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Southampton win 2-1 at Liverpool
Liverpool sank to ninth place in the English Premiership after a 2-1 home defeat to Southampton at Anfield on Saturday.
- Indo-Asian News Service
- Updated: February 25, 2007 08:48 AM IST
Read Time:2 min
Liverpool:
Liverpool sank to ninth place in the English Premiership after a 2-1 home defeat to Southampton at Anfield on Saturday, piling further pressure on coach Gerard Houllier. Brett Ormerod shocked the Liverpool crowd with a goal after just 72 seconds and Swedish central defender Michael Svensson added a second on 64 minutes. Houllier's side grabbed a lifeline with fifteen minutes to go through Emile Heskey, but it proved too little too late and Southampton's second away win of the season moves them up to sixth. Liverpool shareholders were told this week that qualification for next season's Champions' League is the 'minimum acceptable requirement' for this season by chairman David Moores. That is by no means a formality, and pressure is mounting on coach Gerard Houllier. His side were looking for a home win on Saturday against a Southampton team who hadn't scored away from home since September. But almost before Houllier had settled himself in the dugout, Brett Ormerod raced clear to put the visitors ahead in the second minute. That was about the only action in a dour first period - but, in contrast, the second might have produced a dozen goals. First, Marian Pahars missed an open goal five minutes after the restart, then James Beattie saw a powerful header turned away by Liverpool 'keeper Chris Kirkland three minutes later. Southampton eventually got their second from a corner in the 64th minute - Michael Svensson rose above the Liverpool defence and his powerful header beat both Kirkland and Vladimir Smicer on the line. The home side had their chances - substitute Sinama Pongolle went close, as did John Otsemobor - but when they finally broke through, it proved to be too late. Steven Gerrard's powerful shot could only be parried by Antti Niemi in the Southampton goal and Emile Heskey was on hand to poke in the rebound with fifteen minutes left on the clock. Time ran out on Liverpool and Houllier must be praying that the injured Michael Owen and Harry Kewell return quickly. For the crowd, it was all too much and a fourth home defeat of the season sees Liverpool drop to ninth place from fifth - Southampton go up from eighth to sixth. (AP)Topics mentioned in this article
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