Inter held by Atalanta as title rivals flounder

December 13, 2009


Italian league leaders Inter Milan were held to a 1-1 draw at Atalanta on Sunday that prevented them from fully capitalising on slips-up by their main title rivals, Juventus and AC Milan.

Inter, the four-time defending champions, were looking to bounce back from a 2-1 defeat at Juventus last weekend and they took a 15th-minute lead when their 10-goal top scorer Diego Milito outfoxed three defenders to score.

Jose Mourinho’s side were made to toil in the second period following the 65th-minute dismissal of midfielder Wesley Sneijder for two bookable offences and they allowed Atalanta to snatch a point through substitute Simone Tiribocchi with nine minutes to play.

Inter lead the table with 36 points from 16 games. Milan are five points back in second place after losing 2-0 at home to Palermo, while Juve trail Milan by a point after their 3-1 loss at Bari on Saturday.

Milan went into their meeting with Palermo on the back of five straight Serie A victories but they were undone by two goals early in the second half that owed much to the brilliance of Fabrizio Miccoli.

Miccoli cut in from the left flank before bending a fine finish around Dida in the 49th minute and he provided the spark for the visitors’ second goal shortly after the hour mark when he sped down the left before finding Javier Pastore, who in turn fed Mark Bresciano to slam home from close range.

Elsewhere, Fiorentina’s recent dismal run continued with a 2-1 defeat at Chievo, while Parma kept pace with the top three by winning 2-1 at home to Bologna and under-performing Lazio won 1-0 at home to Genoa.

Roma travel to Sampdoria in Sunday’s late match and the club from the capital will move up to fifth place, a point behind Parma, if they win.

Juventus’s week went from bad to worse on Saturday, when they followed up their mid-week Champions League elimination at the hands of Bayern Munich by losing 3-1 at promoted Bari.

Ciro Ferrara’s team were second-best throughout and their performance was symbolised by a missed penalty in the 68th minute by misfiring summer signing Diego.

ROME (AFP)

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‘AC Milan chase Drenthe’

November 26, 2009


Royston Drenthe is high on AC Milan’s shopping list. The Italians are keen on the Dutchman as Leonardo seeks to strengthen the left flank.

Drenthe was on the verge of swapping Real Madrid for Fiorentina this summer. That transfer was canceled, partly because coach Manuel Pelligrini wanted Drenthe to stay at Real.

On Thursday, Cadena Ser reports that Drenthe will leave the Santiago Bernabeu in the winter break. According to the Spanish media channel, Milan has targeted the versatile winger (who is valued at around €6 million) to strengthen their left flank.

Ruud van Nistelrooy may also leave Real Madrid. The 33-year-old striker is ready to reject a move to Arsenal to rescue Liverpool’s season, according to the Daily Mail. Reportedly, Tottenham Hotspur and Manchester City are also keeping an eye on Van Nistelrooy’s situation.

Paul Haring

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Hull hit for six as Torres treble fires Liverpool

September 26, 2009


Fernando Torres fired a hat-trick as Liverpool turned on the style with a 6-1 win over struggling Hull at Anfield on Saturday.

Spanish striker Torres scored his three goals within 47 minutes, while Steven Gerrard also hit the target and Ryan Babel added two late goals as a testing first half for the home team transformed into a rout.

Rafa Benitez’s side are now just three points behind leaders Manchester United despite losing two of their first three league games.

For all their well-documented problems, and all the growing pressure on manager Phil Brown, there was no questioning Hull’s commitment early in the contest after Torres’s first goal threatened to sweep the visitors away.

Barely 30 seconds had passed when Hull goalkeeper Boaz Myhill was required to sprint from his line to save at the feet of Torres who had chased down Gerrard’s through ball.

Myhill was powerless in the 11th minute, however, when Torres opened the scoring. Emiliano Insua fed Albert Riera down the left flank and his inch-perfect pass into the area found Torres who switched the ball from right to left foot with lightning speed.

There was little doubt of the outcome thereafter and the Spaniard did not disappoint as he stroked home his sixth goal of the season into the bottom right-hand corner.

It looked plain sailing for Liverpool from there against a Hull team which has won just two of their 27 league games since drawing on this ground last season.

But Liverpool’s defensive fragility at set-pieces and in the air would give Hull hope of getting back into the contest and it took just three minutes for them to find an equaliser.

Paul McShane placed a cross onto the head of Jan Vennegoor of Hesselink after 14 minutes and his ball across the area should have been cleared by Martin Skrtel.

