Sunday May 24, 2009 Finished Anfield
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Liverpool secure second spot
Liverpool secured second place in the Premier League after cruising to a 3-1 victory over Tottenham at Anfield. More
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Live Commentary
Time:90'- Liverpool
- Tottenham Hotspur
- 90'+3 That's it! All over at Anfield, and Liverpool have cruised to an impressive win here to make sure of second spot in the league, which will help their Champions League campaign off to a much smoother start. Sami Hyypia is taking well-deserved applause as he waves goodbye to Anfield for the last time.
- 90'+2 The corner comes in and is bundled goalwards, but is cleared off the line by handball hero Assou-Ekotto!!!!
- 90'+1 Another penalty shout as Benayoun crosses in and it deflects of Assou-Ekotto's arm - but it's only a corner!
- 90' Brilliant cross in for Darren Bent gives the striker a free header - but he guides it just wide!!
- 89' Spurs continue to probe, and they look like they could nick another one here.
- 87' Albert Riera has yet another long range attempt, and once more it just drifts past the post.
85' Gerrard comes off, and Sammy Hyypia runs on for a final appearance at Anfield! Huge cheers from the crowd for the Reds' stalwart.
84' Liverpool free kick on the edge of the box, and Gerrard fancies it.... he NAILS the shot but it goes JUST WIDE!!!
82' Gerrard plays Benayoun through - AND IT'S ANOTHER ONE FOR LIVERPOOL! The Israeli left-foots the ball to Gomes's side, and though the Spurs keeper gets a hand to it there's enough juice on the ball to get it over the line!!!- 81' N'Gog is chasing everything for the Reds - he desperately wants a goal.
- 80' Darren Bent gets on to a long ball into the box and heads just wide - Keane's goal was totally against the run of play but Spurs could yet get back in to this.
- 79' Darren Bent and David N'gog both come on as subs, with Liverpool's 50-goal hero Torres coming off.
- 77' GOAL FOR SPURS!!! AND IT'S ROBBIE KEANE OF ALL PEOPLE! The former Liverpool man beats the offside trap and ends up 20 yards clear in on Reina. He has all the time in the world, takes it calmly, and curls the ball round the keeper.
- 75' Albert Riera has a crack, and though he doesn't catch it at full power the ball still beats Gomes - but it runs just past the post. Liverpool are coasting at 65 per cent capacity but still make this win look easy.
- 74' Gerrard moves in to space and is free to shoot on the edge of the box... he MUST score, surely - but no! The skipper puts it wide in a situation where you'd have wagered the family pet on him burying it in the back of the net! Unbelievable!
- 73' The brief flurry that led to the second Liverpool goal seems to have been forgotten - but now here come the Reds again in a slow move up field...
- 71' The match seems to be cruising along like an ocean liner now: smooth, slow, steady. The players off the ball are just hanging around on the spot rather than running to find space; it's a proper end of term feel now.
- 70' Defoe comes off early and it's Roman Pavlycucucheknkoo who comes on in his stead.
- 69' The goal might yet go down as an own goal by Hutton, no matter how ludicrous it is that defenders get the black mark against their names for doing well enough to almost block a goal.
- 67' Liverpool have hit overdrive - now Alonso fires in a cracking 25 yarder that Gomes does well to tip over the bar!
- 67' Steven Gerrard breaks free into the box, but comes to the line and has to shoot at a tight angle... and it's off the far post! Great effort by the Reds' skipper!
- 66' Goalscorer Kuyt comes off, and Riera comes on in his place.
- 64' LIVERPOOL SCORE AGAIN! The build up of pressure is too much for the Spurs defence, and Dirk Kuyt's shot through the goal area clatters off Hutton and past Gomes.
- 63' Skrtel has a dig from the corner but it runs wide.
- 62' Gerrard makes a darting run up the right and crosses in - the ball hits Modric on the arm but it's judged accidental.
- 61' Lverpool build a bit of a move now, though it's a fairly casual effort.
- 60' The pace is slowing down again, and yet again you just get the feeling that there's a lot of people out there today who can't wait to get off on their summer holidays...
- 58' Gareth Bale takes the free kick - and it's a thundering shot that is hit beautifully, waist high and draws a great save from Reina.
- 57' Luka Modric wins a free kick right outside the box - though Carragher looked like he got the ball for my money...
- 56' The Liverpool defence are toying with the Spurs attack like a cat casually batting a field mouse back and forth between its paws.
