LIVERPOOL 3 - 1 Blackburn Rovers [Gerrard 60', Torres 82', Voronin 90'; Santa Cruz 90+'], Gamewk 34
Click to viewToday is the 19th anniversary of the Hillsborough Disaster in which 96 Liverpool fans were killed. Yesterday, Liverpool and Blackburn held a minute's silence before kickoff to pay respect to those who lost their lives in the tragedy. After the midweek European Cup madness, England returned to Premier League action this weekend. Liverpool entertained Blackburn at home hoping to further consolidate their stranglehold on 4th position and with it a place in next season's European Cup Qualifying campaign. Earlier in the weekend, 5th-placed Everton had dropped crucial points with a 1-1 draw at Birmingham, while there were potentially relegation-saving victories for Fulham (away at Reading) and Bolton (at home to West Ham). Derby's miserable season however continued unabated as visitors Aston Villa thrashed them 6-nil to maintain the pressure on Portsmouth and Everton for an automatic UEFA Cup place. Even if they miss out on automatic entry, their victory at Pride Park has improved their chances of gaining entry through the Intertoto Cup. In other Saturday fixtures, Spurs were held to a 1-1 draw at home to Middlesbrough, while FA Cup finalists Portsmouth were unable to break the deadlock at home to Newcastle. Pompey will feel especially aggrieved with this result as a victory would've brought them within two points of Everton. Even so, as FA Cup finalists they can still qualify for the UEFA Cup by defeating Cardiff City* at Wembley on May 17.
There were two Premier League games yesterday as Liverpool took on mid-table Blackburn in the afternoon fixture while Manchester United hosted fellow league-title hopefuls, Arsenal in the day's late kickoff. Liverpool took 60 minutes to convert their dominance into fruition as Steven Gerrard slotted in his 11th Premier League goal of the season and 21st in all competitions. Eight minutes from time Fernando Torres became the first Liverpool player to score in seven consecutive top-flight matches at home as he headed himself into the record books. He also became the first Red since Robbie Fowler in the 1995/6 season to score 30 goals in all competitions in a single season. The Spaniard is just four goals away from scoring the most goals in a debut season in England. Andriy Voronin added insult to injury with a third, though Paraguayan Roque Santa Cruz pulled one back in the dying seconds for the Rovers. Overall, a great result!
And finally, Manchester United produced a sublime comeback to defeat Arsenal 2-1 at the Theatre of Dreams to destroy any lingering hopes of an Arsenal title-challenge, while increasing The Red Devil's lead to six-points over 2nd placed Chelsea who play later today, and nine points over 3rd placed Arsenal. At the rate the Gunners are going, they would be better to concentrate on preventing Liverpool from overtaking them in the season's last four games. The Reds are only five points behind the seriously out-of-form London club who have picked up only 8 points from their last 8 league games. In contrast, Manchester have picked up 22, Chelsea 20 and Liverpool 19. Arsene Wenger insists the trophies will come, but could this be the beginning of the end? Three trophy-less seasons and growing discontent. How much longer will Arsenal fans put up with beautiful football but have nothing to show for it at the end of the day?
(* Cardiff City are one of only three Welsh clubs playing in the English Football League. The others are Swansea City and Wrexham.)