Liverpool signed off the season on a winning note as Rafa Benitez’s side clinched runners-up spot in the Premier League on Sunday.

Fernando Torres and Yossi Benayoun found the net while Alan Hutton scored an own goal as Liverpool defeated Tottenham 3-1 to give veteran Finland defender Sami Hyypia a fitting send-off at Anfield.

Hyypia, who is joining German side Bayer Leverkusen in July, was given a rousing reception by the fans when he made an 83rd-minute appearance as a substitute before breaking down in tears after the final whistle.

Former Liverpool striker Robbie Keane marked his return with Tottenham’s goal but it was not enough to prevent Benitez’s side, who finish four points behind champions Manchester United, from signing off with a fifth successive win.

This is the third successive season Liverpool have finished without any major silverware. But the crushing disappointment of missing out to bitter rivals Manchester United after leading the table for long spells has been cushioned by overwhelming evidence that their league form under Benitez is improving.

Not only did this result secure Liverpool’s highest finish since the 2001-02 campaign, their final tally of points is their best Premier League return. They finished the season with nine wins in the last ten games and with an unbeaten home record, the first time they have achieved that for 21 years when Liverpool were in their pomp.

Hyypia Ends Liverpool Career on Winning Note … read more »

Ben Foster kept Manchester United’s bid for an unprecedented five trophies on track with a man-of-the-match performance in a penalty shoot-out win over Tottenham in the League Cup final here on Sunday.

The England goalkeeper produced two crucial saves to deny Tottenham victory in open play, where the teams finished locked at 0-0, before pulling off a superb stop to keep out Jamie O’Hara’s opening penalty for the visitors.

That handed United the edge and, after David Bentley had sent Spurs’ third spot-kick wide, Brazilian midfielder Anderson coolly converted to ensure United won the shoot-out 4-1 and lifted the trophy for only the third time in the club’s history.

Having already bagged the World Club Championship in December, Sir Alex Ferguson’s side now have a chance to emulate the great Celtic side of 1967 by completing a domestic treble as well as bringing home the European Cup.

“They took their penalties very comfortably. Ben Foster’s fantastic first save has given us a big lift there,” said Ferguson.

Manchester United Win League Cup Final, On Track For Clean Sweep … read more »

Luiz Felipe Scolari has said he cannot understand the decision to send off Chelsea captain John Terry in the 0-0 Premier League draw with Everton.

Terry was shown red by Phil Dowd for a high tackle on Leon Osman in the stalemate and although the Blues managed to come away with a point, Scolari declined to talk to the press at the end of the game.

Scolari broke his silence on ChelseaTV a day later and insisted he was merely taking his time to get some perspective over the incident.

“If I go to say something [straight after the game] maybe I say something wrong and I need more time to look at everything.

“I have to look at the game again if something happened in the game. I need to be sure about this or that. I said no [to the press] at that time because maybe I’d have problems in the future – in that time I am not calm.

“If I go then I answer some questions and I’m angry.”

But despite taking time out to make sure he could view the incident dispassionately, the Brazilian still cannot comprehend the sending off.

“Maybe I look at the game and I change my mind, but I don’t change my mind about yesterday.

“I looked at the game again and I don’t change.

“It’s the same as I thought yesterday. For me it’s not normal. I don’t understand the decision very well.

“But he’s the referee. After [the red card] John he goes to his friend [Osman] to apologise, he goes off like normal. He’s a very good captain, he accepts the decision from the referee.”

There was good news for Scolari and his Chelsea side on the training pitch, though, with Ricardo Carvalho back in full training and close to a first-team return following a knee injury.

“It’s the first time Ricardo has trained with us normally and I think after seven days – 10 days maximum – he’ll start to play.”

Arsenal FC captain Cesc Fàbregas is out for “three to four months” after a scan on his injured right knee revealed a partial ligament rupture.

The Spain midfielder did not emerge for the second half for Arsenal’s 1-1 Sunday draw against Liverpool FC and manager Arsène Wenger suggested that Fàbregas was likely to have at least a short spell on the sidelines. But a scan on Monday has revealed a much longer absence for the 21-year-old and at the very least he will miss the UEFA Champions League first knockout round tie against AS Roma on 24 February and 11 March according to the diagnosis. Spain’s next FIFA World Cup Group 5 qualifiers are against Turkey on 28 March and 1 April.

“The news is not good because it is a partial rupture of the medial knee ligament which is taking three to four months injury time,” said Wenger. “We count four, we know he will be working very hard to come back earlier but I count four months. How much [we will miss him] is difficult to say, the only thing we can say for sure is that we will miss him of course. We have to find a way to compensate for the fact he will not be on the pitch, and give everybody a bit more. I am sure we can deal with it. When he comes back he can help us to get over the line in the final months.” Arsenal lie fifth in the English Premier League and visit Aston Villa FC on Friday before facing Portsmouth FC two days later.

Instead it will be Everton’s Merseyside rivals Liverpool who will hold a one point lead at the top of the table going into the festive period.

However, Chelsea can feel lucky that they got away with a point at all as Everton really pressed home their man advantage late in the game and were unlucky not to nick a winner.

An uneventful first-half exploded into life in the 35th minute when Terry was giving his marching orders for a bad lunge on Leon Osman.

It did look as if the England centre-half was making a genuine attempt to play the ball but his foot was high and dangerous and after weighing up the decision for a few moments referee Phil Dowd deemed it worthy of a straight red.

The Chelsea players clearly felt that Dowd was against them all evening and Frank Lampard, Ashley Cole and Michael Ballack were all booked on the night for dissent.

All this bluster added spice to an otherwise dull first-half with the two best efforts in that period coming from the unlikely boots of Ashley Cole and Joseph Yobo – but Tim Howard in the second minute and Peter Cech in the 43rd were able to deal comfortably with those respective efforts.

Chelsea started the match with Nicolas Anelka up front on his own but swapped him with Didier Drogba at half-time. Branislav Ivanovic also came on at the break for Joe Cole as Chelsea looked to compensate for Terry’s absence.

A man down, they looked less and less likely to score as the match developed but they were at least comfortably heading for a draw until Everton finally started showing some belief in the final 25 minutes.

The Toffees start launching balls into the Chelsea box at regular intervals and Cech had to be on top form to keep them at bay.

Terry off as Chelsea held by Everton … read more »