At 3.00pm GMT, today, it will be exactly 12 days until the first round of Premier League fixtures get underway.
At Ewood Park, Craven Cottage, Anfield, Loftus Road, White Hart Lane, The DW Stadium and at St. James' "We-don't-know-quite-what-the -stadium-will-be-called" Park, the first whistle of the season will blow, and with it, absolute joy will wash over millions of football fans up and down the country!
After the (shorter-than-it-seems) Summer period where limited football is played and the back pages become filled with news of Cricket and Golf, we will finally start to see normality return as football will start to dominate
The fixture list in full, then, for the weekend of 13th-15th August: Saturday, 13 August 2011 Blackburn v Wolverhampton, 15:00
Fulham v Aston Villa, 15:00
Liverpool v Sunderland, 15:00
QPR v Bolton, 15:00
Tottenham v Everton, 15:00
Wigan v Norwich, 15:00
Newcastle v Arsenal, 17:30
Sunday, 14 August 2011
Stoke v Chelsea, 13:30
West Brom v Man Utd, 16:00
Another round of fixtures produce some shocking results...
Darlington 0-2 Newcastle United
Firstly, on Friday evening, Newcastle United travelled to the Darlington Arena to take on Blue Square Premier League side, Darlington, who finished 7th last season.
A comfortable 2-0 victory for the Toon Army, through Barton (3) after a cross from Leon Best, and a strike from Ameobi (55), 10 minutes into the second half, were marred when Newcastle fans rushed onto the pitch and scenes turned ugly. Half-Time: 0-1
Full-Time: 0-2
Managing director, Derek Llambias said: "On behalf of everyone at Newcastle United FC, we wholly condemn the behaviour of a number of our supporters who invaded the pitch during the second half of the club's friendly against Darlington this evening (July 15). The club will be seeking to obtain footage of the disorder from Darlington FC and the police and will be taking the strongest possible action against those individuals responsible for the shameful behaviour.
This behaviour is not typical of the vast majority of our fans, however this incident gives a poor impression of Newcastle United and its loyal supporters."
On Saturday 16th July, six Premier League clubs played.
We'll start with the convincing victories- first Liverpool..
Malaysia XI 3-6 Liverpool
Charlie Adam got his first goal as a Red, converting a penalty in the convincing 6-3 victory over a Malaysia XI. Adam converted on 27 mins, after Jasuli's soft contact had taken down the big man, Andy Carroll. A Rahim goal levelled things on 43, giving a disappointing half time scoreline. Half-Time: 1-1
It took a further 23 minutes for Liverpool to regain the lead, with Ngog (68) first making it 1-2, then 2 minutes later on 70, making it 1-3. Rodriguez (76) made it 1-4, before Sali (79) got the first of his 2, making it 2-4, before adding Malaysia's 3rd on 82. At 3-4, and the scoreline the same as their earlier fixture, Liverpool turned it up a notch, hitting 2 stoppage time goals through Rodriguez (91) and Dirk Kuyt (94). Full-Time: 3-6
Gorleston 0-7 Norwich
An emphatic victory for Premier League newcomers, Norwich City, over Ridgeons Premier League side Gorleston at Emerald Park.
Captain Holt (6), Whitbread (12) and a Holt penalty (30) gave the Canaries a 3-0 lead. A Smith strike made it 4 and Jackson hit a 5th before half time. Half-Time 0-5 Johnson (49) and Wilbraham completed the rout, to set Norwich on their way to the Premier League. Full-Time 0-7
Blackburn Rovers 2-1 Accrington Stanley
At Morecambe's Globe Arena, Premier League Blackburn Rovers failed to convince against Accrington (Who are they? Exactly...) Stanley, but took the lead on 15 minutes through Keith Andrews. Half-Time: 1-0
Stanley equalised 9 minutes into the second half, through trialist, Kurtis Guthrie's 54th minute strike, before a Kalinic strike concluded the fixture. Full-Time: 2-1
Portsmouth 0-1 Chelsea
At Fratton Park, Chelsea fans had their first opportunity to see Andres Villas-Boas' line-up and match approach. Having played Wycombe behind closed doors in mid-week, fans were able to catch a glimpse in a damp squib of a match.