Instead, the Liverpool defender only flicked it into the path of Geovanni and the Brazilian, who signed a new two-year deal with the Premier League strugglers this week, buried a magnificent, first-time volley past Pepe Reina from around a dozen yards.

But there was no answer to the irresistible Torres.

After 28 minutes, Yossi Benayoun won the ball impressively from Andy Dawson and slipped a telling pass through to Torres who dribbled his way around two defenders and Myhill along the six-yard line before calmly placing the ball into the empty net.

Hull wanted a quick response and Geovanni almost gave it them with a 25-yard strike that rose just over before McShane threatened at a corner.

But the outcome was settled when Torres completed his hat-trick just two minutes into the second half.

Benayoun created the goal with a pass that sprung Torres beyond the Hull defence and there was the opportunity for the striker to again show neat footwork in the area, leaving an embarrassed Ibrahima Sonko in his wake, before placing a left-foot shot through a crowded area into the corner of the goal.

Gerrard’s goal, just after the hour, was somewhat fortunate as a Hull corner broke down and he punted in a long cross towards the far post, Myhill losing the flight of the ball as it looped over his head into the corner of his net.

Hull tired as they pressed forward to try and find some degree of respectability and Glen Johnson, and substitutes Babel and Andriy Voronin all might have scored.

Eventually, Babel met Voronin’s 87th minute cross for a simple, unmarked finish just off the goalline and then added his second in the last minute.

LIVERPOOL, England (AFP)

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Chamakh at the double for Bordeaux

August 16, 2009


Marouane Chamakh brushed aside recent speculation surrounding his future at Bordeaux to help keep the French champions near the top of the league in a 3-2 away win at Sochaux on Saturday.

Only weeks ago the Moroccan striker had been a transfer target of English Premier League side Arsenal and looked on his way to the Emirates until Bordeaux slapped a hefty price tag on his head, leading him to hit out at his club.

Any ill sentiment he may have been feeling was left behind in the dressing room however as he rose above the Sochaux defence twice to head home either side of half time,

Brazilian midfielder Wendel was credited with adding Bordeaux’s second goal when he benefited from a fluke deflection off the keeper as he tried to pass across goal in the 42nd minute.

With title favourites Marseille set to play Sunday, hosting Lille in Montpellier because of stadium problems, Laurent Blanc’s side have six points from two games and are second in the table behind Nancy on goal difference.

Paris Saint Germain meanwhile made up for their opening draw last weekend with a 3-1 hammering of Le Mans with Turkey’s Mevlut Erding opening the scoring with a stunning individual effort in the 34th minute at the Parc des Princes.

Le Mans had opened the scoring through Norwegian striker Thorstein Helstad in the 21st minute

However, PSG’s charge towards victory looked on after Erding collected on the left flank and then turned his marker inside out before unleashing a shot which beat goalkeeper Rodolphe Roche at his far post.

Another Le Mans player, Frederic Thomas, then had the ball in the net but his own goal on the hour did little to boost morale.

A rampant PSG then sealed their win with a third goal from fans’ favourite Ludovic Giuly, their victory moving them to third on four points.

Lyon, who won the title seven years in a row until Bordeaux loosened their grip last season, also claimed their first win of the season with Bafi Gomis’s great looping header enough to seal the points over Valenciennes.

Nancy provided one of the most stunning results of the day, a 4-0 hammering of beaten 2004 Champions League finalists Monaco making sure they go top thanks to a superior goal difference over Bordeaux.

Monaco beat Toulouse 1-0 last week but had no reply to gutsy north-eastern minnows Nancy, who saw a second half double from Paul Alo’o Efoulou add to first half goals from Issiar Dia and Andre Luiz Silva, his from the penalty spot.

Lens, one of eight teams to lose on the opening day last week, enjoyed a 2-0 win at home to Auxerre while Lorient grabbed a deserved share of the spoils when Laurent Koscielny scored an injury-time equaliser to draw 2-2 with Montpellier,

On Sunday Didier Deschamps’ Marseille side, most observers’ favourites for the title, which they have not won since 1992, will look to keep pace with Bordeaux having won their opener last week.

League new boys Boulogne and Grenoble will also face each other while the Nice v Rennes fixture – both clubs won their opener last week – could prove a tight encounter.

PARIS (AFP)

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Canada draws 2-2 with Costa Rica

July 11, 2009


MIAMI — Patrice Bernier and Marcel de Jong scored 3 1/2 minutes apart in the first half and led Canada to a 2-2 draw with Costa Rica on Friday, sending the North Americans to the quarterfinals of the CONCACAF Gold Cup as the Group A winners.

