by Anton Johan
In Sunday's match against Manchester United, Liverpool was hoping to keep the
Red Devils at bay and so keep their hopes alive to finish in the top four
of the English Premier League this season. But alas for the Reds it was
not to be as their rivals overcame a deficit to see out the match the 2-1
victors.
Man United, who reclaimed the top spot in the League last weekend, seemed to
come together on Sunday as team with a single objective - to win the 2010
English Premiership. From the start, however, it looked as though Liverpool was
going to be the superior team after Fernando Torres' dazzling fifth-minute
opener.
Smelling blood after such an early slip-up, Liverpool supporters were not afraid
to let the opposing team's fans have it. But their elation turned out to be
short-lived when Manchester's Wayne Rooney - who has been playing in top form of
late - levelled the score at 1-1, despite the controversy that surrounded his
goal.
Liverpool were then forced to step it up a notch if they had any hope of earning
the necessary points to keep them in contention for the top four. But sadly the
team - that has slipped up far too often of late - allowed Park Ji-sung's header
to find the back of the net to make it 2-1, which stayed unchanged until the
whistle.
So while Liverpool and their fans were left licking their wounds, Man United and
their fans celebrated their top of the table 69 points, 2 points clear of second
place Arsenal with 67 points and third place Chelsea with 65 points. Tottenham
Hotspur, meanwhile, are fourth with 55 points with Liverpool in fifth with 51
points.
At the other end of the spectrum, Saturday's match between bottom of the League
Portsmouth and second from the bottom Hull City yielded some exciting football
action, despite the fact that Portsmouth will definitely be relegated. And
although the very existence of the club is in question, the team secured a 3-2
victory.
In the words of a writer for a popular English daily paper, 'Portsmouth, who had
canceled Folan's first strike through Tommy Smith before the interval, turned it
around in astonishing style at the end with Jamie O'Hara driving home following
a free-kick and, on the next attack, Kanu turning in Nadir Belhadj's cross.'
Here are the full English Premier League Football results from Saturday March 20
and Sunday March 21, 2010:
Man Utd 2-1 Liverpool
Fulham 1-2 Manchester City
Blackburn 1-1 Chelsea
Aston Villa 2-2 Wolves
Everton 2-0 Bolton
Portsmouth 3-2 Hull City
Stoke City 1-2 Tottenham
Sunderland 3-1 Birmingham
Wigan Athletic 1-0 Burnley
Arsenal 2-0 West Ham Utd