Former Chelsea defender, Ben-Haim headed past his own keeper on just 7 minutes. Half-Time: 0-1
A penalty for Portsmouth, taken by Luke Varney, and saved by Hilario, was the only thing of note in the second half. Full-Time: 0-1
Hangzhou Greentown 1-1 Arsenal
A desperately poor performance by the Gunners, as after just 16 minutes, Hangzhou took the lead through Sebastian Vazquez following a mistake from goalkeeper Vito Mannone. Carlos Vela drew Arsenal level on the stroke of half-time with a close-range strike. Half-Time: 1-1
Despite making a full 11 changes in the half-time interval, Arsenal failed to break down vastly inferior opponents and the 1-1 scoreline stood until the full time whistle blew. Full-Time: 1-1
Kaizer Chief's 1-0 Tottenham
A disappointing match for Tottenham at the Peter Mokaba Stadium in Polokwane. Twice denied by top-drawer saves from keeper Itumeleng Khune, the last in the 90th minute sparked the counter-attack that George Lebese scored the winner from.
Luka Modric, who handed a transfer request in this week was ruled out with an ankle problem, while fellow midfielder Sandro is expected to miss three months of action with a knee injury. Half-Time: 0-0
Full-Time: 1-0
Wed, Apr 30: UEFA Champions League (Semi-Final 2nd Leg)
Chelsea 3-2 Liverpool (Chelsea wins 4-3 agg)
SUMMARY:
It was a case of third-time lucky for Chelsea as Roman Abramovich's multi-million dollar squad finally ended their Liverpool jinx in Europe by reaching the final of the Champion's League for the first time in the history of the club.
On a rainy night in the capital, Chelsea ran out 3-2 winners - and 4-3 on aggregate - over Liverpool courtesy of a brace from Ivory Coast striker Didier Drogba and Frank Lampard penalty while Liverpool ended their barren run of goals at Stamford Bridge through Fernando Torres and Ryan Babel.
The match ran into extra-time between the closely-matched sides after Drogba opened the scoring with a thunderous drive in the first half before Fernando Torres hauled the five-times European champions level with a slotted finish in the 64th minute.
With neither side willing to give in, extra-time loomed and Michael Essien thought he had scored the winner for the hosts with a 20-yard effort that was correctly ruled offside. Rather than feeling sorry for themselves, the Blues continued to attack and were awarded a penalty just moments later when Reds defender Sami Hyypia brought down Michael Ballack just a fraction inside the box.
Up stepped Lampard - who returned to the side after the death of his mother last week - to send Pepe Reina the wrong way to spark emotional celebrations.
A 2-1 scoreline was never going to be safe against a never-say-die Liverpool team and the home side knew that the visitors only had to equalise to go through on the away goal rule so Drogba made sure of victory in the 105th minute after good work from ex-Liverpool striker Nicolas Anelka.
There was more drama though as Ryan Babel conjured a goal out of nothing in the second half of extra time with a rasping 35-yard shot that caught Petr Cech off guard, It was, however, a mere consolation for the Reds as Chelsea held onto win the match and book a place in the showpiece final in Moscow on May 21.
Tue, Apr 22: UEFA Champions League (Semi-Final 1st Leg)
Liverpool 1 - 1 Chelsea
SUMMARY
Liverpool were on the brink of securing a thoroughly deserved 1-0 win over Chelsea at Anfield overnight before disaster struck in the fourth minute of extra-time when a John Arne Riise own goal gave the visitors a vital away goal in the 1st leg of the first semi-final.
So dominant were Liverpool's display throughout the match that the mighty Reds could have scored at least four goals without reply on a night when several players were on brilliant form.
Unfortunately, Chelsea keeper Petr Cech chose last night to reaffirm his position as arguably the best goalkeeper in the world with a string of impressive saves to deny both Steven Gerrard and Fernando on countless occasions throughout the match.
The hosts took the lead in the 43rd minute through Dutch striker Dirk Kuyt who had robbed Frank Lampard of the ball before forcing it past the inspirational Cech. Buoyed by the breakthrough, the Reds went all out thereafter for the killer blow but time and time again, Cech was able to thwart the efforts of the home side.
With the match ticking away and Chelsea clearly bereft of ideas, the Blues fans amongst the crowd at Anfield were anxiously waiting for the final whistle before the sucker punch was delivered.
Chelsea striker Salomon Kalou curled a hopeful cross into the box from wide on the left which was headed in by Liverpool sub John Arne Riise and the Kop were stunned.
The vital away goal means that the London club are now in pole position to reach the Champions League final for the first time on May 21 with the return leg of the semi-final to be played at Stamford Bridge next week.
Tues, Apr 8: UEFA Champions League (Quarter-Final 2nd Leg)
Liverpool 4 - 2 Arsenal (Liverpool through on 5 - 3 Agg)
Chelsea 2 - 0 Fenerbahce (Chelsea through on 3 - 2 Agg)
SUMMARY:
Liverpool and Chelsea have been reunited in the Champions League semi-final for the third time in four years courtesy of wins over Arsenal and Fenerbahce overnight.
Liverpool went into the return leg with a slender away goal advantage but it was Arsenal who started the brighter of the two sides and it came as no surprise when they went in front in the 13th minute through an Abou Diaby strike.
