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WIE plays tribute to the Hillsborough 96

Twenty years ago, ninety six Liverpool fans died as a result of the Hillsborough tragedy.
They had travelled to the home of Sheffield Wednesday for the FA Cup Semi Final against Nottingham Forest not knowing of the carnage which would unfold.
A hold up on the motorway meant that many Liverpool fans were late arriving at the ground and as they approached the Leppings Lane End, they would have seen a frantic rush for the turnstiles developing.
This led to the exit gates being opened and people entering the ground through this method.
What then followed will live in the memory of everyone who was present for the rest of their lives.
The crowd became crushed to the point that they could not breath and this was particularly the case with those stood at the front of the terrace.
In the struggle to get out and save themselves many people saw scenes which will never be forgotten. Advertising boards where used as make shift stretchers and people tried to save the lives of those around them as well as their own.
It was truly the blackest day in English football and must never be forgotten or repeated.
WIE plays tribute to the Hillsborough 96 – may you rest in peace.

Liverpool destroy Villa

Steven Gerrard rendered the title race wide open after his hat trick helped see off Aston Villa at Anfield this afternoon.

The Liverpool skipper helped to ensure that his side’s poor home record did not continue against a Villa side who still have very real hoped of qualifying for next season’s Champions League.

The Reds have had a perfect weekend with both United and Chelsea slipping up which has raised their belief that the title race is still very much on. They are now just one point behind their deadly rivals although United do have a game in hand against struggling Portsmouth.

Realistically. Liverpool will pretty much have to win every game from now until the end of the season to see off their rivals at the final reckoning. But this afternoon will give them every confidence that they can go on and do that.

You have to say that after back to back defeats, United will come back strongly and are still the team to beat, but it is good for the neutrals if we have a genuine title race this season.

Liverpool could also go head to head with United in the Champions League final in May and realistically this could well be their only hope of securing a trophy this year.

United hammer sorry Chelsea

Manchester United heaped the pressure on Premier League leaders Liverpool this afternoon with a thumping three nil victory against Chelsea.

In truth there was only ever one team in the contest and Big Phil Scolari now has serious issues if he is to keep his job at the end of the season. This was a tired, uninventive and weak Chelsea team who were always going to be brushed aside by the current Champions. Some bookies offered up to 20/1 for United to win three nil – if they knew how badly they would play, I guess they would not have gone anywhere near that mark.

So United have the opportunity to go top if they beat Wigan in midweek and Bolton following this. It would take a brave man to bet against the Old Trafford outfit being top by the time Liverpool play next. It certainly looks like the title is United’s for the taking with Liverpool and Chelsea seemingly faltering already. We all know how strong United are in the second half of the season and if you are a betting man then you could do worse than putting a few quid on Sir Alex claiming the quadruple this season.

Gareth Barry staying put claims O’Neill

England international Gareth Barry is staying put at Aston Villa, despite strong speculation that Liverpool will be back in for him in January, claims their bullish manager Martin O’Neill. O’Neill says that Barry will be at the club until the end of the season at the very least.

O’Neill says:

He is going to see it out here until the summer - at least - and see where we all are positioned.

So any speculation in January will be purely that. I couldn’t be more pleased. His form is very good.

It stands to reason that O’Neill wants to hang onto his prize asset, and captain, as Aston Villa are currently in a Champions League place after Arsenal’s loss last weekend. A top four finish for Villa would be worth millions next season, more than they’d get if they cashed in on Barry in January by selling him to Liverpool.

O’Neill is realistic though, and realises that Barry could leave next summer as he does have an option to buy out the last year of his contract, which would leave him free to join any club on a free transfer; which would surely alert Liverpool and Arsenal to the prospect of getting such a quality player for free.

Steven Gerrard once again sees Liverpool through to last 16

Liverpool’s most influential player, captain Steve Gerrard, returned from injury (and after missing his side’s 0-0 home draw with Fulham) to put his side into the last sixteen of the Champion’s League tonight.

It was a typical Gerrard performance as he pulled side up by the bootstraps from an otherwise poor team display, scoring with a header in the first half. Alonso crossed the ball for Gerrard to powerfully head home at the back stick on twenty-three minutes.

Liverpool were well below par and Marseille dominated the game for long spells. The Liverpool keeper was busy in the first half, making a brace of saves to keep Liverpool in the hunt.

In the other game in the group, Atletico Madrid defeated PSV Eindhoven to also go through with Liverpool. The reds now play PSV away with a chance of topping the group, which would be vital in order to avoid teams such as Real Madrid, Barcelona and possibly Inter Milan.

Liverpool keep up the pressure at the top

Thanks to headed goals for Dirk Kuyt and Steven Gerrard, Liverpool went back to the top of the Premiership on Saturday, if only for two hours. The reds put on a powerful display of control and power to steam roller Bolton 2-0 at the Reebok, despite almost throwing away their advantage.

Liverpool struck midway through the first half when Dirk Kuyt netted a powerful header from ten yards, due to some awful Bolton marking. This spurred Liverpool on to apply constant pressure to the home side, and should have doubled their lead when Robbie Keane had an open goal, but somehow went with his right when she should have gone with his left.

His miss almost cost Liverpool when Bolton had an equaliser disallowed due to a foul by Nolan on Reina. After the break the home side pressed hard, but Liverpool’s dominance proved enough when Fernando Torres came off the bench to produce a moment of magic, flicking a cross with the outside of his foot, for Gerrard to throw himself onto.

