4 April 2009 BPL : Fulham vs Liverpool
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Arsenal also winning at home , to " away-lousy " Man City .....
Hope Villa saw the 2 results , and grap 3 points against United .
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pool to win comfy!
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one of those days?
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better make one of those chances count soon, else it will only give fulham some belief that fortune is on their side.
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wtf ...hit the woodwork 3 times ... if we lose this match , it's luck . Bad luck .
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our crosses are like shit tonight ....
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4th time !! Torres headed into the post again ...
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can see liverpool really want the 3points from this game
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why aurelio out for this game?
dossena play left wing -.- -
i smell a sucker punch coming soon.
the reds are playing with less purpose and confidence in the second half.
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lol
the real liverpool are back! -
91st min , Lpool 1-0 !
For the 8th time this season , we scored the winner at stoppages ...
The sign of a Champion !
We did defy the ill luck of 4 woodworks ....
Next is see how United fare against Villa .
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surprising result for liverpool
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knn. wat is heart stopping game.the reds simply enjoy doing it the hard way.
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waa the roar from the opposite coffeshop. awoke me from my sleep. i thought got what happened. turned out liverpool scored,after i see my dad opening another beer to celebrate.
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United must be kicking the wall with that 91st minute goal line ....
If they have Cantona b4 , we have our very own Benayoun .
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KANNINA BU EH CHAOOO CHEE BYEEE!!!!!
WHY LIVERPOOL DONT WIN BY 2 GOALS OR MORE! PUI!!!! KAN KAN KAN KAN KAN KAN AKNAKNAKNAKNANAK KAN KAN KNKA
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Benayoun never fails to surprise!
GOODJOB LIVERPOOL!
but its time for us chelsea to beat you reds. on champion league
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Benayoun need 3 tries .... and just ONE to win the match , cool .
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Wah I though our luck ran out in this match after hitting the stoopid goal post 4 times but it was a beautiful finish by Benayoun. Heng we win again!
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1 word heng
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we damn sway not to score 5-0 at Craven Cottage , if hit the post count as one la ....
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I ANGRY MAN WHY LIVERPOOL NEVER WIN VYBY 2 GOALS OR MORE KNNBCCB!!! I PUT MY MONEY ON LIV'POOL WINNINGG 2 OR MORE NOW $$ FLUY AWAY
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An injury-time goal from Yossi Benayoun gave Liverpool a 1-0 win at Fulham and took them to the top of the Premier League.
It looked as though the Reds were going to pay for missed chances until the Israel international midfielder blasted a right-footed shot past Fulham goalkeeper Mark Schwarzer.
The win put Rafael Benitez's men two points clear at the top of the table - although second-placed Manchester United have two games in hand.
Four times Liverpool hit the woodwork. Through Fernando Torres and Xabi Alonso. And Andrea Dossena twice. They played some magical football, too, but try as they might they struggled to breach the iron curtain Fulham manager Roy Hodgson has draped around Craven Cottage this season.
Much is made of the importance of confidence in football and Liverpool have been stacking that commodity like beans in Tesco this past month.
They had scored 11 goals and conceded just one in their last three league games, a period which had also seen them dispatch Real Madrid from the Champions League.
Another huge Champions League encounter, a quarter-final against Chelsea, loomed on Wednesday and on other days Benitez might have had one eye on that match.
Not this day. Benitez fielded arguably one of his strongest sides, with the possible exception of midfielder Javier Mascherano who was left on the substitutes' bench.
And in that first 45 minutes, in particular, they looked world beaters.
Rarely can a side have dominated a football match quite so dramatically and gone in at half-time goalless.
Benitez's men began as if they were under orders to get the business end of the match over as quickly as possible so as to give their star performers a breather. In truth, Fulham should have been buried.
First, Dossena strode into space in the penalty area and his left-foot shot was tipped over the bar by Schwarzer.
From Gerrard's resulting corner Martin Skrtel thundered in another left-foot shot which flicked the head of Dossena before clipping the Fulham crossbar and bouncing to safety.
Schwarzer also produced a superb left-handed block to deny Torres when the red tide was threatening to overwhelm Fulham.
Alonso, outside the area, unleashed a thunderous right-foot volley which crashed against the Fulham crossbar.
Then it was Torres' turn after wonderful interplay with Gerrard had sliced open the Fulham defence, only demonstrating the threat of arguably the best striking partnership in world football right now.
Unfortunately, the Spain striker's angled shot come back off the post.
Incredibly, two minutes later the woodwork was trembling again. Gerrard again was the provider, swinging in a right-wing cross which Dossena threw himself at only to see his header come back off Schwarzer's bar.
Liverpool could have been excused for wondering if this was not to be their day in the week Benitez picked up the manager-of-the-month award.
Perhaps it was the organisation and imagination of manager Roy Hodgson, who has done wonders at Craven Cottage this past 18 months.
But in the 65th minute Benitez, seeing the possibility of crucial points being squandered, threw on Ryan Babel in place of Dossena.
And then Benayoun entered the fray for Kuyt to steal the headlines and more importantly for his side, the points.
Gerrard hails the Yossi effect
Steven Gerrard hailed Yossi Benayoun's ''fantastic'' late winner after Liverpool went top of the Premier League by beating Fulham.
