TOP 100 SOCCER SITES
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| Steven Gerrard hails Fernando Torres as 'the best striker in the world' • Spaniard is fastest Liverpool player to 50 league goals• Rafael BenÃtez confident of top-four finishSteven Gerrard hailed Fernando Torres as "the best striker in the world" after the Spaniard became the fastest player in Liverpool's history to score 50 top-flight league goals when he struck an injury-time winner to break Aston Villa hearts.A largely uninspiring match was heading for stalemate when mistakes and misfortune in the Villa defence conspired to give Torres a free run on goal in the 93rd minute. His finish was ruthless, the forward sweeping the ball across Brad Friedel to revive Liverpool's hopes of securing a top-four place and etch his name in the Anfield record books.The 24-year-old has reached a half-century of top-flight goals in 72 appearances, six matches quicker than Roger Hunt. He also leaves an illustrious list of Liverpool forwards trailing in his wake, with Ian Rush, Robbie Fowler and Michael Owen requiring 84, 88 and 98 games respectively to hit the same landmark."You have to keep going to the end," said Gerrard. "And when you have players like this [Torres] on the team you know there's always a chance to snatch it. Everyone knows when he's on form he's the best in the world. We want him for many more years. We need his goals to drive us into the top four."Rafael BenÃtez, reported to be negotiating to sign Ruud van Nistelrooy from Real Madrid on a six-month loan deal, also praised the striker for his latest goalscoring feat. "For me, you can never ever say 'This is the best player in the world'," said the Liverpool manager. "He's one of the best because there are many good players in Europe. But I am a very lucky manager because I have had very good strikers in my time and Fernando is one of these. I think [breaking the record] means we were signing a very good player, with good mentality and quality." BenÃtez revealed that Torres had been suffering with his ankle before kick-off. "You could see tonight it was one chance and he scores."Victory allowed Liverpool to close the gap on fourth-placed Tottenham Hotspur to four points, with this match the first time BenÃtez has seen his side put together back-to-back Premier League wins since 26 September. "We are hoping it gives us a big boost," added Gerrard. "We now have to treat the next game as we did this one. It's important to build on this. I am sure we'll gain a lot of confidence like we did after Wolves. We know Villa, Spurs and Manchester City will keep fighting all the time. We need to do the same. It's going to be difficult; there are a lot of fantastic teams about and I am sure they will spend in January. But everyone is fit now so there are no excuses."The one sour note for Liverpool on a freezing evening was the sight of Glen Johnson leaving Villa Park on crutches after he appeared to injure a knee in the closing minutes. The England full-back was replaced by Martin Skrtel and will be assessed tomorrow morning.Otherwise, this was a night for Liverpool to savour. Villa created the better chances, with Stewart Downing denied by Pepe Reina's point-black save, Gabriel Agbonlahor squandering a one-on-one and John Carew sending a glancing header inches wide. But Liverpool had what appeared to be a certain penalty turned down in the first half when Richard Dunne clattered into Dirk Kuyt."We knew that we had to win if we wanted to reduce the gap," reflected BenÃtez, who reaffirmed his "100% belief" that Liverpool will finish in the top four. "You could see everyone was together. Sometimes we have had really tough luck but today we scored a late goal. I am really pleased for Fernando and really pleased for the team."Martin O'Neill, by contrast, was devastated. This was Villa's second defeat in three days, following the defeat at Arsenal, and the Northern Irishman looked crestfallen afterwards. "I think it's a natural reaction," said O'Neill. "We should have won the game. I thought we restricted Liverpool to not too much. It's a real blow to lose, no doubt about it."The Villa manager refused to apportion any blame for the goal, which came after Dunne had lost his footing trying to accept Stephen Warnock's pass. "Richard Dunne slipped and then Gabriel Agbonlahor comes in and wins the tackle and the ball falls kindly to Torres," said O'Neill. "It was a collection of circumstances, not a loss of concentration. It's hard to take. But we will come again."Steven GerrardFernando TorresLiverpoolAston VillaStuart Jamesguardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2009 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds guardian.co.uk |