The Kop was silenced but not for long as defender Sami Hyypia restored parity on the half hour mark with a trademark headed goal and the home side began to dominate with new found confidence.
The Reds then took the lead in the second half when goal machine Fernando Torres gratefully latched onto Peter Crouch's flick on to fire a shot into the top corner. But with just seven minutes left, Arsenal stunned the hosts with an equaliser through Emmanuel Adebayor to make it 2-2 and it was advantage Gunners on the away goals rule.
A minute later, Liverpool were awarded a penalty when substitute Ryan Babel was adjudged to have been brought down by Toure. Up stepped captain marvel Steven Gerrard to fire the spot kick into the top corner to restore the home side's lead.
But the action was not over yet. Arsenal surged forward in search of the equaliser that would send them through to the next round but were caught out by a Ryan Babel breakaway goal which sealed a 4-2 victory on another famous European night at Anfield.
In the other quarter-final clash of the evening, goals from midfielders Michael Ballack and Frank Lampard gave Chelsea a 2-0 win at home over Turkish side Fenerbahce to book a place in the semi-final for the fourth time in five years.
Wed, Apr 2: UEFA Champions League (Quarter-Final 1st Leg)
Arsenal 1 - 1 Liverpool
Fenerbahce 2 - 1 Chelsea
SUMMARY:
Last season's Champions League finalists Liverpool hold a slender away goal advantage heading into next week's return leg at Anfield after a 1-1 draw against Arsenal in the quarter-final first leg overnight.
The home side took the lead through Emmanuel Adebayor's header only for the visitors to equalise just three minutes later after a moment of genius from captain marvel Steven Gerrard. Bursting his way past three Arsenal defenders, the England midfielder then crossed for Dutch striker Dirk Kuyt to bundle the ball home for a crucial away goal.
Both sides had opportunities to take the lead thereafter including a strong penalty claim for the Gunners after Alex Hleb appeared to have his shirt tugged by Kuyt as he made his way inside the box only for referee Pieter Vink to wave play on.
Arsenal and Liverpool face off again on Saturday in a Premier League clash before meeting for the return leg at Anfield next Tuesday.
Meanwhile, Chelsea suffered a shock 2-1 defeat at the hands of Turkish giants Fenerbahce at the Sukru Saracoglu in the second Champions League quarter-final match last night.
The London club took the lead in the 13th minute courtesy of an own goal by Deivid but the home side kept at it and were rewarded for their efforts when substitute Colin Kazim-Richards equalised on the 64th minute.
Own goal villain Deivid then made amends for his earlier error by scoring the winner in the 80th minute with a spectacular 35-yard shot that gave Cudicini no chance.
Chelsea will need to go all out for a win at home in the return leg to reach their fourth semi-final in five years.
Schalke 04 1 - 0 FC Porto
Liverpool 2 - 0 Inter Milan
Roma 2 - 1 Real Madrid
Olympiacos 0 - 0 Chelsea
SUMMARY:
Rafa Benitez's Liverpool has a knack for playing their best football in Europe and it was the same case overnight as the Mighty Reds came back from an embarrassing 2-0 loss against Barnsley to beat Italian giants Inter Milan 2-0 at Anfield.
The most ardent of Liverpool fans would have been worried by the prospect of facing the form side in Europe in the middle of a horrendous form slump, but Benitez's men had other ideas as Inter collapsed spectacularly in the last five minutes.
Dutchman Dirk Kuyt made it two goals in two games with his 85th minute opener, a deflected right-foot shot before talismanic captain Steven Gerrard took possession on the far right corner of the box and fired the second home off the far post in injury time.
While life was made easier for the Reds after the sending off of Marco Materazzi for two bookable offences on the half hour mark, the Italians defended bravely for almost an hour until the home side did enough to finally make a breakthrough.
There is still plenty to play for in the second leg of this intriguing tie.
Elsewhere, Roma were fourth time lucky as they beat Spanish giants Real Madrid 2-1 at home at the fourth attempt. Spanish striker Raul opened the scoring the visitors in the 8th minute, but Roma equalised through Pizarro in the 24th minute before Mancini sealed the game with a 58th minute winner.
Real, with a precious away goal, will fancy their chances when the return leg takes place at the Bernabeu.
Schalke 04 played admirably in their first appearance in the knockout phase of the Champions League, beating FC Porto 1-0 while English Premier League side Chelsea were held to a bore draw by Greek side Olympiacos.
Chelsea are through to face Everton in the semi-finals of the Carling Cup after knocking out Liverpool at the quarter-final stages overnight.