Canada already had assured itself of a berth in the final eight and finished with seven points to earn a match against the Group B runner-up July 18 in Philadelphia.

Costa Rica improved to four points, and advanced to the quarterfinals when Jamaica beat El Salvador 1-0 in the second game of the doubleheader Friday

“Two-two was a fair result. Both teams played to win the pace of the game changed after the first goal,” Costa Rica coach Rodrigo Kenton said. “Canada is a good, calm organized team.”

The first 20 minutes of the match were listless with both teams getting comfortable with the artificial turf surface and the humidity.

But then both teams exploded for four goals in 11 minutes.

Costa Rica opened the scoring in the 23rd minute thanks to two mistakes by Canadian goalkeeper Greg Sutton on the same play.

Sutton’s goal kick went right to Costa Rica’s Armando Alonso, who headed the ball back into the Canadian zone. Striker Andy Herron ran onto the ball and lofted a shot over Sutton who ventured out too far and stumbled while trying to retreat into his goal.

Two minutes later, Canada tied the game when midfielder Josh Simpson drove down the left flank and found an unmarked Bernier, who volleyed the ball into the goal.

De Jong put Canada ahead in the 28th. His free kick from close to 45 meters was cleared back toward him. He settled it and then launched another attempt that skipped once before deflecting off the inside of the left post past goalkeeper Ricardo Gonzalez.

But Costa Rican captain Walter Centeno, the Miller Lite Man of the Match, equalized in the 34th minute, driving a curving free kick from 30 meters over the wall and found the inside of the goalpost

Costa Rica suffered from suspect defending and shoddy goalkeeping for much of the first half.

Despite the breakdowns, the Ticos sent a wave of pressure at Canada in the second half looking for the winner. Celso Borges sent a bicycle kick by the right post early in the half.

Then Canada got a lucky break when the ball off a corner kick hit Canadian defender Richard Hastings’ hands in the 73rd minute, but American referee Terry Vaughan didn’t call a penalty.

Five minutes later, Borges headed Centeno’s corner, but Canadian midfielder Jaime Peters cleared the ball off the line.

In the 84th minute, Centeno sent a header from 10 yards out just over the crossbar.

That’s as close as Costa Rica could get as Sutton and the Canadian defense prevailed.

“Canada was just sitting back and the result was good for them,” Herron said. “They didn’t mind if they just sat there and went forward, so they just defended the whole time trying to get in good position to try to attack us and we just tried, they defended well.”

“The coach was trying to make a couple of changes to get us close to the goal. I mean we tried we tried to do our best, but Canada did a good job defending.”

With injuries and players tagged with cautions, Canada manager Stephen Hart rested five of his regulars.

“I had no choice. I had no choice,” Hart said. “If any of the players were carded they would out been out of the quarterfinals. And we had injuries. I had no choice.”

Julian de Guzman, captain Paul Stalteri, Ali Gerba, Mike Klukowski, Dejan Jakovic and Josh Simpson all began the match on the bench. Jakovic was injured, while De Guzman, the Gold Cup 2007 MVP, could have been suspended for the quarterfinals with another caution. Inserted in their place were Jaime Peters, Andre Hainault, Simeon Jackson, Richard Hastings and de Jong.

“For us this game in particular there were too many changes we just couldn’t find a rhythm,” Hart said. “In the second half we did marginally better, but overall what we had to do tonight was suffer and we got the result of a point, but at least with three games and now we have a few days to recuperate and head to the quarterfinals.”

By: By Vijay Setlur

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El Salvador stuns Costa Rica 2-1 with late goal

July 4, 2009


CARSON, California – El Salvador charged to the top of the the Gold Cup’s Group A Friday night, beating Costa Rica 2-1 with an 86th-minute goal from Osael Romero.

It was Romero’s second of the evening, adding to his 20th-minute tally that put El Salvador ahead. Costa Rica equalized in the 64th, but were unable to contain a potent El Salvador that ended a four-game losing streak to its Central American neighbor.

The game began at a frantic pace, both teams bolstered by a thunderous capacity crowd at The Home Depot Center. El Salvador had the better of play, creating a few near-chances inside the Costa Rican penalty area and drawing two yellow cards on the “Ticos” in the first 10 minutes.

