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Prem Reflections: Liverpool Show They Mean Business
Graham Lister picks the bones out of an eventful weekend in England’s Premier League…
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Oct 27, 2008 10:18:56 AM
Rafael Benitez felt Liverpool's 1-0 win at Chelsea was a
near-perfect performance - and one that clearly demonstrated his side's
growing credibility as title challengers. It is hard to disagree with
him after the Reds followed their 2-1, come-from-behind victory over
Manchester United earlier this season by ending Chelsea's 86-game
unbeaten League run at Stamford Bridge to move three points clear at
the top of the table.
In the absence of compatriot and main marksman Fernando Torres, Spain midfielder Xabi Alonso's deflected 10th-minute goal gave Liverpool a deserved victory and finally consigned to history a remarkable Chelsea record of home invincibility stretching back to February 2004.
It was the first setback for Luiz Felipe Scolari's reign at Chelsea, but from a Liverpool perspective winning at the Bridge and overtaking the Blues at the top sent an emphatic message to everyone else that the Feds mean business this season. Before the game, Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson had typically sought to play down the importance of a Chelsea-Liverpool clash to the title race, but after his team were pegged back to a 1-1 draw at Everton and Benitez's made it six points out of six in 'Big Four' clashes to date, Fergie's words struck a hollow chord as the Reds effectively stifled Chelsea's new-found creativity under Scolari..
When you have players with quality and they work hard, you have a winning team, said a happy Rafa, though he is not getting carried away. He was also quick to recall that after Liverpool had beaten United in September, they dropped two points in their next game, at home to Stoke - so they will need to be fully focused on Wednesday when they entertain newly managerless Portsmouth.
As for Scolari, he attributed the Blues' unaccustomed defeat -their first in the League since Arsenal beat them at the Emirates last December - to his players' tendency to revert to playing high balls in from the flanks rather keep it on the floor with the shorter passing game that had served them well in their first eight games of the campaign.
If it was a terrific weekend for Liverpool - and a disappointing one for both Chelsea and United (who took the lead at Goodison through Darren Fletcher but couldn't hold it, allowing Marouane Fellaini to head home an equaliser and ending on the back foot) - it was a pretty decent one for Arsenal, Hull City, Aston Villa.... and Tottenham.
The Tigers, Gunners and Villans followed Liverpool's lead in recording handsome away wins that left them third, fourth and fifth in the table, respectively. Hull ensured their thrilling top-flight baptism continues by emphatically beating another promoted side, West Bromwich Albion, 3-0 at The Hawthorns, where Kamil Zayatte, the irrepressible Geovanni and Marlon King scored the goals. Phil Brown's side are now level on 20 points with Chelsea - whom they host at the KC Stadium on Wednesday. How many expected that to be a top-of-the-table clash when the fixture list was published?
Arsenal kept firmly in touch with an impressive 2-0 victory at West Ham - impressive because for 75 minutes it looked as if the Hammers would join the list of teams who've successfully frustrated Arsene Wenger's side. But the Gunners kept believing and kept going - and got their rewards when Emmanuel Adebayor came off the bench and paid back another instalment of the goodwill debt he ran up in the summer among Arsenal fans. The Togo striker's menace in the box panicked Julien Faubert into conceding an own goal before latching onto Nicklas Bendtner's sublime long pass, taking the ball round the otherwise outstanding Robert Green and slotting into the net for the Gunners' second.
Meanwhile, at the JJB Stadium, Gabriel Agbonlahor scored one goal and made another two as Aston Villa pulverized Wigan 4-0 to underline their growing threat. Given that this was manager Martin O'Neill's one hundredth game in charge of the Villans, the players made sure he reached his century in style with a performance of genuine quality. Gareth Barry from the spot, Agbonlahor, John Carew and Steve Sidwell - who came off the bench to fire home his first for Villa - were the goalscorers, leaving Wigan boss Steve Bruce bemoaning that poor defensive mistakes had seen his side get their backsides kicked.
A kick up the backside was certainly what the Spurs players needed, and it seems they got a metaphorical one in a giddy few hours that saw Juande Ramos, his top two coaches and Tottenham's director of football summarily sacked, and Harry Redknapp immediately installed as the new manager at White Hart Lane. Harry's pep-talk must have done the trick, because his new charges responded by doing something they hadn't previously achieved in eight attempts this season under Ramos: they won a match. It perhaps Bolton's misfortune to meet Spurs on such a significant day; they were fall-guys in the making once Redknapp sauntered onto the pitch to wave to the White Hart Lane crowd. The Trotters finished well-beaten, 2-0, but did themselves no favours by having Gavin McCann sent off early in the second-half. The novelty of collecting three points could not lift Tottenham off the bottom, though.
