whatthehellulookinatjustcomein's blog: "liverpool fc"

STUNNING LIVERPOOL RUN RIOT The Telegraph 14 March 2009 Needing to beat the leaders to stay in the title hunt, Liverpool dismantled Sir Alex Ferguson's side, coming back from a goal down to win in style. They now trail the leaders by just four points and even though United have a game in hand, the pressure is on. Cristiano Ronaldo scored a first-half penalty to put United in front but Liverpool equalised through Fernando Torres before Steven Gerrard put them in front with a penalty of his own. The Liverpool captain celebrated jubilantly in front of the away fans. "It's great to score at Old Trafford after all the stick I've taken from United fans over the years," Gerrard said. "It was nice to rub it in." Nemanja Vidic, who had a miserable afternoon, was sent off for pulling Gerrard down when through on goal. Fabio Aurelio made it 3-1 from the ensuing free-kick to make sure of a Liverpool victory, while United's misery was compounded by the knowledge that Vidic's red card, his second against Liverpool this season, means the centre-back will be suspended for their next two games. Andrea Dossena, on as a substitute, finished the rout by lobbing Edwin van der Sar in the closing moments. Rafael Benitez lauded the contribution of Torres and Gerrard. "These two are our key players and when they are on the pitch the others have more confidence because they know they will score goals," he said. "The understanding between them both is better. When you don't have one of them it's a big loss." All sorts of records went tumbling. United hadn't been beaten in the League since losing at Arsenal on Nov 8 and hadn't lost at Old Trafford in the League in more than a year. Most brutally, this was the heaviest defeat they have suffered in the League since losing to Queens Park Rangers on New Year's Day 1992. "It will give us confidence but I hope it also gives confidence to teams who come here, and shows that they [United] can be beaten," Gerrard said. "They went down to 10 men but even at 11 v 11 we controlled the game." Benitez was characteristically sober. "The best weeks are when you win titles not games," he said. "We won this battle but we need to win the war. Obviously we are in a better position now and in football everything can happen. I'm more optimistic but I'm also realistic." Ferguson seemed to be evading reality by claiming his team had been the better side. "It's hard to take," he said. "I thought we were the better team but the score doesn't reflect that and unfortunately that's the name of the game. Quite rightly when you win 4-1 at Old Trafford you deserve all the plaudits." Liverpool have done the League double over United now and will look forward to taking them on in the Champions League, if Friday's draw pits them together. On this form, having crushed Real Madrid 4-0 in midweek, Liverpool must be favourites to claim the Champions League.

STREETFIGHTERS TURN TABLES ON FRONT-RUNNERS The Guardian 14 March 2009 A recent review of Bruce Springsteen's latest album posited that The Boss is at his best when he has something to rail against, writes Paul Hayward. Liverpool are a bit like that. The job of league leaders suits them less well than the role of street fighters attacking the more rich and powerful. Defiance is a deep strain in the culture on Merseyside. The Kop is a monument to resistance, in name and spirit. The defining expression of Liverpool's talent for overturning hierarchies was the great comeback in Istanbul, when they were 3-0 down to AC Milan at half-time in the 2005 Champions League final but won the game on penalties. The phoenix, more than the Liver bird, is their ornithological symbol. Only when Manchester United had pulled seven points clear in the Premier League title race did Rafa Benítez's men find a performance from the gods. Whatever the odds were on Liverpool scoring eight against Real Madrid and the world and European champions inside five days, no punter would have taken them. The form book would have whispered dark truths about the post-Christmas draws with Stoke and Wigan and the defeat at Middlesbrough four days after they had beaten Real inside the Bernabeu. Both Liverpools should go away for the weekend and try to come back as one. If they could translate their stomping form in the biggest tests to routine assignments then the 19-year wait for a domestic league title might have ended long ago. Proving that being backed into a corner is their favourite, masochistic mode, they went one down to a Cristiano Ronaldo penalty before swarming all over their oldest enemies, who have suddenly lost their sheen. Against Internazionale in midweek, Paul Scholes and Ryan Giggs took a managerial rocket for their profligacy with the ball. Surrendering possession is a felony here and United were guilty of it often enough against Italy's champions to suggest that a rampant run of victories was drawing to a close. This 4-1 thumping confirms that impression. It brought United's biggest home defeat since New Year's Day, 1992, when they were hammered by QPR. In two games, the diamond-precision of their passing has fallen away, the effervescence has dropped. This is entirely routine in a 38-game league campaign. But with Chelsea resurgent under Guus Hiddink and Liverpool back in iconoclastic mood, United will aim to bury the memory of two unconvincing displays and return to the heights of their 4-0 demolition of Fulham in the FA Cup. That chance is only days away, because they go back to Craven Cottage on Saturday, while Liverpool face a much tougher trial at home to Aston Villa. "When you lose a game, respond. That's what we'll do," Ferguson said. Specifically, Scholes, Giggs, Patrice Evra, Ronaldo and Michael Carrick are becalmed. Confronting Liverpool activates the self-destruct button in Nemanja Vidic, who was sent off in the corresponding fixture at Anfield and who, this time, allowed a long ball to bounce over his shoulder for Fernando Torres to score before being dismissed again for pulling Steven Gerrard down. To be fully effective, Liverpool need Fernando Torres to be sizzling, as he was yesterday, haunting Vidic and Rio Ferdinand with twisting, flowing runs. Liverpool's equaliser may have appeared routine, but it required Torres to finish from a challenging angle against the normally impregnable Edwin van der Sar. "Eleven v eleven, we were men today. It's not very often you see Man Utd get beat 4-1 at home," reflected Gerrard. Liverpool have now beaten Chelsea and United home and away and destroyed Real Madrid. To incite them to rebellion is fatal. "European Capital of Trophies" announced one United banner: an obvious play on Liverpool's role last year as European Capital of Culture. The joke self-detonated. All through this campaign the probability of United drawing level with Liverpool on 18 league title wins has rumbled backstage. The red half of Merseyside still hold the initiative in European Cups won (5-3), but the 18 league championships have assumed a mighty psychological weight in the face of United's relentless advance. Ferguson denies that levelling the score has been "a target", but it must drift through his dreams. Ending Liverpool's hegemony was his first task before Arsenal and Chelsea were lined up for the Glasgow kiss. To the neutral it felt as if a remorseless machine had been halted, if only for a few days, and that Liverpool have recovered their poise after a couple of months of creeping neurosis. The title race became a test of character again instead of a procession.