Weekend in Review

Liverpool 3-1 Manchester United

34'- Kuyt
39'- Kuyt
65'- Kuyt
90'- Hernandez

HIGHLIGHTS

It's been five days from hell in the red half of Manchester. In a week where they faced two difficult fixtures at Stamford Bridge and Anfield, the Red Devils were defeated twice and now look to be in a real battle for the title.

On Sunday, they ran into a Liverpool team that appear to be coming together and putting the dark days of the Roy Hodgson era behind them. The result was a thorough beating courtesy of Kenny Dalglish's resurgent Reds, who beat them 3-1 before a vociferous crowd of 44,753.

It should be noted that United were not at their best in the back. First choice center halves Rio Ferdinand (injury) and Nemanja Vidic (suspension) both missed out. Young Chris Smalling continued to deputize for Ferdinand, while Wes Brown got the start in place of the Serbian.

Liverpool new boy Luis Suarez faced his first real test in the EPL, and he would pass with flying colors. He had his first chance in the 2nd minute when Rau Miereles fired across the box to the off-balance Uruguayan, who one-touched right at Edwin van der Sar.

Dimitar Berbatov came close in the 16th when his lovely half-volley from distance curled around Pepe Reina but bounced off the far post and out.

Two minutes later, Suarez was again involved when he beat a defender down the left wing and found Miereles's head at the far post. He flicked back across goal and just past the outstretched Dirk Kuyt.

Suarez magnificently created the opening goal in the 34th, beating three United defenders in the box and then slotting between the legs of van der Sar to Kuyt, who only had to tap in for the lead.

The brilliance of Suarez set up Kuyt for his first goal. But it was a bizarre header from Nani five minutes later that lead to the second, as the winger flicked back into the box where the Dutchman awaited at the far post to pounce.

Things got ugly before the half. A terrible challenge from Jamie Carragher saw the veteran go studs up into Nani. The Portuguese at first got up to confront the guilty party, but then went down in pain and was later substituted as a mild fracas ensued. In the end, Carragher got off with just a yellow. Nani was substituted for Javier Hernandez after suffering a "deep gash" in his leg.

There was another altercation when a high boot from Maxi Rodriguez on Rafael angered the Brazilian, who then slid in late on Martin Skrtel, and the two went face-to-face near the center-circle as both sides exchanged pleasantries.

United came back into the match in the second half. Sir Alex Ferguson's side began to posses the ball in dangerous areas as the Reds started to scramble.

In the 48th, Berbatov crossed low and with pace for Javier Hernandez, but the normally reliable finisher scuffed his strike wide.

Rooney hit Giggs with a similar ball in the 55th, but the Welshman's left footed effort dipped moments late.

Four minutes later, Rooney's cross traveled across Reina and was headed back towards goal by Hernandez to the awaiting Berbatov. The Bulgarian's header had the goalkeeper beaten, but Miereles did fantastically well to chest off the line whilst avoiding a hand ball.

United were on the front foot. But it was the home side that would put the result on ice with the next goal. Suarez's well struck free kick was saved by van der Sar, but he had a tough time with the curling strike and fumbled it momentarily, and Kuyt was opportunistic once again to net his hat trick.

£35M man Andy Carroll made his debut for the Reds in the 74th. His first 25 minutes in the Liverpool kit were mainly uneventful, with his only contribution being a headed pass onto the foot of Kuyt, who sliced his effort over.

Kuyt may have bagged his first career hat trick, but it was Suarez who was really making his presence felt. He nearly scored a great goal in the 87th, as he nutmegged Patrice Evra at midfield, then poked the ball around Wes Brown and burst into the right half of the box before shanking his strike well wide.

Steven Gerrard was fairly quiet. But he had two long shots just miss, the second of curling inches wide from a short free kick.

Hernandez pulled back a late consolation, sneaking into the 6-yard box unmarked and nodding into the left corner.

A Tough Week for United

All in all, Manchester United have to consider themselves lucky to still be three points up on Arsenal (more on that later) after their worst week of the season.

They were unfortunate against Chelsea in many ways, but they looked rattled for much of the second half as the Blues stormed back to win.

