Eurosport - Sun, 27 Apr 19:44:00 2008
Reactions from all the men in the dugout after a momentous weekend of Premier League action.
Everton 2-2 Aston Villa
David Moyes: "I thought it was a good game, a really good encounter. I'm disappointed we didn't take the three points, especially after we got the second goal. That was disappointing, you're always at your most vulnerable when you score, so they say, and that was the case today. I thought when we got the goals we were doing well with good momentum. I'm just disappointed we couldn't hang on to it."
Martin O'Neill: "I would have been really disappointed if we had lost the game, I thought we were the better side in the first half. We conceded a goal just after half-time but fought our way back into the game twice. I'm really delighted, I thought we showed fantastic spirit. We've shown a lot of ability this season and spirit was there in abundance today."
Portsmouth 0-1 Blackburn Rovers
Harry Redknapp on the death of his sister-in-law, Pat Lampard: "It's very difficult. My wife is in bits but what can you do except try to get on with it? It would have been nice to get a win today but it wasn't to be but I'd never say the players had their eyes only on the cup final. Up to last week we were in as good form as anybody in the Premier League and I was delighted with our first half performance today."
Mark Hughes: "[Roque Santa Cruz has] been great for us and we are not a selling club. You see clubs paying £25-£26million for strikers like Fernando Torres and obviously he's done the business but Santa Cruz came to us for just over £3million and I'd say that probably makes him, pound for pound, probably the better buy. It was a great goal from Roque and a great pass from Roberts who has also had a great game for us."
SATURDAY
Chelsea 2-1 Manchester United
Avram Grant: "I am optimistic but we need to win our last two games and hope Manchester lose one point. If you come to this stage and you are not optimistic you should not be in sport ... The players have a lot of sympathy for Frank, you saw that after the first goal. We are a big, big family, the staff and the players and what has happened to Frank makes all of us very sad. From me I send my sympathy to the family from everyone here. We will leave the decision about Wednesday to him. I will respect any decision he makes."
Sir Alex Ferguson on Chelsea's penalty: "It was absolutely diabolical. It is a major decision. Granted, it hit his hand. But he has not lifted his hand above his shoulders, above his head, anything like that. It is going straight to Rio Ferdinand. The referee should have seen that rather than the linesman. If we're not going to get those decisions then we are under pressure ... In the context of today, when Ronaldo comes on, in the first minute he's grappled to the floor by Ballack. It was a clear penalty kick but no penalty was given."
Manchester City 2-3 Fulham
Sven-Goran Eriksson: It was very disappointing, especially for the fans, who were fantastic again today, even after the game. But I'm very disappointed, we gave away three points and we thought we had won the game with 20 minutes to go. If you have the attitude that if you lose the ball you don't need to try to get it back, then anything is possible."
Roy Hodgson: "It was a splendid victory for us, one we so badly needed. It looked bleak at half-time, and we had a mountain to climb - we didn't deserve to be losing. But we did it. At 0-2 I honestly thought we weren't out of it. I never lost hope, but to win it was extraordinary. We've given ourselves a chance now."
Birmingham City 2-2 Liverpool
Alex McLeish: "My feelings are a little bit mixed. I'm angry, particularly with the first goal we let in. There was a bit of naivety and it cost us dearly. Their second was a bit scrappy but they had the smell of blood. We didn't throw away two points but Liverpool earned it. But what I did get was a great reaction from the players after the loss to Aston Villa."
Rafa Benitez: "The idea was to win and guarantee fourth place. We didn't achieve that but a draw is another option and puts us in a very strong position. Now we can think about the next game against Chelsea and hopefully we can progress in the Champions League and be really focused in the final.
Tottenham Hotspur 1-1 Bolton Wanderers
Spurs assistant manager Gus Poyet: "I'm a little bit disappointed - we played good football and we were good on the ball and created chances but we didn't score. It's up to the players to finish. That's why the most expensive players are the ones who score goals. We are not able to score the second goal and that is a problem."
Gary Megson: "It was out second away game on the trot and we've taken four points out of six. Tottenham is a very difficult place to come as they are a qualify side. Spurs were passing the ball around and we were poor in the first half. But immediately after the restart Stelios got us a decent goal, but I was disappointed that we couldn't hang on to it."
Sunderland 3-2 Middlesbrough
Roy Keane: "It was a cracking game, which summed up our season. We've scored great goals this season and with the players we have we'll always be likely to score late on. We've had many setbacks - we showed the desire needed here today and you always get your rewards in football."
Gareth Southgate: "It was cruel to lose a late goal but I can't fault the effort of the players today. Mistakes have cost us and we're disappointed but we have two home games left so we'll left ourselves again. It's hard to lose a local derby but I've got a great group of players - this setback will make us stronger."
Wigan Athletic 0-0 Reading
Steve Coppell: "I'm happy to have got a point and I would have taken that before kick-off. We didn't play for a point because we are not good enough to adjust our game to the circumstances. We do need to score, we have always been quite fluent in front of goal so we will work on that next week and try to get better."
Steve Bruce: "We started well but lost some impetus after Mario [Melchiot] went off. It petered out into two nervous, anxious teams fighting for their lives ... I can't see Mario coming back for the remaining two games of the season and we now have to focus on those."
West Ham 2-2 Newcastle
Alan Curbishley: "I asked for a response from the fans and they got behind the players right from the first minute. The fans have a vital role to play and the players responded to them. We played ever so well for 40 minutes and just got caught. In the second half I was pleased that we dug in, and we could have won it with the chances we had."
Kevin Keegan: "It was a strange game. I was disappointed with the way we started the game and after 30 minutes I was thinking 'What can I do?'. Everyone was below par but I decided to leave it and hope that the experienced players could inspire the kids. It was a great goal by Oba Martins and then Geremi has got us level before half-time. To be honest, before that I would have settled for a 2-0 defeat!"
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