Liverpool soars to top of table
Sunday, 26 October 08, 12:27 PM · Comments(1)
What is this? Liverpool standing up in the face of adversity and winning at Stamford Bridge? Liverpool alone at the top? Liverpool winning without Fernando Torres?
I mean, good heavens. If Liverpool wins the league, what universal laws can we trust in anymore? Because I had the Reds failing to take the Premiership title right up there with gravity, or at least the chance that Cristiano Ronaldo ever plays a game without a full bottle of hair gel atop his scalp.
But it’s true – the streak at Stamford Bridge is over, and with a one-nil victory Liverpool becomes the first team since February 2004 to go in there and come away on top in league play (86 games unbeaten by the way– how incredible is that).
They did it with a deflected shot from Xabi Alonso in the 10th minute, and then managed to hold on the rest of the way for the victory even without El Nino up front to provide the decisive scoring touch.
It was a fun, tension-filled game to watch. Liverpool came out with some nice sequences of possession and buildup, but they rarely had the ball. Despite the rather fluky goal, for much of the first 20 minutes Chelsea floated beautiful balls from one side of the field to the other and felt out the Liverpool defense with some style.....read the rest at: http://www.examiner.com/x-642-Soccer-Examiner~y2008m10d26-Chelseas-streak-is-over
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Liverpool ended Chelsea’s 86-match unbeaten home league record thanks to a deflected first-half goal from Xabi Alonso.
It put Liverpool three points clear at the top of the table and Benitez could not hide his satisfaction after guiding them to their best-ever start in the Premier League.
“To win here and stay top of the table unbeaten is a massive message for the other teams,” declared Benitez.
“It was a massive game and to come here with the mentality we had and with the players showing the character they did, it was a big boost for the rest of the season.
“We have belief, we have quality and we have shown by coming from behind in other games this season, that we have character. At least this is enough to be top of the table for now.
“But we need three points in our next game against Portsmouth if we are going to keep this mentality.
“We can go to any stadium and win games. Today, against a very good team, a very offensive team, we showed we were thinking about winning.
“The players know what to do and it is difficult for the opposition to create chances. Chelsea had some chances but their final pass was not the best on occasions.
“They didn’t have too many chances. My players were really good and all credit to them. When you have players with quality and they work so hard, you have a winning team.
“But we have to come down and start thinking about Portsmouth. We knew it was important to beat Manchester United but then we drew with Stoke.
“But clearly if you want to stay at the top of the table for a long time you have to beat almost everyone because Chelsea, Manchester United and Arsenal will be behind you.