With Liverpool boss Rafa Benitez showing little intent in a starting line-up that included reserve keeper Charles Itandje, youngsters Jack Hobbs and Leiva Lucas and a substitutes bench missing captain Steven Gerrard and Spanish striker Fernando Torres, it was always going to be an up-hill struggle against a near full strength Chelsea side.
Chelsea's class and experience prevailed in the second-half courtesy of strikes from Frank Lampard and Andriy Shevchenko to seal a 2-0 win for the London club.
The match was marred by a moment of madness from England striker Peter Crouch who was red-carded for a two-footed lunge on Mikel John Obi shortly after Lampard's opener in the 59th minute.
Crouch will now miss Liverpool's home clash with Portsmouth and the visits to Derby and Manchester City over the festive period.
In the other draw, bitter London rivals Arsenal and Tottenham will battle it out for a place in the final.
Birmingham 1 - 1 Reading
Derby 0 - 1 Middlesbrough
Man City 4 - 2 Bolton
Portsmouth 0 - 1 Tottenham
Sunderland 1 - 1 Aston Villa
West Ham 0 - 2 Everton
Wigan 5 - 3 Blackburn
Fulham 0 - 1 Newcastle
Sun, Dec 16:
Liverpool 0 - 1 Man Utd
Arsenal 1 - 0 Chelsea
Sun, Dec 16:
The Premiership 'Big Four' went head to head over the weekend with Manchester United and Arsenal coming out on top with 1-0 victories over Liverpool and Chelsea respectively.
Despite dominating the match at Anfield, Liverpool failed to make any in-roads pass the United defence and were made to pay when Carlos Tevez pounced on a Ryan Giggs corner to fire home the winner late in the first half.
The win for Sir Alex Ferguson's men has left United nine points in front of their fierce north-west rivals.
Meanwhile at the Emirates, Arsenal captain William Gallas made his former club pay by heading home the only goal of the game on the stroke of half-time. The Frenchman cashed in on an uncharacteristic error from Chelsea goalkeeper Petr Cech to give his side victory and a six-point cushion over their London rivals.
The match of the weekend - an eight-goal thriller - took place on Saturday between Wigan and Blackburn at the JJB stadium.
Marcus Bent and Roque Santa Cruz both completed hat-tricks in a pulsating match which saw Wigan throw away a three-goal lead before eventually overcoming 10-man Blackburn 5-3 to end their 14-match winless run.
In other matches, wins were recorded for Middlesbrough, Man City, Tottenham, Everton and Newcastle.
Now that three rounds of Premiership action have passed, full of surprises and curious situations, the big question of who will obtain the title this year gets even harder to answer a view on the performance of the top teams in the first rounds would make this task a little bit easier.
Chelsea are the current favourites of the bookies(2.10), but to be frank I'm not impressed with them. Pizzaro, Malouda and co are yet to show their capabilities, and they are quiality players, but this season I think that the problem for Chelsea won't be up front, they have too many top-class players there, and in case they don't play against Liverpool for instance(sorry but Chelsea were so plain and without any ideas against Benitez's boys last week), they will score enough. The issue is that they concede too many goals. It's not the pragmatic Chelsea of the last seasons, who scored one or two but didn't allow the opponents to respond(it was trendy to bet 1-0 or 2-0 correct score when Chelsea are at home). Now we have 3-2 at home against NEWCOMERS of Birmingham, 1-2 away to Reading and 1-1 at Anfield. The first two wins were very hard, and basically for a team with Chelsea's likes, such matches are supposed to be easier. And the draw against Liverpool was a gift from the referee, Liverpool were the winners there.
Liverpool is the team that is about to be the new participant in the pursue of the title. After spending more than 50 million euro for players like Torres, Babel and Voronin Benitez has no excuses now. Previous seasons Liverpool made more than enough for the capabilities of their squad, but now they have to fight for the Premiership, 18 years without a title is just too much. Benitez will put into action his famous rotation principle, that enabled Valencia some years ago to win two times La Liga. Still, we haven't seen enough from Liverpool, but judging from the performance against Chelsea,
their style remains the old one - pragmatic, deadly tactical and disciplined football. But now that they have a variety of performers, Merseysiders could be more stable and endanger not only the Champions League contenders as before, but Chelsea and Manchester United as well.
The odds for Liverpool to win Outright were 6.50 in the beggining of the season, and now are 4.50, which speaks for itself.
Keep eyes on the Sunderland - Liverpool match in the weekend, I consider it a very important one for Liverpool's self-confidence after the blow against Chelsea.
