Liverpool On Top of The Table

Google Image

Lisince losing to Chelsea on 29 December, Liverpool are unbeaten and have taken 35 out of a possible 39 points, which has elevated them to top spot with six games to go and answered their critics in stunning style.

Liverpool climbed back to the top of the Premier League table as they comfortably dispatched Tottenham 4-0 at Anfield.

Brendan Rodgers' side eighth successive Premier League win was barely in doubt as they dominated proceedings from start to finish.

They were gifted the lead just two-minutes in when Glen Johnson fired a cross into the six-yard box and Younes Kaboul could only back-heel the ball past Hugo Lloris into his own goal.

Kaboul endured something of a nightmare first-half which culminated in Luis Suarez latching onto his miscontrol just before the break and finishing with a crisp left-footed strike past Lloris.

Indeed had it not been for Lloris' brilliance on the stroke of half-time to deny Suarez with header, it could and should have been 3-0.

A blocked Christian Eriksen effort and a Roberto Soldado shot aside, Spurs showed very little in Liverpool's last third and it was the same story after the break.

Jordan Henderson should have scored early in the second period as he blasted over after good work from Raheem Sterling but the Kopites did not have long to wait for a third.

Fed by Jon Flanagan, Philippe Coutinho carried the ball to the edge of the Spurs box before clinically firing into the bottom corner.

The fourth duly arrived with 15-minutes remaining, with Henderson getting his name on the score-sheet after his in-swinging free-kick went through a crowd and straight in, completing a resounding and thoroughly deserved win which takes Liverpool two points clear of Chelsea and four of third placed Manchester City.

It is the first time since Christmas that they have been at the summit, and the last four teams who occupied that position on December 25 went on to win the title and the prospect of a first title for 24 years is now closer than a speck on the horizon it has been for a couple of decades.

If you ask me can Liverpool win the title? Yes, Liverpool can win the title, and it makes it a bit easier when there at the top of the table..

Tottenham Hotspur Vs Arsenal (0-1):Post Report

16th March2014 : Arsenal had the single goal when Tomas Rosicky's fires a rocket after just 72 seconds and lifted Arsenal back into  the Premier League title race.

Some of the White Hart Lane faithful were still taking their seats when Arsenal took the lead, with Rosicky leaving Hugo Lloris grasping at thin air with a venomous right-foot strike from the corner of the area which flew across the goalkeeper and into the back of the net.

Google Image

Rosicky had picked up possession in his own half before advancing into the space vacated by Danny Rose's forward foray before playing a slightly fortuitous one-two with Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain and then finding the top corner.

The Gunners were forced onto the back foot for long periods of the north London derby, but the closest Spurs came to levelling was in the second period when Wojciech Szczesny inexplicably failed to gather a routine cross from the right and had Laurent Koscielny to thank for denying Nacer Chadli a certain leveller.
Arsenal are now third, only behind Liverpool on goal difference and just four points adrift of Chelsea and with a game in hand on the leaders, while they now boast a nine-point cushion over their derby rivals in fifth.
Arsenal were ahead inside two minutes of Arsene Wenger's 999th match in charge with a goal of the highest order.

Sherwood's side - whose collective character had been questioned by the manager - soon regrouped and caused Arsenal a few problems with probing balls into the penalty area.

Arsenal, though, retained possession well and it should have been 2-0 on 15 minutes when Oxlade-Chamberlain robbed Nabil Bentaleb on the halfway line and sprinted clear.

The England man darted to the edge of the penalty area, but as Lloris came off his line the Arsenal man screwed his attempted chip horribly wide - with Lukas Podolski screaming for a square pass for what would have been a tap-in.

That let-off gave a huge lift to the home side, who immediately went on the offensive with a low cross from Andros Townsend on the right flying through the six-yard box.

On 21 minutes, Arsenal full-back Bacary Sagna slid into a challenge with Danny Rose which - although he probably touched the ball first - totally upended the Spurs defender. Sherwood was off the bench demanding a red card but, after a stern talking-to, referee Mike Dean produced only a yellow.

Spurs continued to play a very high defensive line, which was breached again when Podolski raced clear down the left. His cut-back was just behind Rosicky but Oxlade-Chamberlain connected with a strike that was deflected out for a corner.

The home side should have been level at the start of the second half following two terrible handling errors from Szczesny.

First the Pole flapped at a cross on the edge of the Arsenal penalty area, which Sagna hacked away as Chadli chased the loose ball. Then, inexplicably, Szczesny failed to collect a high cross into the box, which this time did fall for Chadli, but somehow Koscielny blocked his goalbound shot at point-blank range.
With 20 minutes left, there was a double change for the home side when Paulinho and Gylfi Sigurdsson replaced Chadli and Sandro.

For Arsenal, Rosicky was taken off as defensive midfielder Mathieu Flamini came on.

Wenger was off his seat protesting for what he felt was a penalty after Koscielny was sent tumbling by Jan Vertonghen, but the referee was not interested.

Lloris then made a smart reaction save after Per Mertesacker lashed the ball goalwards from a deep free-kick.

Tempers boiled over in the closing minutes as Sherwood twice hurled the ball at Sagna when Arsenal had been awarded a throw-in.

Mikel Arteta played a good game as he eventually act as peacemaker in a crowded technical area as his side played out the four minutes of stoppage time.