Liverpool ruins Houllier return
Source: Agencies |
December 8, 2010, Wednesday
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Print Edition
Print Edition
LIVERPOOL ensured it was an unhappy return for former manager Gerard Houllier with a comfortable 3-0 Premier League win over Aston Villa at Anfield on Monday.
David Ngog and Ryan Babel's first-half strikes and a tidy Maxi Rodriguez goal sealed victory for Roy Hodgson's side and lifted it to eighth in the league table. Villa stayed 16th.
The match was a first competitive return to Anfield for Frenchman Houllier who left Liverpool in 2004 after six years as manager having won five trophies in 2001.
It was not to be a memorable one, though, as Liverpool raced into an early lead with two quickfire goals.
The first came from a corner on 14 minutes when Ngog dived on to a Martin Skrtel header to beat goalkeeper Brad Friedel from close range and the hosts were two up minutes later.
Babel, replacing the absent Fernando Torres whose wife had just gone into labor, latched on to a Lucas throughball on the edge of the box before swivelling to finish sweetly from an angle.
Liverpool, also without injured defender Jamie Carragher and captain Steven Gerrard, added a third 10 minutes after the break when Rodriguez calmly swept home an incisive counter-attack.
The defeat prolonged a poor spell for Villa which has won just once in 10 league matches and hardly created a clear-cut goalscoring chance at Anfield.
In Italy, Christian Maggio netted five minutes into stoppage time to give fourth-placed Napoli a 1-0 win over Palermo on Monday in the final Serie A match for almost two weeks unless a players' strike is avoided.
Napoli, which moved level on points with Juventus in third, went close through former Palermo striker Edinson Cavani and finally made the breakthrough when the Uruguayan set up Maggio for almost the last kick of the match.
Serie A players are due to strike this weekend in a dispute with the league over a new collective contract, with the union refusing to agree to plans to force unwanted footballers to train away from the first team squad or accept a transfer. Media and fans have also said the industrial action would be an own goal for the players' union.
In Spain, Nouioui Lassad's second-half goal saw a defensive Deportivo La Coruna squeak out a 1-0 victory over Hercules.
Neither club created many clearcut chances at El Riazor stadium, but the Galicians finally broke through in the 73rd-minute through striker Lassad. Hercules rarely even tested the Deportivo goal.
Deportivo improved to 17 points while Hercules stayed on 15 points.
Barcelona leads the league table with 37 points after 14 rounds - two better than Real Madrid. Villarreal is third with 30.
David Ngog and Ryan Babel's first-half strikes and a tidy Maxi Rodriguez goal sealed victory for Roy Hodgson's side and lifted it to eighth in the league table. Villa stayed 16th.
The match was a first competitive return to Anfield for Frenchman Houllier who left Liverpool in 2004 after six years as manager having won five trophies in 2001.
It was not to be a memorable one, though, as Liverpool raced into an early lead with two quickfire goals.
The first came from a corner on 14 minutes when Ngog dived on to a Martin Skrtel header to beat goalkeeper Brad Friedel from close range and the hosts were two up minutes later.
Babel, replacing the absent Fernando Torres whose wife had just gone into labor, latched on to a Lucas throughball on the edge of the box before swivelling to finish sweetly from an angle.
Liverpool, also without injured defender Jamie Carragher and captain Steven Gerrard, added a third 10 minutes after the break when Rodriguez calmly swept home an incisive counter-attack.
The defeat prolonged a poor spell for Villa which has won just once in 10 league matches and hardly created a clear-cut goalscoring chance at Anfield.
In Italy, Christian Maggio netted five minutes into stoppage time to give fourth-placed Napoli a 1-0 win over Palermo on Monday in the final Serie A match for almost two weeks unless a players' strike is avoided.
Napoli, which moved level on points with Juventus in third, went close through former Palermo striker Edinson Cavani and finally made the breakthrough when the Uruguayan set up Maggio for almost the last kick of the match.
Serie A players are due to strike this weekend in a dispute with the league over a new collective contract, with the union refusing to agree to plans to force unwanted footballers to train away from the first team squad or accept a transfer. Media and fans have also said the industrial action would be an own goal for the players' union.
In Spain, Nouioui Lassad's second-half goal saw a defensive Deportivo La Coruna squeak out a 1-0 victory over Hercules.
Neither club created many clearcut chances at El Riazor stadium, but the Galicians finally broke through in the 73rd-minute through striker Lassad. Hercules rarely even tested the Deportivo goal.
Deportivo improved to 17 points while Hercules stayed on 15 points.
Barcelona leads the league table with 37 points after 14 rounds - two better than Real Madrid. Villarreal is third with 30.
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