Manchester United hit a bad streak in the first rounds. 2 draws and 1 lost in a row are results that we haven't seen from the Red Devils in the last two seasons. But it would be an airy statement that United are out. They just need one win to boost their confidence, and good results will flow. I guess, Tottenham this Sunday will be the first victims, though this promises to be a very tight fixture. Yes, it will be more difficult without injured Rooney and the suspended Ronaldo, but a team with the likes of United must be able to cope with such situations. My personal prediction is that United will bounce back in the next rounds and we will witness a three-sided fight for the title this season. A really intriguing one.
Arsenal, the other member of 'the big four', don't have the capability and the squad for the title. No offence to their fans, but this is reality and now without Henry it's even harder.
Some said that Tottenham will be able to intrude in big four's hegemony, but they still are quite unstable. And I'm really puzzled why did Jol buy Darren Bent for so much money, instead of strengthening his defensive line with experienced backs. So now he has around 5 forwards, but if a defender is injured(like skipper Ledley King is now), defensive problems occur.
Sorry, just UEFA for Tottenham, or the maximum is a fight with Arsenal for the 4th position.
So, perhaps the most intriguing season in the best league in the world is in front of us.
For previews and stuff before the rounds, see my b-log
Here is a video clip of Daniel Agger's goal which cancelled out Joe Cole's winner from the 1st leg of the Champion's League semi-final clash between Liverpool and Chelsea.
The goal was brought about after Liverpool captain Steven Gerrard was fouled by Joe Cole outside the penalty box.
Gerrard fooled the Chelsea defence by appearing to run up for a crack at the near post only to roll the ball into the path of the unmarked Daniel Agger for the defender to prod the ball home.
The might Reds went onto win 4 - 1 on penalties to book a place in the final of the Champion's League for the second time in three years.
I wonder what Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho will be doing now on the night May 23rd?
Yes, you heard it right, Liverpool is going to the Champions League final once again! The tickets to Athens have just been booked and it's going to be the Reds! No Blues!
This is perhaps the most important match of the season so far as i have mentioned and the result couldn't have gone any better! Somehow it felt like we have just won the trophy! Guess it's probably because everyone's been wary about our chances in getting through this time after down one goal deficit in aggregate.
The match started well, and Rafa surprised everyone again (well, at least i am!) with his starting lineup, with Zenden starting his 3rd consecutive match on the left wing. Alonso is dropped to allow Gerrard playing at the middle alongside Mascherano, and Pennant on right wing. The solid Finnan returned to his right back position, and that's the only change in the defensive line from the first leg's team. Crouch upfront with Kuyt, to all Liverpudlians' delight.
Once again, the victorious Reds!
Liverpool went on initiative from the start, and at one point around 20 minutes the possession reads Liverpool 71% to Chelsea's 29%. Pushing for that one goal to put us back into equation is important and at 22nd minute we got what we wanted! Agger's strike from Gerrard's free kick stunned Chelsea's defense and the ball in the net send the crowd into frenzy. From then on, we should be pushing for more, but Chelsea fight back. The latter part of the first half saw Chelsea bombarding their way to get the advantage goal, but we held on.
Second half was pretty much an evenly fought game, although Chelsea put more pressure on us. But we were the ones that came closest when Crouch's header somehow put away to safety by Cech and Kuyt's header hit the crossbar! Pennant also could have scored from Terry's clearance mistake, but was too slow to hit the ball. And Chelsea were always dangerous with their free kicks, but we persevere and both teams enter extra time. The only real chance in extra time was when Kuyt's free inside the penalty box but could only hit it straight at Cech and being parried away.
So here it is, we are in another intense penalty shootout.
To be honest, i was a bit shocked when i saw Zenden came on as the first penalty taker. But i guess it all makes a bit sense that maybe Rafa had always been preparing him for this kind of moment. He was the utility player, and calm head is so important in taking penalties. He didn't fail Rafa. The rest of the story is on the video above, and Reina has proven his heroics last year at FA Cup final wasn't pure luck. We are in for another Champions League final!
Overall, the team played well. Zenden was a bit non-existent, he should be taken out if not for him having a better defensive ability compared to Gonzalez, and also the experience in big matches. Pennant was decent and his cross to Crouch was superb. I think it's quite surprising when he is taken out instead of Zenden at that moment. Gerrard put an inspirational display where he drives around and some good passings. Kuyt was very hardworking, and Mascherano was magnificient! I am very impressed by his defensive display, no nonsense and less complains. I am certain we will see him very often next season.
Defensively, all four backs were tough and solid. Agger's goal pretty much cancelled out his first leg's mistake in allowing Drogba's cross to Joe Cole which resulted the goal. And today he is in no mood to be dragged around by Drogba as easily as the first leg. Credit to Chelsea for keep pushing until the end, but we don't really appreciate how players such as Mikel Obi and Drogba keep going down easily. Essien did an excellent job playing out of position. Mourinho is again controversial with his comments that Chelsea were the best team and the only ones who wants to win. That is not true considering we have more shot on goals, although they did push very hard through the end of the match.