Sir Alex Ferguson 'shocked' by Manchester United's manner of defeat to Leeds Sir Alex Ferguson in disbelief as United suffer defeat to third-tier Leeds in the FA Cup at Old Trafford. telegraph.co.uk |
Weekend fixture postponement latest • Stockport v Oldham off due to frozen pitch• Tranmere v Yeovil off due to waterloggingTwo League One games have been postponed so far ahead of this weekend's games: Stockport v Oldham, due to a frozen pitch, and Tranmere v Yeovil, due to a waterlogged pitch.In League Two Hereford v Morecambe is also off.Full list of postponed fixtures in BritainCoca-Cola League OneTranmere v YeovilStockport v OldhamCoca-Cola League TwoHereford v MorecambeBlue Square PremierBarrow v HistonWrexham v StevenageScottish First DivisionRoss County v Queen of the SouthScottish Third DivisionAlbion v LivingstonElgin v Annan AthleticForfar v East StirlingLeague OneLeague TwoBlue Square PremierScottish Division OneScottish Division Threeguardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2010 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds guardian.co.uk |
Pompey fail to escape winding-up order • Application to throw out HMRC's petition dismissed• Hearing in February could spell administrationPortsmouth have been dealt another severe financial blow after their application to have a winding-up petition from Her Majesty's Revenue and Customs struck out was dismissed by a High Court judge today.The club has argued that the VAT portion of its massive tax bill is too high by £7.5m, but its representatives failed to convince Mr Justice Newey of this today.A spokesperson for the Judicial Communications Office said: "At the High Court today Mr Justice Newey dismissed an application from Portsmouth City (sic) Football Club Limited for a winding up petition to be struck out. A further hearing to consider HMRC's winding up petition will take place in due course."That hearing is now expected on 10 February and the outcome could send Portsmouth a step closer to being the first Premier League club to be forced into administration.Today's decision is the latest blow for the club's owner Ali al-Faraj, who has been battling huge debts since he bought the club.But an argument with the tax authorities is by far the most serious, particularly given HRMC's increased willingness to serve football clubs with winding-up orders since losing their status as a preferred creditor of those in administration.Portsmouth have been fighting financial fires on several fronts this season. They have failed three times to pay their players on time, and only last week saw the Premier League divert £7m in television revenue payments to other clubs who were still owed transfer fees.The Premier League made that move after meeting with club officials but coming away unconvinced that they were in any position to pay their debts on a series of deals, many involving players such as Glen Johnson and Lassana Diarra who have since been sold on.That has prompted the club to threaten arbitration proceedings against the Premier League, who have imposed a transfer embargo on the club.The club's executive director, Mark Jacob, said yesterday: "The Premier League are withholding the balance of monies they owe us because they believe that we still owe other football clubs money."We have now paid off the three UK clubs. We have agreed with Rennes and Lens to accept certain payments now and then defer a schedule of payments going forward. We are finalising the agreement with Udinese."The total amount that we directed the Premier League to discharge and pay these clubs is approximately £5m. So there is a net balance due to the club approaching £2m. We cannot see how they can keep the money and also continue with the embargo. We believe the embargo should be lifted immediately and that we should be receiving money from the Premier League."Today we have delivered a letter to the Premier League asking to pay back the money. We have called for a meeting tomorrow and if this fails or we don't get our money back then we shall exercise the powers of arbitration."Once again we are being treated as the poor relations and the black sheep of the family."We would like them to use their discretionary powers in a positive fashion rather than negative fashion against the club."PortsmouthPremier Leagueguardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2010 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds guardian.co.uk |
Frings omission hardly a shocker The World Cup in South Africa is five months away, but it is already over for one of Germany's best players in recent years: Werder Bremen captian Torsten Frings. cbc.ca |