 77.

¤ In the draws of the Champions League quarter-finals, Chelsea will clash with Bayern Munich and Liverpool duel with Juventus. Both sides begin at home. In the UEFA Cup, Newcastle, also at home, take on Sporting Lisbon.

¤ At Hampden Park, Rangers crush Motherwell 5-1 to lift the League Cup.

¤ Chelsea officials, including coach Mourinho, are charged by UEFA for bringing the game into disrepute. They had claimed that Barca coach Frank Rijkaard had been seen entering the referee's room at half-time in the February game at the Nou Camp.

¤ The Premier League receive a full report over Chelsea's alleged 'tapping up' of Arsenal's Ashley Cole.

¤ The FA confirm England players will get a four-week break before the 2006 World Cup. The FA Cup quarter-finals next season will be played on Wednesday to allow this end-of-season recess.

¤ At Hull, England draw 2-2 (D. Bent, Ashton) with Germany in an Under-21 European Championship encounter. Other results: Israel-Ireland 3-1, Italy-Scotland 2-0, Wales-Austria 1-0.

¤ Chelsea's Joe Cole gives a remarkable display on the left side of midfield as England trounce Northern Ireland 4-0 (J. Cole, Owen, Baird o.g., Lampard) in a World Cup qualifier at Old Trafford. Other outcomes: Israel-Ireland 1-1 (Morrison), Italy-Scotland 2-0, Wales-Austria 0-2.

¤ England Under-21 coach Peter Taylor agrees to a year extension to his contract, keeping him in charge until the end of season 2005-06. In the Under-21 European Championships, England go top of the group after their 2-0 (Welsh, Ashton) win over Azerbaijan at Middlesbrough. Other result: Austria-Wales 2-0.

¤ At Newcastle, England beat Azerbaijan 2-0 (Gerrard, Beckham) in a World Cup qualification game. Other results: Austria-Wales 1-0, Poland-N. Ireland 1-0.

¤ Jose Mourinho is fined £8,900 and handed a two-match touchline ban by the UEFA Disciplinary Board. The club is fined £33,300 and assistant Steve Clarke and security officer Les Miles have been reprimanded.

The charges relate to Chelsea's Champions League match at the Nou Camp against Barcelona on February 23, when Mourinho claimed that his counterpart Rijkaard spoke to referee Frisk during half time.

Leading marksmen

FA Premiership
25 - Henry (Arsenal)
18 - Johnson (Crystal Palace)
12 - Defoe (Tottenham)

Scottish Premier
19 - Hartson (Celtic); Riordan (Hibernian)
18 - Novo (Rangers)
14 - Boyd (Kilmarnock); Prso (Rangers)

Average attendances

1. Manchester Utd - 67,873 (1)
2. Newcastle - 51,749 (2)
3. Manchester City - 45,021 (3)
4. Liverpool - 42,313 (4)
5. Chelsea - 41,849 (5)
6. Arsenal - 37,946 (6)
7. Aston Villa - 37,554 (7)
8. Everton - 36,593 (8)
9. Tottenham - 35,862 (9)
10. Middlesbrough - 31,733 (10)

11. Southampton - 30,246 (11)
12. Birmingham - 28,688 (12)
13. Charlton - 26,323 (13)
14. Bolton - 25,875 (14)
15. West Brom - 25,779 (15)
16. Norwich - 24,046 (16)
17. Crystal Palace - 23,728 (17)
18. Blackburn - 22,774 (18)
19. Portsmouth - 20,043 (19)
20. Fulham - 19,415 (20)

Consistency standings

The following list includes teams' points average per game played since the Premier League started in 1992-93 up to April 1.

Leading scorers

The best scorers in the Premier League since the inauguration of the division up to March 6. Players' clubs are as they stand at present. Last month's positions are shown in parenthesis

1. Alan Shearer (Newcastle) - 250
2. Andy Cole (Fulham) - 176
3. Robbie Fowler (Man. City) - 152
4. Thierry Henry (Arsenal) - 137
5. Dwight Yorke (Birmingham) 121

6. J.F. Hasselbaink (M'boro) - 114
7. Ryan Giggs (Man. United) - 86
7. Paul Scholes (Man. United) - 86
9. O.G. Solskjaer (Man. United) - 84
10. Dennis Bergkamp (Arsenal) - 83