A week of mixed fortunes at Liverpool: It was a week of ups and downs at Liverpool. After beating Chelsea last weekend with two goals from Fernando Torres in the dying minutes, Liverpool succumbed midweek to Everton in the FA Cup. This meant that out of three matches with Everton in the space of two weeks, Liverpool had drawn two and lost one - an absolutely unacceptable result against local rivals. Then this weekend again, it was Fernando Torres the hero, as he came on as a substitute to set up the equalizer and score the winner at Pompey. Draws by Chelsea and Arsenal (Man U. are tied at halftime) have further increased the range at the top of the table.
This emotional roller-coaster of sorts is typical of Liverpool and its romanticization (see earlier post). Last weekend, everyone assumed Liverpool were in it to win the title again after having ruled the Reds out only a week before after a miserable January. Yet midweek, suggestions of Benitez's firing were rampant again after Liverpool stuttered weakly out of the FA Cup. The headline yesterday evening elucidates the mentality at the club now: "Torres Saves Benitez." That a manager could be sacked for finishing second in the league and taking his team to the knockout stages of the Champion's League is absurd, but I suppose we should be used to this insanity. After all, Avram Grant led Chelsea to second in the Carling Cup, Premier League, and Champion's League and was still fired at the end of last season.
Let's hope successive league wins coming late in games will help to jump-start Liverpool into more inspiring results. They must keep winning to make sure that if Man U slip up, they will be there to win the league.
Interesting Tidbits from Today's Action: I've been following soccer online (through ESPNsoccernet.com's gamecast system), and yet I have never seen any possession numbers as lopsided as I am seeing right now. Currently in the Villarreal - Numancia game Villarreal have possessed the ball for a whopping 89% of the game. Any spread beyond 70-30 is extremely rare, and I can never remember seeing anything in the 80s. What is perhaps even more remarkable is the fact that the game is tied at 1. Truly amazing. After Sevilla dropped 3 points yesterday, Villarreal know they must capitalize on this opportunity to pick up points, and anything other than three at home against minnows Numancia would be highly disappointing.
Southewst from there, Málaga are having an interesting time of things. After going down 2-0 to Almeria, they made two substitutions at halftime (bringing on Duda was big), promptly scored 1 goal, picked up 4 yellow cards in 7 seven minutes, and now have scored a second, levelling the score at 2 apiece. I left for a minute and came back and it's now 3-2 Málaga.
Back outside Valencia, Villarreal have made the possession pay off (It's dropped to only 88%). The introduction of Robert Pires and Santi Cazorla spurred on Italian-American Giuseppi Rossi to grab his second of the afternoon. And Numancia have taken off their top scorer... Strange. As an American, it's difficult to like Giuseppi Rossi. He was born in this country to Italian parents. He grew up playing in the youth systems and academies here. Yet he has now declared for Italy. It must be how the Ghanaians fell about Freddie Adu.
In a game that has absolutely no consequences for the top of the table, Espanyol are tied with Getafe at 1. What is of note however, is that Espanyol, already the "dirtiest" team in La Liga, have picked up 3 yellow cards and 1 red so far in the game. The lead the league with 77 discipline points (that's not a good thing - 1 point for a yellow card and 2 for a red). Not wanting to be outdone, holders of second place in the disciplinary competetion Mallorca are trying to keep up. They must have gotten wind of the Espanyol game and decided they too had to have a player sent off. Enrique Corrales has just been sent for an early shower. And they have now picked up their third yellow card as well. I guess those 5 discipline points won't be enough for Espanyol to stretch their lead after all. There must be some correlation between discipline and success because these two teams sit 19th and 20th in the league table.
Málaga, Atletico, and Villarreal all pick up 3 points. That's 8, 7, and 5 in the table respectively. Málaga and Atletico will leapfrog Deportivo who could only muster a draw against bottom dwellers Mallorca. This leaves Málaga in 7th, one spot out of European competition. I'm still dreaming!
Man U did go on to win against West Ham, taking them back to the top of the table over Liverpool. The coming games will be important, as they will reveal whether United will run away with the league or whether it will be close to the end.
Until next week...
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