I am in no mood to be pissed by his comments, whatever they said, we are in the final. We are in for another memorable Champions League final, and that is all that matters. Good luck to them in the Premier League race and fighting for the prestigious FA Cup. It's a good day, great day where everything is about the colour red. Excellent job everyone, well done!
Chelsea and England midfielder Joe Cole ended his recent injury nightmare with the only goal of the match in a 1 - 0 victory over Liverpool in the semi-final of the UEFA Champion's League over-night.
The talented midfielder scored the decisive goal from a cross in the 29th minute after good work from defender Ricardo Carvalho and striker Didier Drogba.
The high-light of the game came after the match when Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho, or 'Moaninho', complained on television about the referee failing to award a penalty for a hand-ball by Liverpool defender Alvaro Arbeloa.
He said: “I do not understand why we do not have penalties when it is clear. It’s not fair. I hope, after the second leg, we are not crying again and thinking about a big decision.”
What he failed to note was that the hand-ball incident - and a purely accidental one at that - occurred OUTSIDE the penalty-box and by a fair distance.
Perhaps there really is a separate set of rules for Chelsea if that was to be deemed a penalty or Mourinho should simply get his eyes checked out.
Luckily, the referee was a much wiser man and waved the penalty claims away.
The 2nd leg of semi-final two will take place on May 1st with Chelsea holding a slender advantage. However, with Liverpool playing at home with the vocal Anfield faithful in full song, anything can happen.
The frontrunner for this award is Manchester United starlet Cristiano Ronaldo, who has been in scintilating form this season for the Red Devils.
Chelsea's Didier Drogba is another favourite for the award on the back of his sensational goal scoring exploits for the London club this season.
The winner will be unveiled at a gala dinner on April 22nd.
My personal pick for this award has got to be Ronaldo. He has improved evert facet of his game over the course of the season and although he is still prone to going down in the box far too easily, he has cut back on his theatrics as well as his show-pony tactics in favour of a killer final ball.
His great scoring record this season will also work in his favour and I will be surprised if the recipient is not Ronaldo come Sunday evening.
No England supporter would ever have imagined themselves saying this, but boy did England miss out on the goal-scoring 'prowess' of Liverpool striker Peter Crouch.
The England striker signalled his come-back from surgery to a broken nose with a sensational hat-trick against Arsenal at Anfield.
The Bean-pole striker's first goal came as early as the 4th minute when Jermaine Pennant and Alvaro Arbeloa exchanged exquisite back-heels to setup the first goal.
Half an hour later, Crouch doubled his side's lead from a set-piece after being fouled by Kolo Toure. Xabi Alonso delivered a pin-point free-kick into the box for Crouch to power home the header. 2 - 0 Liverpool.
Rather than sit back and defend their lead, the Reds came out for the second-half in search for more blood and Daniel Agger delivered the third goal with a glancing header in the 60th minute.
Soon after, Arsenal bundled in a consolation goal through former Chelsea defender William Gallas - why do centre-backs always seem to have a knack for scoring against Liverpool (think Rio Ferdinand earlier this season).
Peter Crouch, high on confidence after two great goals in the first half, completed his brilliant hat-trick in the 81st minute when he danced around in the box before firing a left-foot shot pass the helpless Lehmann.
A fantastic result for the Reds that could go a long way in determining who ends up with the coveted third spot in the league as well as revenging the cup losses to the Gunners earlier this season.
And what about the main man Peter Crouch? I have never sung his praises, but he deserves a huge pat on the back for such a tremendous performance. Hat-tricks don't get any better than this and some would describe this particular one as 'perfect' - one with the right foot, one with the left, and a header.
Amazing.
Elsewhere, Manchester United came from behind to record a 4 - 1 win over Blackburn at Old Trafford.
After falling behind to a Matt Derbyshire goal in the 29th minute, the Red Devils had to wait until the second half before finding the net and the floodgates opened thereafter.
Paul Scholes opened the scoring with a shot into the bottom corner and Michael Carrick (73), Ji-Sung Park (83) and Ole Gunnar Solskjaer (90) chipped in to send United 9-points clear at the table momentarily.
Chelsea only just managed to stay in touch with the league leaders courtesy of substitute Salomon Kalou's injury time goal to keep Chelsea's Barclays Premiership hopes alive.
Elsewhere, wins were recorded for Bolton, Manchester City, Charlton, West Ham and Tottenham.