- 54' Bentley takes a long-range effort, but it's not brilliant and floats over - though he looks fairly pleased with himself for some reason.
- 53' Liverpool's second-place finish looks even more secure now with the news that Sunderland have just equalised against Chelsea. The Blues would need to score a hatful and hope for a Spurs to score twice, and that, frankly, ain't going to happen now.
- 52' Liverpool come up field again and Alonso has a couple of long range cracks within the space of a few seconds, but they're more tongue-in-cheek attempts to bag a late goal-of-the-season contender than serious efforts to score.
- 51' A bit of news from elsewhere: Middlesbrough have just equalised at West Ham - and they could, potentially, stay up after all...
- 49' Gerrard comes down the left and puts a good ball in for Torres, but Ledley King makes a goal-saving tackle to deny the Spaniard a second!
- 48' Liverpool push up and look threatening, but a good tackle by Modric gives the Londoners the ball and it's their turn.
- 47' Some ludicrous dribbling by David Bentley there - the Spurs midfielder managed to beat three men but seemed to forget to pass.
46' The second half gets under way at Anfield.
45' The end of the half comes, and it's been interesting rather than thrilling so far - despite the fact that both sides are potentially playing for something. Liverpool have been well worth their goal lead, while Spurs really have some work to do at half time to figure out a way back in to this. We'll be back for the second half, but in the mean time why not check out the scores from around the grounds.- 44' Dirk Kuyt hits an inch-perfect pass straight to the referee; the man in black looks at the ball and sizes up having a crack at Gomes from 25 yards (if you're ever going to beat a Premier League keeper he's probably the one you'd take on), but wisely decides to step over the ball instead.
- 43' The game is opening up a little more now, but there's something about the rhythm of this match that feels almost a bit like watching basketball: first one team has a go, then the other. It's all very gentlemanly.
- 41' Torres makes another darting run through the defence, but gets tackled right at the end.
- 40' That's a tough blow for Jenas - but brining on Bentley is not exactly a bad second option.
- 38' Jenas comes off with that injury clearly not getting any better - and David Bentley comes on to take his place.
- 37' A flurry of other goals in the relegation battle: West Ham are beating Middlesbrough, Villa are beating Newcastle, and Hull are still losing to United.
- 36' Robbie Keane has a long range shot - and it blows miles over the bar. He chuckles to himself - maybe the guy just doesn't like playing at Anfield...
- 35' Spurs push up field again, trying to get into the match.
- 34' Harry Redknapp doesn't look a happy man - but considering his ambivalence to the distractions of European competition you wonder if that gloomy face doesn't hide a secret smile.
- 33' Torres's half-century of goals for the Reds is quicker than anyone else's, with the single exception of Roger Hunt.
- 31' GOAL FOR TORRES!!!! Kuyt puts in a lovely cross from the right - under absolutely no defensive pressure, it must be said - and finds an unmarked Fernando Torres on the far side of the six yard box. The Spanish hitman doesn't miss those - and that's his 50th goal for Liverpool!
- 30' Spurs get a cross in, but Zokora fouls Gerrard as he tries to get on the end of it and the ref blows up.
- 29' Despite Jenas's injury Spurs keep pressing up field. They win a throw now on the left and Hutton takes...
28' Jenas is injured - it looks bad, and he'll probably have to come off, though for the moment he's hobbling along.- 27' Fernando Torres makes a beautiful run that sees him beat four Spurs defenders, but he just runs out of space and ends up toe-poking a shot that's easy for Gomes to save.
- 26' Spurs possession doesn't help them get through the solid red wall at the back, so Jermaine Jenas has a long-range pop. It takes a defelection, and by the time it reaches Reina it's going veeeeerrryy sssllloooooowwwllyyy indeed.
- 25' The game has slowed down again as Liverpool sit back and let their visitors have a go.
- 24' Elsewhere, Manchester United's YTS lads have gone 1-0 up against Hull City, throwing the relegation-threatened Newcastle and Middlesbrough a real lifeline.
- 22' Having made the crack about Reina having nothing to do, suddenly Spurs get their first shot on goal - and it's Assou-Ekotto, unleashing a reasonable effort aimed well at the bottom left corner. Reina actually spills the ball, but there's nobody following up and the keeper recovers.
- 21' A couple of goals to report from elsewhere, but it's meaningless stuff: Arsenal lead Stoke and Manchester City lead Bolton.