While the performance at Stamford Bridge wasn't their worst, they came close to that level of ineptitude today. Of course we must credit Liverpool, who played United off the pitch in the first half and had enough left in the tank to get them to the finish.

The absence of Ferdinand and Vidic was certainly crucial. Suarez was giving the Man U back four complete fits. And to be quite honest, Brown and Smalling looked terrified whenever he put them under pressure. The Uruguayan also bested Evra on several occasions down the wing.

With Suarez and company having their way going forward, United's attacking quality was not good enough to keep 'Pool honest. After a decent start, Rooney completely disappeared from the match for nearly thirty minutes. That's inexcusable for a team trying to get a result in hostile territory. For a man that appears to be coming into form, Rooney must get the service necessary to operate.

There's a long way to go in the season. And United must turn their performances around as Arsenal is right on their heels, and Chelsea will be back in with a shout should they beat Blackpool on Monday.

Arsenal Frustrated

Manchester United's loss to Chelsea opened up the door for Arsene Wenger's Gunners, who would have moved to within one point of the leaders with a win against Sunderland on Saturday.

With a chance to put even more pressure on struggling United, Arsenal failed to get the job done, drawing 0-0 at The Emirates in a match where they were always on the front foot, and also massively unlucky to see a series of tough refereeing decisions go against them.

Injuries to midfielders Alex Song and Cesc Fabregas (both are expected back fit for Tuesday's Champions League matchup with Barcelona) forced the enigmatic and rusty Abou Diaby and rarely used Denilson into action. The lack of continuity between the two and Jack Wilshere showed in the first half, as the Gunners looked stretched and unable to possess.

Stephane Sessegnon managed to create a half-chance in the 18th for the visitors, doing well to create space and blasting towards goal where Wojciech Szczesny parried.

Despite the early flurry from the Black Cats, Arsenal defended well as Laurent Koscielny responded from his Carling Cup guffaw with a fine performance amongst the back four.

The Gunners did manage several chances. The two greatest fell to Nicklas Bendtner, who went close on a pair of occasions. First he burst through the defense to get to Wilshere's ball and rifled it upwards, only to see Simon Mignolet get a hand to the powerful strike and push it over. A corner saw him try a bicycle kick that he hit perfectly, but unfortunately for him the effort was right at the goalkeeper.

The second half saw the Gunners furiously pressing forward, creating countless chances.

Andrei Arshavin was at the center of attention for much of the half. Substitute Marouane Chamakh got out on the break and did well to find him alone in front of goal in the 63rd, but the little Russian rushed his shot and Mignolet made another stop.

The French goalkeeper did magnificently well in the 73rd, stopping a goal-bound free kick from Samir Nasri.

Chamakh hit the bar two minutes later as the onslaught continued. Wilshere crossed into the box and the Moroccan rose well, but his header was just inches too high.

A beautiful ball from Nasri within the Arsenal half saw Arshavin through in the 80th. The winger did well to settle himself, but a push from behind from Titus Bramble put him off and he missed the near post. Arsene Wenger and company protested to no avail.

With their opponents in disbelief, Sunderland thrust forward their only meaningful attack of the second 45. Man United loanee Danny Welbeck made his return from injury off the substitutes bench, and nearly made Steve Bruce look like a genius when he took the ball down out of the air in the box, then wheeled and fired to the far post to force a brilliant save from Szczesny.

Jordan Henderson had a chance from the ensuing corner. But his volley was placed right at the young Polish goalkeeper.

The Gunners were again furious with the officiating when Arshavin wrongly had a goal disalowed for offsides in the 86th.

Wenger was justifiably fuming post-match. He called the officiating performance "not acceptable" and it's hard to disagree. In this match, we've seen two decisions go against Arsenal, with one costing them a chance from the spot, while the other incorrectly prevented a go-ahead goal. The cross bar and some fine stops from Mignolet left the home side ruing yet another missed opportunity to make up substantial ground on United.

Despite the result, the Gunners can take solace in the rapidly decreasing form of Man U. In the end, it's another point picked up on the leaders, as Arsenal sit just three points from the summit with a match in hand.

They have one league match (at West Brom) left before the international break. After which, if nothing goes wrong, they should be at full strength for the stretch run with the return of Van Persie.