“La Selecta” was finally rewarded in the 20th minute when William Reyes headed a long Miguel Montes punt into the path of Osael Romero. Romero broke free down the left side of the box, beat Costa Rican defender Pablo Herrera with a quick stepover, and drilled a shot into the top left corner.

Seemingly not content with the potency of his attack in the first half an hour, Costa Rican manager Rodrigo Kenton brought in speedy midfielder Andy Herron to replace Harold Wallace in the 32nd minute to add speed in the offensive third. The move almost had an immediate effect, with Herron earning a handful of throw-ins and corner kicks, and providing Centeno with a good option on the right flank.

Costa Rica responded with its own push, threatening El Salvadorian net several times. The best chance came in the 40th minute when Celso Borges got onto the end of a Walter Centeno corner kick, heading a low ball against right post before being it was cleared.

El Salvador almost doubled its lead in the 50th minute when Julio Martinez sent a cross in from the right flank that Reyes almost put into the top corner. Only a diving swat from goalkeeper Keilor Navas held the lead to one.

Costa Rica found its equalizer when Esteban Sirias broke free along the left flank and sent a high cross into the penalty area. Substitute striker Warren Granados rushed into the area and volleyed the ball into the top of the net to even the score 1-1.

The Ticos continued to pound the El Salvadorian defense as the game went on, but were caught napping in the 86th minute. Reyes sent a low ball into the penalty area that was deflected into the path of Romero. The striker hammered home the game-winner to take Costa Rica to the top of Group A ahead of the second round of games in Columbus on Tuesday.

By Jeffrey King

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Park makes history, but United off song in Rome

May 28, 2009


ROME (AFP) – South Korea’s Park Ji-Sung became the first Asian footballer to contest a Champions League final on Wednesday, but was powerless to prevent his Manchester United side going down 2-0 to Barcelona.

The 28-year-old made history by starting on the right wing with Wayne Rooney on the other flank and United star Cristiano Ronaldo as the lone striker, but was switched to the left flank just before half-time with Barcelona 1-0 ahead.

He worked tirelessly against Barcelona captain Carles Puyol, who gave his South Korean opponent few chances while Samuel Eto’o put the Spanish ahead on 10 minutes.

Park made way for Dimitar Berbatov in the 66th minute just before Argentina’s Lionel Messi scored Barcelona’s decisive second.

With the p;layer having a reputation for covering every blade of grass and a tireless engine, United coach Sir Alex Ferguson had earlier said the decision to leave Park out of last year’s Moscow final had not been easy.

“There was a terrible disappointment that we didn’t include him in last years squad,” admitted the 67-year-old Scot.

“He has something which even (Cristiano) Ronaldo and (Lionel) Messi don’t.

“He works tirelessly, he doesn’t need the ball – he has fantastic awareness of space and timing and gets into the right place at the right time.”

Park’s appearance in a Champions League final is sure to send his profile into orbit back home, despite United’s defeat.

While his compatriot Cha Bum-Kun won the UEFA Cup with Eintracht Frankfurt in 1980 and then with Bayer Leverkusen in 1988, Park is the first Asian footballer to play at the top-tier of European domestic football.

His every move is scrutinised in his native South Korea and he is mobbed on the streets of Seoul where he is a pin-up, yet is able to walk through Manchester’s streets relatively unbothered.

Even his team-mates know very little about the shy Korean whose father took a job in a butchers shop after Park declared at an early age he wanted to be a professional footballer so his son had the right nutrition to fulfil his dream.

Despite all the meat he could eat, Park’s diminutive frame hindered his ambition until he earned a place at the Myung Ji University in Seoul.

After playing for his country at Sydney’s 2000 Olympic Games, he was instrumental in helping South Korea reach the semi-finals of the World Cup in 2002.

Dutch coach Guus Hiddink masterminded the success and took Park to Holland’s PSV Eindhoven where he recovered after struggling initally to catch Sir Alex’s attention and earn a £4 million (6.4m US dollars) move to United in 2005.

Almost four years on, no one is questioning United?s motives behind buying Park, whose arrival compensated for the loss of Beckham to Real Madrid in 2003.

Since their launch in February 2006, United have sold 380,000 credit and debit cards in Britain, which compares with a staggering 1.2 million in South Korea.

With Park in their ranks, United are laughing all the way to the bank, despite the glum faces from Manchester fans in Rome on Wednesday.

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Marseille close in on French footbal title

May 14, 2009


PARIS (AFP) – Marseille moved a step closer to their first league title in 17 years on Wednesday after goals from Mamadou Niang and Brandao brought a 2-0 win at local rivals Nice to send the southerners three points clear of the pack.