- 20' Pepe Reina has been about as busy this afternoon as a yacht salesman in a recession. I bet he wishes he'd brought a jigsaw or something along with him today.
- 19' Kuyt chases a long ball up the right and just about saves it from going out - but he gets there and cuts it back across the box... only for Torres to be lounging out of position! Wasted opening there!
- 18' Great ball upfield from Aurelio releases Gerrard, but the Liverpool skipper miscontrols and ends up spinning round like a drunk in a Southport nightclub.
- 17' Long ball by Gerrard sends Torres scurrying up the right flank, but Assou-Ekotto gets to it first to close down the danger.
- 16' Clever back-heel by Gerrard puts Alonso in some space, but the Spaniard tries to build on it with a one-two that doesn't quite come off.
- 15' Gerrard crosses in from the left, and it's a lovely looking ball... but Corluka nods the danger away.
- 14' The home side push up again, flooding the box...
- 13' Liverpool keep on probing for gaps with all the languid patience of a Brazil national side. Jamie Carragher has a good run there and almost releases Gerrard.
- 11' It's been fairly cagey stuff, with Livepool looking much brighter. Spurs haven't threatened at all so far.
- 10' No other goals to report from around the grounds - but why not open another browser windown and check out all the other action from around the country?
- 8' Defoe tries to chase a long ball up from Hutton, but he's hustled off the ball well by Aurelio.
- 7' Blimey - Harry Redknapp already looks like he's blown a couple of his fuses. My lip reading isn't great but that string of oaths wasn't hard to decipher.
- 5' Liverpool win a corner, and Mascherano nods down for Benayoun who attempts a bicycle kick from the edge of the six-yard box, but he can't connect.
- 4' Mascherano finds Gerrard in the middle of the box, but he gets well tackled. Liverpool push back up, though, and Benayoun wins a corner.
- 3' Liverpool are keeping the pace fairly slow and steady so far, but here comes Mascherano up the left...
- 2' Gerrard has a dip from around 25 yards to get things going - and the ball flies onto the roof of the net! Good start here from the home side.
1' The match gets under way and it's the hosts who have the better start.- - The players are out on the pitch and warming up now; for the Spurs fans out there they not only need a win today but also need Fulham to slip to defeat against Everton - you can check on Fulham's progress today here.
- - Spurs need a win today if they want to have any chance of grabbing that final UEFA - er, sorry, Europa League spot.
- Beautiful sunshine here at Anfield - and the crowd is packed into the stands. No sign of the players as yet, but there's water being sprayed onto the pitch.- - The title race might be over, but Liverpool need to keep their wits about them today if they want to hang on to their hard-earned second spot in the lead: a big win for Chelsea at Sunderland and a loss for the Reds today could yet see them slip to third.
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Team Stats
Liverpool Stats Tottenham Hotspur 53% Possession 46% 19 Shots 8 3 Shots on target 4 0 Saves 0 9 Corners 2 5 Fouls 15 0 Offsides 0 0 Yellow cards 1 0 Red cards 0 22 Tackles 21 412 Accurate passes 335 67 Bad passes 52 -
Player Stats
- G =
- Goals
- S =
- Shots
- SoT =
- Shot on Target
- F =
- Fouls
- FW =
- Fouls Won
- O =
- Offsides
- A =
- Assists
- AP =
- Accurate Passes
- BP =
- Bad Passes
- T =
- Tackles
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Liverpool G S SoT F FW O A AP BP T 25 Jose Reina 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 13 2 0 37 Martin Skrtel 0 2 0 0 0 0 0 46 0 2 12 Fabio Aurelio 0 0 0 1 2 0 0 50 15 2 23 Jamie Carragher 0 0 0 2 0 0 0 44 1 5 5 Daniel Agger 0 1 0 1 0 0 0 36 6 0 8 Steven Gerrard 0 5 0 3 3 0 1 34 6 0 14 Xabi Alonso 0 1 1 4 0 0 0 64 17 5 20 Javier Mascherano 0 1 0 2 0 0 0 52 6 5 15 Yossi Benayoun 1 3 1 0 0 0 0 27 7 1 9 Fernando Torres 1 2 1 1 0 0 0 7 4 0 18 Dirk Kuyt 0 1 0 0 0 0 1 22 1 2 21 Lucas Leiva 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 11 Albert Riera 0 2 0 1 0 0 0 9 2 0 27 Philipp Degen 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 4 Sami Hyypia 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 6 0 0 24 David Ngog 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 0 0 1 Diego Cavalieri 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 22 Emiliano Insua 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 -