Man Utd 4 - 1 Bolton
Chelsea 3 - 0 Sheff Utd
Middlesbrough 0 - 2 Man City
Reading 0 - 0 Portsmouth
Tottenham 3 - 1 Watford
Wigan 0 - 0 Fulham
Blackburn 1 - 2 West Ham
Sun, Mar 18:
Charlton 2 - 0 Newcastle
Aston Villa 0 - 0 Liverpool
Everton 1 - 0 Arsenal
SUMMARY:
Manchester United's Park Ji-Sung and Wayne Rooney both scored a brace in their team's 4-1 victory over Bolton at Old Trafford.
However, the chief tormentor for Bolton was none other than in-form Portugal international Cristiano Ronaldo who played a part in three of the four goals, including a stunning 80 yard run from the edge of his own box to setup Wayne Rooney for a chipped goal.
A serious-looking ankle injury to skipper Gary Neville in the 10th minute was the only sour-note of a dominant Red Devils performance and with six senior players already on the treatment table, the latest injury blow will truly test the depth of Sir Alex Ferguson's squad.
Chelsea are still in hot pursuit of the league leaders with a comfortable 3-0 demolition job on struggling Sheffield United at Stamford Bridge.
Goals from Andriy Shevchenko, Salomon Kalou and substitute Michael Ballack were more than enough to settle a game in which the home side were rarely in trouble.
Arsenal and Liverpool, however, were unable to keep up with the top two sides with a loss and draw respectively.
The Gunners lost to an injury time winner from Everton's Andy Johnson which came from Mikel Arteta's corner. Arsenal chose the worst time to lose concentration and failed to clear the ball allowing the striker to drill home with a left-foot shot.
Meanwhile, Liverpool dominated possession at Villa Park but was unable to find a way past a resilient Aston Villa defence, reinforcing the need for a world-class striker in the off-season.
The man known as "God" to Liverpool fans, Robbie Fowler, replaced Gerrard with six minutes left and almost won the game for Liverpool when his header was turned around the post by Sorensen.
Oh what might have been had Fowler been brought on earlier when it was clear that a goal-poacher of his quality would not go amiss.
Liverpool 0 - 1 Man Utd
Arsenal 2 - 1 Reading
Fulham 1 - 1 Aston Villa
Man City 0 - 1 Wigan
Newcastle 0 - 0 Middlesbrough
Sheff Utd 1 - 1 Everton
Watford 2 - 2 Charlton
Portsmouth 0 - 2 Chelsea
Sun, March 4:
Bolton 1 - 2 Blackburn
West Ham 3 - 4 Tottenham
SUMMARY:
Liverpool's unbeaten home run was ended in dramatic fashion when Manchester United defender John O'Shea's shot from a loose ball ended in the back of the net in the dying seconds.
Manchester United visited Anfield knowing that a win would give them a hand on the prized Premiership trophy but Liverpool had other ideas and dominated the game throughout the match.
However, in the dying seconds, the Red Devils pulled off an amazing "smash and grab" when O'Shea scored after a Ronaldo free-kick had rebounded off Liverpool keeperJose Reina.
Sir Alex Ferguson claimed Manchester United were lucky to beat Liverpool - and admitted the referee was right to send off Paul Scholes, who flung a stray arm at Xabi Alonso, for violent conduct.
Manchester United now has a nine-point lead in the Premiership race with just nine games remaining and the win at Anfield may have just sealed it for the Red Devils.
Chelsea remains within sight of the leaders with a 2-0 win over Portsmouth at Fratton Park courtesy of Didier Drogba's 29th goal of the season and Salomon Kalou's 82nd minute goal.
Arsenal bounced back from their recent disappoint to beat Reading at home to move within a point of third place Liverpool.
Elsewhere, West Ham's relegation battle looks doomed after throwing away a 2-0 lead to lose 3-4 to Tottenham. The Hammer's defensive frailities were cruelly exposed when Tottenham scored twice in as many minutes to down the fellow Londoners.
The second batch of Champion's League first round knock-out matches took place overnight with the highly anticipated clash between the two most recent Champion's League winning teams Liverpool and Barcelona taking centre stage.
After a traumatic week for Liverpool when reports of a training ground bust-up between bad-boy Craig Bellamy and John Arne Riise made the headlines, the two players settled their differences on the pitch by scoring a goal apiece to down Barcelona 2-1 away from home.
Liverpool made a confident start but found themselves a goal down in the 14th minute when Barcelona's Portguese midfielder Deco headed in the first goal for the home side.
Shell-shocked but refusing to buckle under the sustained pressure of Barcelona's fabulous attacking game, the Reds found an equaliser through "golf-club swinging" bad-boy Craig Bellamy when the Welshman powered in a header which keeper Victor Valdes was unable to keep hold of.
