Hold their own at Anfield for a 0-0 draw
liverpool all but kissed goodbye to their European ambitions after they were held by West Ham on Sunday. Tottenham scored a late equaliser to deny Everton a huge win in the race for Champions league, meaning Chelsea were the day’s big winners as they moved up to third, while Newcastle edged closer to safety with a win against Fulham.
liverpool know a top-five finish is the only way to secure a ticket into Europe for next season, but a poor display by luis Suarez epitomised the Reds in a 0-0 draw against West Ham that leaves them below neighbours Everton and seven points adrift of Arsenal — who occupy the Europa league spot.
West Ham were unable to utilise loan signing Andy Carroll against his parent club, while liverpool kept a winning formula with Daniel Sturridge once again benched from the starting XI. After a minute’s silence was observed for the victims of Hillsborough, Sturridge’s fellow forward Philippe Coutinho was first to threaten, cutting onto his right foot to force a sharp save from Jussi Jaaskelainen.
Suarez, uncharacteristically, endured a frustrating opening 20 minutes as every pass or touch went astray, but it was Stewart Downing who departed midway through the first half for Sturridge due to injury. Immediately prior to that change West Ham almost led when Mohamed Diame beat four liverpool defenders before hammering over the bar.
West Ham had another golden chance when lucas got caught dithering on the edge of his own box, Daniel Agger rescuing the situation with a fine block from Carlton Cole. liverpool did plenty of pressing and carved out numerous half-chances, but as half-time arrived it was the visitors who had come closest to scoring.
Andre Villas-Boas’ Tottenham welcomed Everton to White Hart lane with questions to answer over their ability to cope without star man Gareth Bale — out for the next two weeks with an ankle problem. And despite a first-minute goal from Emmanuel Adebayor they needed Gylfi Sigurdsson’s late intervention to earn a 2-2 draw after Phil Jagielka and Kevin Mirallas had turned the tables for Everton.
Spurs’ failure to win offered Chelsea the chance to return to third in the table, and after falling behind to Sunderland they eventually achieved their aim with a 2-1 triumph. Branislav Ivanovic provided the crucial strike after Matthew Kilgallon’s own goal cancelled out Cesar Azpilicueta’s earlier moment of misfortune.
In Paolo Di Canio’s first game in charge of relegation-threatened Sunderland the Black Cats, who remain a point above the bottom three, led at half-time. John O’Shea helped on Adam Johnson’s corner on the stroke of the interval and Azpilicueta had the decisive touch.
However, within two minutes of the restart Chelsea were level when Simon Mignolet’s save from Oscar hit Kilgallon and rolled agonisingly over the line.
The Blues capitalised on their momentum and scored another fortuitous goal moments later, Ivanovic diverting the ball beyond a helpless Mignolet after David luiz had shot goalwards. That proved the winner, with Chelsea able to keep the ball for large periods as they saw things through to full-time.
Balotelli faces fine for smoking in train bathroom
FlORENCE: Mario Balotelli’s smoking habit has gotten him in trouble. The Italy striker was caught smoking a cigarette in the bathroom on a train carrying his AC Milan squad to face Fiorentina on Sunday and club vice president Adriano Galliani says Balotelli will be fined.
Coaches have been trying to get Balotelli to quit smoking for years and the practice is banned on Italian trains. Balotelli should have plenty of time to mull over his latest act of misbehavior as he picked up a yellow card in the 2-2 draw with Fiorentina which rules him out of next weekend’s showdown with Napoli, the team Milan is trying to catch for second place and a direct Champions league berth.
Besides his numerous run-ins with coaches, Balotelli has a history of off-pitch misbehavior.
He made light of his troubles in 2011 when he was with Manchester City by unveiling a T-shirt with the slogan “Why Always MeIJ” during a 6-1 rout of Manchester United in a Premier league derby. That came after news emerged that a fire had broken out at his house when fireworks were let off in his bathroom.