Tottenham Hotspur G S SoT F FW O A AP BP T 1 Heurelho Gomes 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 11 2 0 22 Vedran Corluka 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 43 1 2 32 Benoit Assou-Ekotto 0 1 1 0 4 0 0 37 10 5 2 Alan Hutton 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 29 0 4 3 Gareth Bale 0 1 1 0 1 0 0 19 6 3 26 Ledley King 0 0 0 0 2 0 0 36 5 0 8 Jermaine Jenas 0 1 1 0 0 0 0 15 3 0 4 Didier Zokora 0 0 0 2 1 0 0 53 4 3 14 Luka Modric 0 0 0 0 4 0 1 36 2 3 15 Robbie Keane 1 2 1 0 2 0 0 27 13 0 25 Jermain Defoe 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 8 1 0 16 Chris Gunter 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 10 Darren Bent 0 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 23 Carlo Cudicini 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 9 Roman Pavlyuchenko 0 1 0 0 1 0 0 4 2 0 21 Pascal Chimbonda 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 5 David Bentley 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 17 3 1 18 Fraizer Campbell 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
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Summary
- 84' Liverpool free kick on the edge of the box, and Gerrard fancies it.... he NAILS the shot but it goes JUST WIDE!!!
- 82' Gerrard plays Benayoun through - AND IT'S ANOTHER ONE FOR LIVERPOOL! The Israeli left-foots the ball to Gomes's side, and though the Spurs keeper gets a hand to it there's enough juice on the ball to get it over the line!!!
- 77' GOAL FOR SPURS!!! AND IT'S ROBBIE KEANE OF ALL PEOPLE! The former Liverpool man beats the offside trap and ends up 20 yards clear in on Reina. He has all the time in the world, takes it calmly, and curls the ball round the keeper.
- 74' Gerrard moves in to space and is free to shoot on the edge of the box... he MUST score, surely - but no! The skipper puts it wide in a situation where you'd have wagered the family pet on him burying it in the back of the net! Unbelievable!
- 67' Liverpool have hit overdrive - now Alonso fires in a cracking 25 yarder that Gomes does well to tip over the bar!
- 67' Steven Gerrard breaks free into the box, but comes to the line and has to shoot at a tight angle... and it's off the far post! Great effort by the Reds' skipper!
- 64' LIVERPOOL SCORE AGAIN! The build up of pressure is too much for the Spurs defence, and Dirk Kuyt's shot through the goal area clatters off Hutton and past Gomes.
- 58' Gareth Bale takes the free kick - and it's a thundering shot that is hit beautifully, waist high and draws a great save from Reina.
- 49' Gerrard comes down the left and puts a good ball in for Torres, but Ledley King makes a goal-saving tackle to deny the Spaniard a second!
- 31' GOAL FOR TORRES!!!! Kuyt puts in a lovely cross from the right - under absolutely no defensive pressure, it must be said - and finds an unmarked Fernando Torres on the far side of the six yard box. The Spanish hitman doesn't miss those - and that's his 50th goal for Liverpool!
- 22' Having made the crack about Reina having nothing to do, suddenly Spurs get their first shot on goal - and it's Assou-Ekotto, unleashing a reasonable effort aimed well at the bottom left corner. Reina actually spills the ball, but there's nobody following up and the keeper recovers.
- 5' Liverpool win a corner, and Mascherano nods down for Benayoun who attempts a bicycle kick from the edge of the six-yard box, but he can't connect.
- 2' Gerrard has a dip from around 25 yards to get things going - and the ball flies onto the roof of the net! Good start here from the home side.
- - The title race might be over, but Liverpool need to keep their wits about them today if they want to hang on to their hard-earned second spot in the lead: a big win for Chelsea at Sunderland and a loss for the Reds today could yet see them slip to third.