Still the Gunners have to be frustrated. They have dropped a ton of points in absolutely heartbreaking fashion, blowing leads for instance against the likes of Newcastle (4-0 to 4-4) and Tottenham (2-0 to 3-2). Had they shown a little more composure/poise and/or had a bit more luck they would likely be sitting pretty right now atop the table.

Fireworks at Molineux

I tried to convince my brother (a renowned soccer hater) to stick around and watch Tottenham-Wolves after he had reluctantly enjoyed the Man U-'Pool match. After all, this was a match where both teams would certainly go for the three points. He refused, and instead missed a great 90 minutes as both sides battled it out to a 3-3 draw that featured plenty of talking points to go with several goals of great quality.

Mired in the relegation battle, Wolves will attack whomever comes to Molineux, knowing that the vast majority of their wins down the stretch should come on their home pitch. Meanwhile, Tottenham also were looking to throw bodies forward, knowing that wins against lesser talented sides are an absolute must in their battle for a position in the top four.

Jermain Defoe somehow hadn't scored an EPL goal from the run of play in over a year. He re-opened his account with two absolutely breathtaking strikes that came just minutes apart.

As for Wolves, they showed their usual passion and commitment, fighting back from adversity (and an inexplicable officiating error that saw a late goal disallowed) to muster a draw.

Before I leave you to watch the highlights for yourself, I want to give a little love to George Elokobi. The left back won't get much fanfare, and may not have a major EPL career should he not help keep Wolves at the top level. However, with his tough demeanor, fearless defending, and his fine fitness and work ethic (I wouldn't want to run into that guy in a back alley), he's everything you want from a player when you're battling the drop. That's the kind of spirit that Wanderers need to duplicate if they want to avoid relegation this season.

Check out the highlights.

In Case you Missed It...

I sang the praises of Bundesliga leading Borussia Dortmund last week. But there's another young team taking their domestic league by storm in France. If you haven't been paying much attention to Lille, it might be time to take notice.

Like Dortmund, Les Dogues (The Mastiffs in our tongue) have defeated the notion that you can't win with youth. While their challengers have had their ups and downs in a Ligue 1 season lacking intrigue, Rudi Garcia's bunch have kept chugging along and getting results. They did so again on Sunday, notching a last second goal from substitute Pierre-Alain Frau (one of the few veterans of the squad) to beat preseason title favorites Marseille 2-1.

Lille began to assemble this young team in 2008-09 with current Lyon star Michel Bastos leading them, as they burst onto the scene to make a serious challenge for a Champions League spot and were outside title contenders all year. Les Dogues would lose the magical Brazilian left footer that summer, and it hurt them last season. But they still fought back to finish fourth place and garner a second straight Europa League bid. Meanwhile, without Bastos to bail them out, the likes of youngsters Eden Hazard (20 years old) and Gervinho (23) came of age.

Then Garcia made a brilliant move last summer when he signed little known 24-year old Moussa Sow after his contract expired with Rennes. He (18 goals) and Gervinho (11) lead the team with scoring, while Hazard has blossomed into one of the world's top prospects from the left wing.

In a season where Ligue 1 has been dull at best, the youthful upstarts from Lille have certainly provided a bright spot.

As for Dortmund, they now lead by 12 points in Die Bundesliga after a 1-0 win over Koln. But the story of the weekend in Germany was a major shake up in the race for the Champions League, as a pair of surprise teams upset two of the big boys to jockey for places in the top three.

Bayern Munich may be looking good in the Champions league, but life has been much rougher domestically. Bayern were all but eliminated from the title race in a 3-1 defeat to Dortmund last week, now they're all the way down to fifth in the table after a loss by the same score to high-flying Hannover. The win puts Steve Cherundolo's side (had to sneak that in there) into the third and final Champions League spot, five points ahead of Bayern.

Their closest challenger is Mainz. This is just their second season in the top flight, but they did well to finish in the top half of the table last season. Today they sit four points back of Hannover after beating favored Hamburg (now seventh place and ten points adrift of third) 4-2 on Sunday.

What are your thoughts from the weekend in footy? Feel free to leave comments below!