Niang bagged the opener with a fine shot on the turn after 26 minutes before Brazilian Brandao, who has averaged a goal every other game since his arrival from Shakhtar Donetsk mid-season, made the points safe on the hour.

An end to end move saw home keeper Steve Mandanda feed Hatem Ben Arfa, who found Taye Taiwo down the left flank. The Nigerian quickly picked out the lurking Brandao, who nodded in.

Marseille moved onto 71 points from 35 games after their 20th league win of the campaign, but Bordeaux were out to draw level on points with a win in the late match at Valenciennes.

Marseille chairman Pape Diouf was buoyant after a potentially vital win.

“This is a significant victory at one of the toughest places we have had to visit. But we have three still finals to negotiate – I’m banking on Bordeaux winning their last three matches,” Diouf explained.

As the top two chase down the automatic Champions League slots, reigning champions Lyon may have to make do with a shot at the qualifiers.

An eighth straight league title still looks beyond them despite Tuesday’s 3-0 home stroll over relegation-threatened Nantes at the Gerland stadium.

Lyon have 64 points with three games remaining – but the seven-point gap with Marseille now looks too great to close even if the former can win their outstanding tussle with the former European champions.

Jean II Makoun bagged two of Lyon’s goals, following an early header with a neat strike on 35 minutes as Claude Puel’s team rallied following a three-match goalless spell and four-game run without a win.

Anthony Mounier’s header 11 minutes from time completed the one-way traffic.

Paris Saint Germain moved to within a point of Lyon after Mateja Kezman scored Wednesday’s only goal at Le Mans.

Eight-times champions Nantes’ loss at Lyon suggests they will now struggle to beat the dreaded drop with just 33 points from their 35 games – especially as fellow former giants Saint Etienne won 4-2 at relegated Le Havre to move three points clear of the Canaries.

Saint Etienne, the biggest club in France in the mid-1970s when Michel Platini was the swashbuckling mainstay of the team, moved out of the bottom three, two points clear of Caen, who lost 1-0 to a Rennes side still harbouring hopes of clinching a place in the new Europa League.

Le Havre briefly led before succumbing to late efforts from Mirallas and Riviere as the hosts suffered their 25th defeat of the season to confirm their bottom placing.

Following them down will be any two from Caen, Nantes, Sochaux – who beat Monaco 3-0 to go level on 36 points with Saint Etienne, ‘Les Verts’ themselves and Le Mans, still not out of the wood after their home loss to PSG.

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Atlante scores twice in first half, wins 2-0 at Cruz Azul in first leg of Champions League finals

April 23, 2009

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MEXICO CITY – Atlante took a major step toward its first CONCACAF club title in 26 years, scoring twice in the first half and beating fellow Mexican side Cruz Azul 2-0 Wednesday in the first leg of the Champions League finals.

Rafael Marquez Lugo, whose injury time penalty completed a 3-1 victory over Santos and a 4-3 aggregate win in the semifinals, set up goals by Fernando Navarro and Christian Bermudez in the 17th and 24th minutes.

Atlante, winless in its last five in the Mexican league, will return home to Estadio Quintana Roo in Cancun next Wednesday with hopes of claiming the second confederation crown in its history and first since 1983.

Cruz Azul, which was without the suspended  Gerardo Torrado and Cristian Riveros, has gone winless in seven matches in the Mexican league since February 22, a 4-2 victory at Necaxa – its only win away from home in the Clausura championship.

Both teams, which made for a third all-Mexican CONCACAF final in four years, entered the match struggling domestically, with Atlante in 15th place in the 18-team league, one place ahead of Cruz Azul.

“I am very pleased with the first half, but the second half we let Cruz Azul be in our side too much,” Atlante manager Jose Cruz said. “We can not underestimate their potential. We took this tournament very seriously and we are demonstrating it with results.”

Atlante, which like Cruz Azul was without suspended players Luis Venegas and Giancarlo Maldonado, started quickly, creating a pair of chances in the first 12 minutes.

It finally converted in the 17th when Navarro, just outside the top of the area, sent a ball deep to Marquez Lugo, who returned the ball with a flick of the outside of his right heel. Navarro took one touch to close unmarked on Alfonso Blanco, and easily beast the Cruz Azul keeper with a blast from the edge of the six-yard box.

Seven minutes later Marquez Lugo used his speed down the left flank to get clear, then sent a low rolling cross through the area that Luis Rey dummied and Bermudez finished into an open net at the back post.

