Rafael Benitez said Liverpool’s last-gasp winner at Fulham was proof of the “winning mentality” his squad has developed in their pursuit of Manchester United.
Yossi Benayoun’s 92nd-minute winner sent the Reds to the top of the English Premier League for the first time in almost three months and Benitez’s uncharacteristic celebratory leap into the air spoke volumes about the significance of the Israel captain’s strike.
“It was a very, very important goal at a crucial time,” the normally stoic Spaniard said. “There was relief. You cannot say you will score in the last minute, but we always play to the end. We have the winning mentality. It is better not to say things, but to do things and the players always believe they can score in the last minute.”
PHOTO: EPA
United, looking to close out a third straight title, retain two games in hand but, after back-to-back defeats by Liverpool and Fulham in their last two outings, their nerve was set to be tested by the visit of Aston Villa to Old Trafford yesterday.
They may have left it late, but Liverpool deserved their win after hitting the woodwork four times in the first half.
Chelsea remain three points behind the Merseysiders after giving Alan Shearer a painful introduction to the life of a Premier League manager with a 2-0 win at Newcastle United.
PHOTO: REUTERS
Shearer was encouraged by the way his side matched their guests for the first 45 minutes, but Frank Lampard made the difference after the interval, heading in his side’s first, then making the second for Florent Malouda.
Despite the defeat Shearer was upbeat.
“They gave me fantastic effort and we’re going to need every ounce of effort they’ve got until the end of the season,” Shearer said. “We are not playing Chelsea every week, that’s the plus point.”
Emmanuel Adebayor celebrated his return to the Arsenal line-up with a double as the Gunners took revenge over Manchester City, the last side to beat them in the league, with a 2-0 win at the Emirates. It was also a comeback match for Gunners captain Cesc Fabregas, who set up both goals to put manager Arsene Wenger in buoyant mood ahead of the midweek Champions League trip to Villarreal.
“There is a lightness in the team now which I enjoy and we are playing without the handbrake,” the Frenchman said.
Middlesbrough’s chances of survival suffered another hammer blow as a 4-1 defeat at Bolton Wanderers left Gareth Southgate’s side second from bottom and five points from safety.
Gary O’Neil had canceled out Kevin Davies’ early strike to give Boro hope, but Gary Cahill restored the Trotters’ lead just before halftime, then Matt Taylor and Ricardo Gardner added second-half strikes.
Portsmouth had David James to thank for a goalless draw at Hull City, the England goalkeeper producing a superb stop to deny Craig Fagan.
Pompey had Glen Johnson sent off with 10 minutes to go, but held out to edge a point further away from the drop zone.
Stoke City had an even better day as goals from Ricardo Fuller and James Beattie gave them their first away win of the season — a 2-0 triumph at bottom side West Bromwich Albion.
It was also a bleak day for Sunderland, who slipped into the last survival spot, only three points above local rivals Newcastle, after a 2-0 defeat at West Ham United in which both goals came from homegrown youngsters, Junior Stanislas and James Tomkins.
Revelations of positive doping tests for nearly two dozen Chinese swimmers that went unpunished sparked an intense flurry of accusations and legal threats between the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) and the head of the US drug-fighting organization, who has long been one of WADA’s fiercest critics. WADA on Saturday said it was turning to legal counsel to address a statement released by US Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) CEO Travis Tygart, who said WADA and anti-doping authorities in China swept positive tests “under the carpet by failing to fairly and evenly follow the global rules that apply to everyone else in the world.” The
Taiwanese judoka Yang Yung-wei on Saturday won silver in the men’s under-60kg category at the Asian Judo Championships in Hong Kong. Nicknamed the “judo heartthrob” in Taiwan, the Olympic silver-medalist missed out on his first Asian Championships gold when he lost to Japanese judoka Taiki Nakamura in the finals. Yang defeated three opponents on Saturday to reach the final after receiving a bye through the round of 32. He first topped Laotian Soukphaxay Sithisane in the round of 16 with two seoi nage (over-the-shoulder throws), then ousted Indian Vijay Kumar Yadav in the quarter-finals with his signature ude hishigi sankaku gatame (triangular armlock). He
Rafael Nadal on Wednesday said the upcoming French Open would be the moment to “give everything and die” on the court after his comeback from injury in Barcelona was curtailed by Alex de Minaur. The 22-time Grand Slam title winner, back playing this week after three months on the sidelines, battled well, but eventually crumbled 7-5, 6-1 against the world No. 11 from Australia in the second round. Nadal, 37, who missed virtually all of last season, is hoping to compete at the French Open next month where he is the record 14-time champion. The Spaniard said the clash with De Minaur was
RALLY: It was only the second time the Taiwanese has partnered with Kudermetova, and the match seemed tight until they won seven points in a row to take the last set 10-2 Taiwan’s Chan Hao-ching and Russia’s Veronika Kudermetova on Sunday won the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix women’s doubles final in Stuttgart, Germany. The pair defeated Norway’s Ulrikke Eikeri and Estonia’s Ingrid Neel 4-6, 6-3, 10-2 in a tightly contested match at the WTA 500 tournament. Chan and Kudermetova fell 4-6 in the first set after having their serve broken three times, although they played increasingly well. They fought back in the second set and managed to break their opponents’ serve in the eighth game to triumph 6-3. In the tiebreaker, Chan and Kudermetova took a 3-0 lead before their opponents clawed back two points, but