Half-Time

Fulham 1-0 Liverpool – EPL – 5 May 07

erouhban — Sun, 06 May 2007 15:39:42 +0000

A Liverpool reserves side lost again for the second time running in the Premiership providing Fulham with a gift of premiership survival. The team included only 3 players from the side that beat Chelsea in the Champions League. The game was simply awful from the Reds point of view, it looked more like an experiment conducted by Benitez testing his younger players and giving the bench regulars a chance to get more Premiership caps. All eyes are now on Athens so I’m not judging anyone! It would be nice to win the last game though and finish third above Arsenal!

AC Milan 3-0 Man. United – UCL – 2 May 07

erouhban — Fri, 04 May 2007 16:57:04 +0000

After another thriller at the San Siro, Athens 2007 will be an Istanbul 2005 revisited as AC Milan book a place in the final against Liverpool. The Rossonero took their game to higher ground and in the process defeated a worn out Manchester United side 3-0.

Kaka and Co. produced a wonderful team performance catching United early with 2 first half goals and then never looked back. They got the third in a counter attack late in the second half when Manchester United were all but beaten. The Red Devils were out of ideas and out of steam after their busy end-of –season schedule. All credit to Milan who most importantly looked very solid in the back in the absence of captain Maldini. So now it’s Liverpool-Milan for the second time in three seasons; I’ll be happy if we get 50% of the thriller we got last time. Best of luck all Liverpudlians!

Liverpool 1-0 (4-1) Chelsea – UCL – 1 May 07

erouhban — Fri, 04 May 2007 06:13:17 +0000

Liverpool outperform themselves once again and fly by Chelsea in the Champions League’s semi final just like they did two years ago when they went on to take the title. Liverpool went a goal ahead early in the first half via Daniel Agger. Both teams then held on and sent the tie into an exhilarating penalty shoot out which the Reds won 4 to 1. The game was a tense one with Liverpool fully in control especially in the first half. After the break both teams were scared to open up fully and the status quo remained unchained until the spot kicks, of which the hero was Pepe Reina saving 2 out of Chelsea’s 3 attempts.

Liverpool contained Chelsea well especially dangerous Didier Drogba who seemed at the defenders’ mercy. The balance between attack-defense was in the latter’s favor unexpectedly but again it worked wonders for Benitez against arch rival Mourinho; who’s side seemed tired and helpless against the Reds! A difficult match to analyze, I’ll just stop at noting that Liverpool are the best side in England on a good day, they just need a few more strikers up front and more consistency to get to the coveted Premiership title any time soon!

Portsmouth 2-1 Liverpool – EPL – 28 Apr. 07

erouhban — Sun, 29 Apr 2007 08:24:46 +0000

Another defeat for the Reds! This time in the Premiership to a very brave Portsmouth side. Although Benitez fielded his reserves the performance was not of Liverpool’s standards at all. The team lost possession very easily and all the players looked unmotivated with the exception of ex-skipper Sami Hyppia who defended well and scored Liverpool’s only goal. With two games to go in the Premiership, Liverpool should still be able to hold on to the third spot ahead of Arsenal, but the manner of the defeat will not help at all when they meet Chelsea in the do-or-die clash on Tuesday!

Chelsea 1-0 Liverpool – UCL – 25 Apr. 07

erouhban — Sun, 29 Apr 2007 07:42:33 +0000

The battle of the English in the Champions League semi final’s first leg ends with Chelsea taking the upper hand and unfortunately a probable finals birth. Chelsea will undoubtedly push for an early away goal in the second leg (which is an achievable task given Liverpool will be on the offensive trying to get goals themselves!). Once they do get the goal, they’ll fall back leaving the Reds with a very difficult task of scoring 3 without conceding any more. I hope Benitez has a master plan cooking up.

The game itself was average with Chelsea controlling the first half getting an early goal in the process. Liverpool did put up a fight in the second but to no avail, they failed to score the very important away goal they needed. Let’s hope for the best on Tuesday.

Man Utd 3-2 AC Milan – UCL – 24 Apr. 07

erouhban — Wed, 25 Apr 2007 16:24:12 +0000

In a wonderful thriller, Manchester United managed to outdo AC Milan 3-2 thanks to a last minute goal by Wayne Rooney. It was a game of two haves; Milan dominated most of the first (it ended 2-1 in their favor) by containing the Red Devils before they finally wore out in front of the tireless Red attack that got the best of them by the end of the game.

The match witnessed an average display from Milan with the exception of brilliant Kaka who single-handedly made and scored both their goals. Manchester United on the other hand showcased another one of their consistent strong displays with everyone on the team playing well especially youngsters Ronaldo (who scored a goal) and Rooney (who scored two). The result keeps options open for both teams and we’ll definitely get another classic in the return fixture in Milan next week!

Liverpool 2-0 Wigan – EPL – 21 Apr. 07

erouhban — Sun, 22 Apr 2007 17:07:14 +0000

Liverpool warm up in style for this week’s Champions League tie against Chelsea beating relegation threatened Wigan 2-0. Two well taken goals by Dirk Kuyt were enough to keep the Reds ahead of Arsenal in the premiership well on course to claim the third automatic Champions League spot. Liverpool had a good game overall against their clueless opposition; however, they wasted plenty of chances and could have scored half a dozen goals or so. All in all, it was a good game before the trip to Stanford Bridge on Wednesday!

Liverpool 2-0 Middlesbrough – EPL – 18 Apr. 07

erouhban — Fri, 20 Apr 2007 10:33:50 +0000

I didn’t get to see this midweek game, but I’m sure glad the Reds got another victory consolidating their place above Arsenal in the premiership and keeping morale up before their Champions League clash with Chelsea next week. Two goals from Stephen Gerrard were enough to get the job done once again at Anfield. Liverpool still have a home game against Wigan on Saturday before they play away at Stanford Bridge next Wednesday.

Manchester City 0-0 Liverpool – EPL – 14 Apr. 07

erouhban — Tue, 17 Apr 2007 17:55:11 +0000

Still hung-over from their Champions League victory, Liverpool produced a very shaky and boring performance against Manchester City drawing 0-0! Both managers looked happy with the final score and honestly neither team really deserved to win. The reds now seem poised to hang on to the 3^rd place spot and should concentrate on the Champions League. Let’s see what happens next week!

Liverpool 1-0 PSV – UCL – 11 Apr. 07

erouhban — Thu, 12 Apr 2007 09:42:22 +0000

While resting a few of his regular starters, Benitez’s Liverpool made it through to the Champions League semi’s beating PSV 1-0 in an expected boring match. With PSV requiring 3 goals to extend the tie (if Liverpool don’t score themselves), both teams knew it was a near impossible task and just had an adventure-less match with one goal coming from Peter Crouch.

Liverpool will now meet Chelsea (who disposed of Valencia) in the semi-finals, while Manchester United entertain AC Milan (who beat Bayern Munich 4-2 over their two legs) in the other semi. With three English sides amongst the last four, the trophy will most probably end up in England this season, but who will it be? Let’s hope Liverpool come up with some magic as they did in 2005!