Proving that he can make assists as well as score goals, Bellamy went on to play a loose ball across goal for the unmarked Riise to blast right-footed into the roof of the net in the 74th minute to give the mighty Reds a commanding lead ahead of the return fixture in a fortnight's time.
This morale boosting victory ensured that Liverpool's class of 07' became the only side to win at the Nou camp since the 1975-76 Liverpool team, which downed Barca 1-0 in the UEFA Cup semi-finals before going on to win the final.
Elsewhere, Andriy Shevchenko added to his wonderful goal scoring record in Europe by scoring Chelsea's only goal of the match in a one-all draw with Portguese side Porto.
The result, in Chelsea's favour by virtue of the away goals rule, was soured by the news of an ankle ligament injury sustained by England captain John Terry who will now be out for a few weeks.
The two other Champion's League matches also resulted in a draw: the match between Roma and Lyon remained scoreless after 90 minutes and the Inter Milan - Valencia ended at two goals a piece.
Reading 2 - 0 Aston Villa
Chelsea 3 - 0 Middlesbrough
Everton 1 - 0 Blackburn
Man Utd 2 - 0 Charlton
Newcastle 2 - 1 Liverpool
Sheff Utd 2 - 1 Tottenham
West Ham 0 - 1 Watford
Portsmouth 2 - 1 Man City
Sun, Feb 11:
Bolton 2 - 1 Fulham
Arsenal 2 - 1 Wigan
SUMMARY:
The results from the Premier League this weekend was "same old, same old" with Manchester United and Chelsea achieving 2-0 and 3-0 wins respectively.
The Red Devil's 6-point cushion remained intact despite never hitting top form after goals from midfielders Ji-Sung Park and Darren Fletcher secured a 2-0 victory.
Didier Drogba's brace helped Chelsea on their way to a 3-0 victory against Aussie Mark Viduka's Middlesbrough with the Aussie guilty of missing a sitter after superbly pulling away from his marker, England captain John Terry, no less.
Rather than celebrating their first win under new American owners, Liverpool came unstuck against Newcastle at St James' Park having taken the lead through ex-Newcastle player Craig Bellamy (who was roundly booed, as one would expect) before the Toon brigade fought back to snatch a 2-1 home victory.
On Sunday, Arsenal came from behind to earn a hard fought victory over Wigan to keep their unbeaten home record intact.
Wigan stole the lead in the first half with a screamer from Denny Landzaat and it took until the 81st minute for the Gunners to equalise through a fortuitous own goal.
Czech midfielder Tomas Rosicky then scored the winner for Arsenal with a header in the dying minutes of the game to seal the three points for the home side.
Liverpool 0 - 0 Everton
Aston Villa 1 - 0 West Ham
Blackburn 2 - 1 Sheff Utd
Charlton 0 - 1 Chelsea
Fulham 2 - 1 Newcastle
Man City 0 - 2 Reading
Watford 0 - 1 Bolton
Wigan 1 - 0 Portsmouth
Middlesbrough 1 - 1 Arsenal
Sun, Feb 4:
Tottenham 0 - 4 Man Utd
SUMMARY:
The 205th Merseyside derby between Liverpool and Everton finished goal-less with the blue half of Merseyside celebrating the feat of taking four points off fierce rivals Liverpool in a single season.
The build-up to the big game was all about the Mighty Reds avenging the 0-3 loss to Everton earlier in the season with manager Rafa Benitez signalling his intent by fielding a three-pronged attack of Peter Crouch, Dirk Kuyt and Craig Bellamy.
However, a determined Everton outfit defended admirably to earn a point at the fortress that is Anfield with the Reds unable to breach the stubborn defence marshalled by Alan Stubbs.
Ten-men Arsenal fought hard to earn a draw with Middlesborough on Teeside and hard to rely on talismanic captain Thierry Henry to equalise in the 77th minute.
Australia captain Mark Viduka was on fine form and gave nightmares to Arsenal defender Kolo Toure all afternoon and was unlucky not to make the score-sheet.
Elsewhere on Saturday were wins for Aston Villa, Blackburn, Chelsea, Fulham, Reading, Bolton and Wigan.
On Sunday, league leaders Manchester United regained their six-point cushion on second placed Chelsea with a 4-0 win over Tottenham at White Hart Lane.
On-form Cristiano Ronaldo opened the scoring with a controversial penalty at half-time when he appeared to dive in the box when challenged by Spurs defenders Steed Malbranque and Lee Young-Pyo.
I would've liked to give Ronaldo the benefit of the doubt, but given his reputation as a diver and the minimal amount of contact in the challenge, I would have to say that Spurs were hard done by.
Watch the video and see for yourself.
In the second half, it was all United with defender Nemanja Vidic, Paul Scholes and Ryan Giggs all getting on the score-sheet.
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