“Very nice feeling, very happy to be part of this,” Berumudez said. “We lost many opportunities, but at the end the result was in our favor.”

Atlante will have to play the second leg without defender Miguel Martinez, who drew a second yellow card since the start of the knockout quarterfinals and will be suspended for the home match. Martinez was red carded for an injury time melee in the 3-1 victory over Santos, but had his automatic suspension voided when the CONCACAF disciplinary committee ruled that he was trying to help quell the fracas and not adding to it.

Cruz Azul manager Benjamin Galindo moved quickly after Navarro’s goal to thwart Atlante’s control, replacing Edgar Andrade with Hector Gutierrez in the 20th minute.

After falling behind by a second goal, the Azulinos showed some life late in the first half generating a chance from distance by Pablo Zeballos in the 40th and a volley just wide by Alejandro Vela four minutes later.

Cruz Azul had more of the play in the second half, but was unable to capitalize on chances by Cesar Villaluz, Luis Landin and Javier Orozco.

“In the first half they were much better and even though we responded in the second half, we didn’t reach our objective,” Galindo said. “We are going through a rough moment, but we have 90 minutes to try to redeem ourselves.

“We had two key players that could not play, but the ones who replaced them did a good job. We will try to turn the score around in Cancun.”

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Gerrard helps Liverpool in 5-0 rout of Aston Villa

March 23, 2009

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LIVERPOOL (AFP) – Liverpool moved within one point of Premier League leaders Manchester United after Steven Gerrard’s hat-trick inspired a 5-0 rout of 10-man Aston Villa on Sunday.

United still have a game in hand but, having won 4-1 at Old Trafford last week, the Reds now have a better goal difference by two with eight games left.

Dirk Kuyt started the goal-spree with seven minutes gone and Albert Riera doubled the lead just after the half hour at Anfield.

England midfielder Gerrard added a third from the spot just before the interval and scored a fourth with a free-kick just after the restart.

The Liverpool captain scored a second penalty after goalkeeper Brad Friedel was sent off for a challenge on Fernando Torres as Villa’s winless run stretched to eight games.

Fifth-placed Villa remain three points behind Arsenal and a place in the top four is now looking beyond them.

Liverpool began with real purpose and from Fabio Aurelio’s corner, Friedel was forced to save from Martin Skrtel’s header with just a minute on the clock.

After Villa’s James Milner had a shot deflected wide, Liverpool took the lead with just seven minutes gone following Nigel Reo-Coker foul on Riera down the left flank.

Gerrard drove the ball into the area and Xabi Alonso’s header came back off the bar but Kuyt made no mistake with a powerful follow-up from six yards for his tenth goal of the season

With Gabriel Agbonlahor left on the bench, Villa had a strong spell and Pepe Reina pulled off an impressive stop from John Carew’s flick from Ashley Young’s cross from the left.

Midway through the opening period, another glancing header from Carew, this time from Reo-Coker’s lofted free-kick, was pushed away by Reina before Young hit the side-netting.

But just as Villa were looking threatening, Liverpool doubled their lead.

Gareth Barry’s curling free-kick was easily held by Reina and his long clearance bounced over the Villa defence before Riera hit a half-volley with his left foot that flew in off the bar.

Five minutes before the interval, Kuyt’s cross-field pass picked out Riera and the Spanish winger was tripped in the area by Reo-Coker and Gerrard sent Friedel the wrong way with his penalty to make it three.

Half-time brought only a little respite for Villa and five minutes after the restart they were four goals behind.

Carlos Cuellar chopped Kuyt down on the edge of the area and Alonso took the free-kick short for Gerrard to place the ball into the corner of Friedel’s goal.

As they looked for a response, James Milner’s drilled cross was headed straight at Reina by Emile Heskey.

But Liverpool were still not satisfied and after Alonso picked out Kuyt, he received the return ball on the edge of the box only to stab wide.

In the 65th minute, Alonso sent Torres clean through and after the Spaniard knocked the ball on, he collided with Friedel.

Referee Martin Atkinson gave a penalty and showed Friedel the red card. Gerrard stepped up to send Friedel’s replacement Brad Guzan the wrong way from the spot to complete his hat-trick.

Lucas missed from Riera’s cross as the Reds searched for a sixth goal and Torres was frustrated in his attempts to score.

But Liverpool were happy to play out time in the knowledge that the title race is now wide open.

Written by: AFP

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