And Reds captain Gerrard insists the goal could prove crucial in the title race, with Liverpool, favourites Manchester United and Chelsea still jostling for the league trophy.
Gerrard said: ''It's a massive three points. We knew before the game that a defeat or a draw was no good for us.
''It was important we put some pressure on United.
''It was a massive performance and I thought it was thoroughly deserved.
''I know the goal came late but we hit the woodwork four or five times.''
Gerrard added: ''There were times towards the end when I thought it was not going to be our day.
''But Yossi popped up with a fantastic strike and I thought it was the least we deserved.
''He pops up with important goals. That goal could be big for us.''
Liverpool edged two points ahead of United, who play Aston Villa tomorrow and will still have a game in hand after that match.
''We'll see how Manchester United do,'' said Gerrard. ''I'm sure United will want to go and beat Aston Villa but we're hoping Villa can do us a favour and take something at Old Trafford.
''We need to let United know they're in a title fight right through to the end. The only way we can do that is to keep winning big games.''
Gerrard has no doubt who the title favourites are.
''Still United,'' he said. ''They've still got the game in hand and they play tomorrow so United are still favourites.''
Benayoun had missed an easier chance before making amends with his excellent late finish.
He agreed with Gerrard that United remain the most likely champions.
''We have a good chance,'' Benayoun said, ''but it's still in favour of Man United.''
Liverpool manager Rafael Benitez is looking for Villa to shock United tomorrow and extend the Red Devils' losing sequence in the Premier League to three matches.
Benitez said: ''Hopefully tomorrow they can make a mistake and we can stay at the top of the table.'' -
A last-gasp goal from Yossi Benayoun sent Liverpool two points clear of the Barclays Premier League with a 1-0 win at Fulham.
It looked as if the afternoon would end in frustration for the Reds, who hit the woodwork four times in the first half as Craven Cottage witnessed some sublime football.
It is the eleventh time Liverpool have scored in the last minutes this term and they will now believe they can go all the way and clinch their first league title since 1990.
Who would have thought it at 5pm on February 28 following a 2-0 defeat at Middlesbrough, which opened the possibility of United gaining a 10-point lead?
The result completes another brilliant week for Liverpool, with Steven Gerrard and Dirk Kuyt signing new contracts and monthly awards for the manager and skipper.
Kopites everywhere will now watch to see how United respond at home to Aston Villa on Sunday. Whatever happens, it looks like the title race is going all the way.
For the third successive season, Liverpool's trip to Fulham arrived in the shadow of a Champions League encounter with Chelsea. With top spot up for grabs this time around, however, Rafa Benitez did not have the luxury of resting any of his star players.
The only absentees of note were Albert Riera and Javier Mascherano, who both started for their countries three days ago. Lucas Leiva was asked to pick up where he left off at Old Trafford, while Andréa Dossena operated on the left wing.
The Italian has discovered a goalscoring touch in this advanced position of late, and he could have had a brace in the opening 10 minutes here. His sliced shot brought a fine save out of Mark Schwarzer after Fernando Torres and Xabi Alonso combined. Next the Italian rattled the bar (though how much he knew about it is up for debate) after getting his head on a Martin Skrtel shot.
The goal beckoned again on 23 minutes after great work from Steven Gerrard and Dossena down the left. Gerrard found Torres with the outside of his right foot but the striker's first time effort was palmed away. Dirk Kuyt looked for the rebound but Schwarzer recovered.
Liverpool were starting to purr, with Alonso pulling the strings in front of his defence and Gerrard covering every inch of the Premier League's narrowest pitch.
Kuyt showed nice feet to get away from Brede Hangeland and his shot looked goalbound until it hit the head of Paul Konchesky. The defender might need an aspirin in the morning.
The resulting corner was cleared only for Alonso to volley against the crossbar from 25 yards. It would have been a goal of the season contender.
The woodwork completed a hat-trick of saves 10 minutes before the break when Gerrard pinged a marvellous throughball to Torres, who sidefooted beyond Schwarzer and onto the post.
It all became a bit surreal seconds later when Gerrard burst down the right and sent a bouncing ball into the danger area. Dossena lunged forward to get there but, you've guessed it, walloped the crossbar. How was it not 4-0?
Instead, Liverpool went into the interval still searching for a breakthrough.
The goal almost arrived eight minutes after the restart when Emiliano Insua crossed to Torres, who doesn't miss free headers eight yards out. Well, not normally. This time he nodded straight into the goalkeeper's arms and the travelling support started to bite their nails.
Benitez responded by throwing on Ryan Babel in place of the impressive Dossena.
Babel was next to threaten with 20 minutes remaining after a lightning break from Gerrard, but the Dutchman's work in beating two men was wasted with a poor finish.
Fulham, who had mustered just a single shot on target all game, hung on.
Benayoun was next to enter the fray, and the Israeli almost equalised without knowing much about it when he deflected a fierce cross from Gerrard inches wide.
Benayoun knew exactly what he was doing, however, when he popped up in injury-time to fire an unstoppable shot past Schwarzer to give Liverpool what they deserved.
"We're gonna win the league," sang the travelling Kop as the players left the field. And now you better believe us.