In truth it could have been more, as both Torres and Kuyt hit the woodwork, and Lucas missed an open goal when it seemed impossible to header wide.

Gerrard warns Liverpool to keep up the performances

Liverpool captain Steven Gerrard has issued a warning to his squad not to rest on their laurels after their impressive start to the season, a start that sees them level on points with Chelsea at the top of the table, and enjoying their best league start for 12 years.

Their win on the weekend against Everton showed they could win in style, as so far they’ve been playing poorly yet scratching out results.

On Wednesday night Liverpool play their second Champions League group game against PSV Eindhoven. Gerrard said about that game:

It’s important to be humble and not get carried away by the performance.

But we set a standard (at Everton) we need to match week in week out.

Torres scored the two goals to beat Everton, ending a six game drought for the Spaniard. Gerrard is delighted to see Torres back among the goals.

You can’t keep strikers with his talent down for long because they aren’t going to go long without a goal.

It was only a matter of time. He was a bit frustrated first-half, but then [Robbie] Keane’s put one on a plate for him and the second one was typical Torres.

As a local lad these are the most difficult games to prepare for. The nerves start the week before and you can’t wait for the game to come about, so the fear of losing these games takes up a lot of energy beforehand.

Stevie G is still seeking his 100th Liverpool goal, and is confident he won’t be waiting long.

We were winning games but stumbling early on in the season, but I think the derby performance has set the standard now.

We’ve got a big game on Wednesday and then another important game against Manchester City, (and) if we can continue that level then we will certainly be there or thereabouts come the end of the season.

Liverpool go top as they beat Everton 2-0

Everton’s poor run has continued as they lost the Merseyside Derby to bitter rivals Liverpool 2-0 this afternoon at Goodison Park. Liverpool striker Fernando Torres struck his second and third goals of the season in the second half to take Liverpool 2 points clear of Arsenal at the top of the Premiership.

Fernando Torres put Liverpool ahead on 59 minutes when he converted a Robbie Keane pass, and then scored the second just two minutes later when reacted first to a goalmouth scramble.

Things went from bad to worse for the home side when Everton were reduced to ten men after 80 minutes when Tim Cahill was sent off for a foul on Liverpool’s Xabi Alonso.

This win for the red half of Merseyside represents Liverpool’s best ever start to a Premier League season. It was all too easy for the league leaders too, as keeper Pepe Reina was a virtual spectator the whole game, and didn’t have a single save to make.

While Liverpool now sit proudly on top of the pile (for 2 hours at least) Everton now face a difficult second leg in the UEFA cup away to Standard Liege, as the first leg at Goodison finished 2-2.

Disallowed Gerrard goal angers Benitez

Liverpool had the chance to go three points clear at the top of the table on Saturday when they played newly promoted Stoke City, who are languishing in the bottom three. It all started well for Liverpool when captain Gerrard thought he’d scored after 2 minutes, for what would have been his 100th goal for the club. However the goal was disallowed, and nobody seems to know why.

The TV reply picked out no foul or offside, and the reason for the goal being disallowed hasn’t been revealed. Benitez said after the match.

Nobody knows why the effort was ruled out.

The referee told Jamie Carragher that it had been his decision, not the linesman’s. It was a massive mistake.

Gerrard’s free kick went straight in without touching any player, and Kuyt attempted to get on the end of it. The linesman flagged, but nobody knows why.

Liverpool battled on from there and created a host of chances, but couldn’t find their way through the Stoke defence. Stoke manager Tony Pulis admits he doesn’t know why the goal was disallowed either:

I was delighted with our performance, my players fought for everything.

And we had a little luck. We got a decision at Anfield that went our way! But I don’t know why that early effort was ruled out.

It certainly was not for offside, I have been told by people who have seen the replay that Kuyt was not offside.

Well, I’m not going to argue with us getting some luck here.

Liverpool could go top as they face new boys Stoke

Fresh from their 2-1 victory over Marseille in midweek (and of course their win by the same scoreline against Manchester United last week) Liverpool go into the weekend against Stoke knowing that a win will see them clear at the top of the Premiership.

Stoke meanwhile are in the bottom three, where many people believed they’d be all season, but that’s despite some encouraging performances. They’ve already beaten Aston Villa at the Britannia, and were unlucky to lose last week to Everton. Playing Liverpool at Anfield however is an entirely different proposition, as both Gerrard and Torres are now back from injury and new signing Robbie Keane will have his sights set on breaking his Liverpool duck against a suspect Stoke defence.

Stoke do have one weapon though that has caused problems for every team they’ve played, the long throw into the box. Everton failed to deal with it last week, and it cost them two goals. Liverpool should be able to cope as Sami Hyypia may be recalled to guard against them.

Liverpool manager Rafa Benitez stated about the game:

We know that Stoke will be difficult opponents because they have just come into the Premier League and they will be keen to do well, particularly when they come to places like Anfield.

Beating Manchester United last week was a good achievement and it will improve our confidence but now we have to try to beat Stoke.

The last time the two sides met was 8 years ago in an FA Cup tie at the Britannia, when Liverpool beat the Potters 8-0.

Tomorrow is unlikely to see the same result, but if Torres and Keane hit it off, you never know.

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