ENGLISH PREMIER LEAGUE: Fulham 0, Liverpool 1
A CONTENTIOUS clash in which the referee ultimately had far too great an impact and which would appear to have gone a long way towards settling two of the Premier League campaign’s many outstanding issues.
An extraordinary Blackburn comeback, featuring two goals in the final eight minutes after Tottenham’s Wilson Palacios had been incorrectly dismissed, will surely be enough to keep Sam Allardyce’s in-form team in the top flight.
For Spurs, despite a league run in 2009 that had only been bettered by the top four and Everton, lingering hopes of competing for an unlikely place in Europe next season seem to have been removed thanks, as the manager Harry Redknapp was swift to point out, to Peter Walton.
“The sending-off was wrong. It was diabolical.”
Until Palacios’s 79th-minute departure Tottenham had comfortably handled anything Rovers had thrown at them, whether route one or not. Spurs’ dominance was absolute and, yet, they had only Robbie Keane’s penalty to show for their endeavours.
In the 82nd minute, the previously immaculate Jonathan Woodgate allowed the emergency forward Christopher Samba to play in Benni McCarthy for the equaliser.
Three minutes from time El Hadji Diouf’s corner caused problems for Gomes as he flapped at the ball. Andre Ooijer stood unhindered and forced the ball home for a valuable three points.
Guardian Service