Live Team Line-Up
- Referee: Peter Walton
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LiverpoolManager: Rafael Benitez
Captain: Steven Gerrard
Starting line-up
- J. Reina
- J. Carragher
- D. Agger
- M. Skrtel
- F. Aurelio
- D. Kuyt
- J. Mascherano
- X. Alonso
- Y. Benayoun
- S. Gerrard
- F. Torres
Subs
- S. Hyypia
85′ - A. Riera 66′
- P. Degen
- D. N'Gog 79′
- E. Insua
- L. Lucas
- D. Cavalieri
Injured
None
Suspended
None
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Tottenham HotspurManager: Harry Redknapp
Captain: Ledley King
Starting line-up
- H. Gomes
- A. Hutton
- L. King
- V. Corluka
- B. Assou-Ekotto
- L. Modric
- D. Zokora
- J. Jenas
- G. Bale
- R. Keane
- J. Defoe
Subs
- C. Cudicini
- D. Bent 79′
- D. Bentley 38′
- P. Chimbonda
- R. Pavlyuchenko 70′
- F. Campbell
- C. Gunter
Injured
- J. Woodgate
- A. Lennon
- J. O'Hara
Suspended
None
congratulations to harry rednapp for a great job this season for spurs, considering were the team was when he took over its been a great season we just missed out on europe although im glad as the team needs to rebuild again lol and dont need extra distractions for next season, alot of players will be moving on and several coming in harry knows how to buy well with little money so the next few seasons will be important.
86 points are very good. so what are 90??? i think they are excellent.
Comment 286: Yeah maybe some of my fellow Liverpool fans are hurt about Manchester United winning the league but I'm NOT, I am not bothered where Liverpool finish in the league but I can assure you that I will always be loyal to my beloved club and at least I always focus on what my team does on and off the field, may I suggest you do the same!
strength thru REDS
sarah c - It doesn't really matter. As most of you "top 4" always say Europe isn't worth it. Now you turn around and laugh like it's a big deal?
Stupid B.haha no europe for spurs. go fulham
The highlight for me was beating the stupid mancs twice, its time to get back in front again boys, next season we will totally dominate! AND SAMI, LOVE YOU MATE, THANKS FOR TEN YEARS OF LOYAL SERVICE, WISH YOU ALL THE BEST IN GERMANY!
Unlucky Spurs! Well done pool for winning. Hope you win the EPL next season with Spurs in 2nd :D
COYS!
Liverpool lost the title in Jan! But who knows maybe finishing second best to ManU this season will make our team stronger for the next 10= Liverpool 28 titles manU 18? and Liverpool will be playing to equal ManU's 11 prem wins?? No matter what I will still be supporting Liverpool!
If that bulb hadn't blown in the floodlights in March, or the plug fused in April, Liverpool would have won the title.
I recon some Utd fans think they are dictators?
is not nice to see Utd win but in pain? No way mate! I just have to look at the goal difference to know who played the best football!Apologies to all my fellow LIVERPOOL fans for my little rant earlier, I just hate bigots!!
Anyway, what a fantastic season, no trophies, no finals but a magical season anyway. 50 goals for Torres, 3 players in the top 10 scorers, only 2 defeats but too many draws with lower class teams :o(
Next year should be interesting, we've let manure catch up with 18 titles, time now to get in front again and win another 18 before them. YOU'LL NEVER WALK ALONE!Top scorers in the Prem despite our star striker injured for a lot of it, 2nd best defensive record, the only team in the country to be unbeaten at home and only 2 defeats all season (the country's lowest) and yet we still didn't win the league!!!! At least we have shown we CAN, at last, mount a title challenge. So close..... Oh well next year maybe. Well done Torres on reaching 50 goals and a big THANK YOU!!! to big Sami for a decade of loyal service. You will be missed by all Reds fans - all the best for the future! It's taken Rafa 5 seasons to finish in the top 2 - it took Fergie 6 with the Mancs! It also took Fergie a whopping 13 years to win the Champions League - how long did it take Rafa again????? No trophies but an all-round terrific season, the big highlight turning the Theatre of Dreams into the Theatre of Nightmares for the Mancs!!! Roll on next season! YNWA
too many draws against sides that we could not break down! the same sides that seem roll over for utd. 11 v 11 we are as good as anyone (as shown by our results against the other big guns)... it's the quality of utd's bench that has won the league for them - how many times have they won games with a goal from a sub in the last 10 minutes?
well done Liverpool second best again pity YNWA'ers couldn't beat Hull with their FIRST ELEVEN when Red Devils only needed reserve team. Keep living in the past and in the SHADOW of the greatest...Man Utd for ever
Tottally agree with you Sophie wether they won it or not we played the better football the glory times are set to return YNWA
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