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Liverpool wins at Chelsea, Redknapp's Spurs win
(Agencies)
Updated: 2008-10-27 09:57 LONDON - Liverpool wiped out Chelsea's 86-game unbeaten record at home Sunday, and Tottenham won its first game of the Premier League season within hours of Harry Redknapp replacing Juande Ramos as manager.
Xabi Alonso's 10th-minute goal clinched Liverpool's 1-0 victory and Chelsea's first loss at Stamford Bridge for more than four years. Liverpool leads Chelsea and Hull by three points in the league, but there was as much attention on last-place Tottenham, which fired Ramos on Saturday night after the team's worst start to a season. Spurs strikers Roman Pavlyuchenko and Darren Bent scored to secure a 2-0 win over 10-man Bolton as Redknapp immediately took charge of the team after leaving Portsmouth, which was held 1-1 by Fulham. Arsenal is five points behind Liverpool after beating West Ham 2-0. Robinho scored a hat trick for Manchester City in a 3-0 win over Stoke, and Aston Villa demolished Wigan 4-0. Chelsea rarely looked capable of denying Liverpool a confidence-boosting win as manager Rafa Benitez seeks to end Liverpool's 19-year wait for its 19th league title. The Reds' first win at Chelsea since January 2004 came thanks to Alonso's shot that was deflected in by Chelsea defender Jose Bosingwa. Goalkeeper Petr Cech dived to his right to block the shot but the ball was diverted the other away and into the net. "Top of the league, psychologically that should give us a big lift," Liverpool defender Jamie Carragher said. "(Four years is) a great record. Obviously, it couldn't go on forever. Chelsea hadn't been beaten at home since Arsenal won in February 2004 over Claudio Ranieri's side _ a record that remained intact under subsequent managers Jose Mourinho and Avram Grant. "The result was not expected, but we have to understand that Liverpool is a very good team and they didn't play better than us but shot one ball better than us and won," Scolari said. "They play eight players defensively and give no space to work the ball." White Hart Lane was immediately buoyed by Redknapp's arrival, despite the first win of the campaign still leaving Spurs last in the standings with five points. Pavlyuchenko met David Bentley's cross with a glancing header in the 17th to put Spurs ahead for the first time this season. |