And another fallen giant, Newcastle United, stayed second-bottom after losing the Tyne-Wear derby on Sunderland turf for the first time since 1980. Roy Keane's Black Cats were deserving winners over compatriot Joe Kinnear's Magpies, and not only for the sheer quality of Kieran Richardson's stunning free-kick that proved to be the decisive strike. Sunderland started and finished the stronger and created the better chances, though there was no faulting the spirit of Newcastle under Kinnear. Djibril Cisse showed how much he is enjoying life in the North-East by reacting quickly to steer home Steed Malbranque's teasing cross for the opener, but Shola Ameobi headed home powerfully from Geremi's free-kick to pull the Toon level. Then Richardson put last week's unbelievable misfortunes at Fulham behind him with what was surely as good a free-kick as anyone will score this season.
On Monday, Newcastle had earned a battling point against Manchester City, and while they couldn't match that at the Stadium of Light, City used their late equaliser on Tyneside as a platform for a comprehensive home victory over Stoke City on Sunday. The 3-0 win was all about Robinho, the Brazilian superstar breaking the Potters to pieces with a scintillating hat-trick. It gave City their first Premier League victory in four matches and took Robinho's personal tally to six since arriving at Eastlands - though he will acknowledge a debt of gratitude to substitute Danny Sturridge for two assists. As for Stoke, it was a miserable afternoon for them. They remain in the bottom three and have now won only once in seven games.
It was a pretty traumatic weekend for Portsmouth too, having their manager walk out on them hours before an important home game against Fulham. Peter Crouch - who admitted Harry Redknapp was one of the main reasons he joined Pompey from Liverpool in the summer - put them ahead at Fratton Park with Tony Adams and Joe Jordan in joint charge of the team. But American Clint Dempsey scored a late equaliser for Roy Hodgson's Cottagers, who after drawing at home to Sunderland last week were desperate for more points to help move them up the table.
The weekend's other game saw Middlesbrough looking to bounce back from a 5-0 mauling by Chelsea on their previous outing. They looked capable of securing an away win at Blackburn, too, when Afonso Alves put them ahead on 74 minutes at Ewood Park. Earlier Tuncay Sanli had an overhead kick wrongly disallowed, while Jeremie Aliadiere struck the bar. But Rovers - who'd seen Roque Santa Cruz hit the woodwork too - salvaged a precious point with a dramatic header by substitute Benni McCarthy in the fourth minute of stoppage-time.
Now the 20 top-flight teams must gird their loins for a full programme of midweek action which includes such tasty treats as the North London derby at Ashburton Grove, Chelsea's visit to Hull, leaders Liverpool at home to Pompey and Manchester United's visit from West Ham.
Graham Lister
In the absence of compatriot and main marksman Fernando Torres, Spain midfielder Xabi Alonso's deflected 10th-minute goal gave Liverpool a deserved victory and finally consigned to history a remarkable Chelsea record of home invincibility stretching back to February 2004.
It was the first setback for Luiz Felipe Scolari's reign at Chelsea, but from a Liverpool perspective winning at the Bridge and overtaking the Blues at the top sent an emphatic message to everyone else that the Feds mean business this season. Before the game, Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson had typically sought to play down the importance of a Chelsea-Liverpool clash to the title race, but after his team were pegged back to a 1-1 draw at Everton and Benitez's made it six points out of six in 'Big Four' clashes to date, Fergie's words struck a hollow chord as the Reds effectively stifled Chelsea's new-found creativity under Scolari..
When you have players with quality and they work hard, you have a winning team, said a happy Rafa, though he is not getting carried away. He was also quick to recall that after Liverpool had beaten United in September, they dropped two points in their next game, at home to Stoke - so they will need to be fully focused on Wednesday when they entertain newly managerless Portsmouth.
As for Scolari, he attributed the Blues' unaccustomed defeat -their first in the League since Arsenal beat them at the Emirates last December - to his players' tendency to revert to playing high balls in from the flanks rather keep it on the floor with the shorter passing game that had served them well in their first eight games of the campaign.
If it was a terrific weekend for Liverpool - and a disappointing one for both Chelsea and United (who took the lead at Goodison through Darren Fletcher but couldn't hold it, allowing Marouane Fellaini to head home an equaliser and ending on the back foot) - it was a pretty decent one for Arsenal, Hull City, Aston Villa.... and Tottenham.
The Tigers, Gunners and Villans followed Liverpool's lead in recording handsome away wins that left them third, fourth and fifth in the table, respectively. Hull ensured their thrilling top-flight baptism continues by emphatically beating another promoted side, West Bromwich Albion, 3-0 at The Hawthorns, where Kamil Zayatte, the irrepressible Geovanni and Marlon King scored the goals. Phil Brown's side are now level on 20 points with Chelsea - whom they host at the KC Stadium on Wednesday. How many expected that to be a top-of-the-table clash when the fixture list was published?
Arsenal kept firmly in touch with an impressive 2-0 victory at West Ham - impressive because for 75 minutes it looked as if the Hammers would join the list of teams who've successfully frustrated Arsene Wenger's side. But the Gunners kept believing and kept going - and got their rewards when Emmanuel Adebayor came off the bench and paid back another instalment of the goodwill debt he ran up in the summer among Arsenal fans. The Togo striker's menace in the box panicked Julien Faubert into conceding an own goal before latching onto Nicklas Bendtner's sublime long pass, taking the ball round the otherwise outstanding Robert Green and slotting into the net for the Gunners' second.
Meanwhile, at the JJB Stadium, Gabriel Agbonlahor scored one goal and made another two as Aston Villa pulverized Wigan 4-0 to underline their growing threat. Given that this was manager Martin O'Neill's one hundredth game in charge of the Villans, the players made sure he reached his century in style with a performance of genuine quality. Gareth Barry from the spot, Agbonlahor, John Carew and Steve Sidwell - who came off the bench to fire home his first for Villa - were the goalscorers, leaving Wigan boss Steve Bruce bemoaning that poor defensive mistakes had seen his side get their backsides kicked.
A kick up the backside was certainly what the Spurs players needed, and it seems they got a metaphorical one in a giddy few hours that saw Juande Ramos, his top two coaches and Tottenham's director of football summarily sacked, and Harry Redknapp immediately installed as the new manager at White Hart Lane. Harry's pep-talk must have done the trick, because his new charges responded by doing something they hadn't previously achieved in eight attempts this season under Ramos: they won a match. It perhaps Bolton's misfortune to meet Spurs on such a significant day; they were fall-guys in the making once Redknapp sauntered onto the pitch to wave to the White Hart Lane crowd. The Trotters finished well-beaten, 2-0, but did themselves no favours by having Gavin McCann sent off early in the second-half. The novelty of collecting three points could not lift Tottenham off the bottom, though.
And another fallen giant, Newcastle United, stayed second-bottom after losing the Tyne-Wear derby on Sunderland turf for the first time since 1980. Roy Keane's Black Cats were deserving winners over compatriot Joe Kinnear's Magpies, and not only for the sheer quality of Kieran Richardson's stunning free-kick that proved to be the decisive strike. Sunderland started and finished the stronger and created the better chances, though there was no faulting the spirit of Newcastle under Kinnear. Djibril Cisse showed how much he is enjoying life in the North-East by reacting quickly to steer home Steed Malbranque's teasing cross for the opener, but Shola Ameobi headed home powerfully from Geremi's free-kick to pull the Toon level. Then Richardson put last week's unbelievable misfortunes at Fulham behind him with what was surely as good a free-kick as anyone will score this season.
On Monday, Newcastle had earned a battling point against Manchester City, and while they couldn't match that at the Stadium of Light, City used their late equaliser on Tyneside as a platform for a comprehensive home victory over Stoke City on Sunday. The 3-0 win was all about Robinho, the Brazilian superstar breaking the Potters to pieces with a scintillating hat-trick. It gave City their first Premier League victory in four matches and took Robinho's personal tally to six since arriving at Eastlands - though he will acknowledge a debt of gratitude to substitute Danny Sturridge for two assists. As for Stoke, it was a miserable afternoon for them. They remain in the bottom three and have now won only once in seven games.
It was a pretty traumatic weekend for Portsmouth too, having their manager walk out on them hours before an important home game against Fulham. Peter Crouch - who admitted Harry Redknapp was one of the main reasons he joined Pompey from Liverpool in the summer - put them ahead at Fratton Park with Tony Adams and Joe Jordan in joint charge of the team. But American Clint Dempsey scored a late equaliser for Roy Hodgson's Cottagers, who after drawing at home to Sunderland last week were desperate for more points to help move them up the table.
The weekend's other game saw Middlesbrough looking to bounce back from a 5-0 mauling by Chelsea on their previous outing. They looked capable of securing an away win at Blackburn, too, when Afonso Alves put them ahead on 74 minutes at Ewood Park. Earlier Tuncay Sanli had an overhead kick wrongly disallowed, while Jeremie Aliadiere struck the bar. But Rovers - who'd seen Roque Santa Cruz hit the woodwork too - salvaged a precious point with a dramatic header by substitute Benni McCarthy in the fourth minute of stoppage-time.
Now the 20 top-flight teams must gird their loins for a full programme of midweek action which includes such tasty treats as the North London derby at Ashburton Grove, Chelsea's visit to Hull, leaders Liverpool at home to Pompey and Manchester United's visit from West Ham.
Graham Lister
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