English Premier League - Turning points of the week (probably of the title race)

2 matches during the last weekend had the potential to change the title race for the Barclays Premier League on its head. Its a race between the Reds and the Red Devils (Liverpool and Man United).

Fulham vs Liverpool

Fulham hosted Liverpool on Saturday. It was a match Liverpool absolutely had to win to keep up the pressure on Man United. They trail them by 1 point (with Man U having 1 game in hand). If they won against Fulham, it would send them to the top of the table (albeit for a day, till Man U played on Sunday). Fulham on the other hand, don't score too often, but defend with their lives. They are capable of pulling off upsets like defeating Man Utd last week. With this pressure on them, Liverpool took field and played the first half like world beaters. They tore open Fulham defense on numerous occasions, but 4 times, FOUR TIMES they hit the post in just the first half. If it had hit the post just half-ball width aside, it would have gotten in. Everyone was beaten except for the stupid post which seemed like it was growing!!

Same in the second half, some good saves by Schwarzer and some bad luck, pushed the game into the last few seconds with score at 0-0. It was the story of Liverpool before their recent surge of form. They drew so many games they could have easily won if not for some bad luck. It cost them their pole position earlier, now it was coming back to haunt them - to cheat them of a well-deserved position on the top of the table. In the last few seconds, literally - Yossi Benayoun pulled out a goal - A GOAL finally! It ended 0-1, in favor of liverpool. Yes they won! It was a HUGE win, hugely important for this year's title race. It meant that if Man U lost or drew their match on sunday, they were going to see their lead dramatically go down.

Check out these highlights:

Fulham v Liverpool


Manchester United vs Aston Villa

After the 0-5 drubbing last week at Liverpool's hands, Villa needed a comeback, to retain any hope of appearing at the European stage. Everton are hot on their heels and have been for a few weeks. Man U on the other hand, needed a win! They had lost 2 games on the trot, to an outstanding Liverpool at home 2 weeks back and a shock loss against Fulham the last week. To make matters worse, they were a hugely depleted side, Ferdinand, Berbatov being sidelined by injuries, Scholes, Rooney, Vidic on red card suspensions.. Liverpool were breathing down their neck, threatening to sneak up on them. Liverpool put added pressure by winning away at Fulham and taking the top position on the league table, just the day before. Would Manchester United survive this rare pressure??

The match started pretty briskly. Aston Villa seemed the more threatening side, but out of nowhere, miscommunication between James Milner and Freidel gave Man U a freekick inside the penalty box. It was a no-brainer for C.Ronaldo. A good finish and to be fair to Freidel, he was blinded by the wall in front of him. But almost immediately, some great work on the right wing by Barry gave Villa hope. He fooled 3 defenders and sent in a delicious cross, which wrong-footed the defender marking Carew and all he had to do was nod in the ball, which he obliged to. Score 1-1.

After the break, Villa took the lead with another great cross and headed over the line by Agbolanhor. Ronaldo was so careless to lose possession and he didn't even bother to chase back. It was a huge shock for Old Trafford and the stadium fell silent - the last 2 losses came back to haunt them. However, the match was far from over. It was just the 58th minute. They could still come back, but needed to show the character. Macheda, a 17 year old, came on instead of Nani. He made an instant effect on the morale, creating more problems for the Villa defenders. Some shrewd passing gave Ronaldo another whiff at the goal and he placed the ball beautifully behind the keeper at full-stretch. 80 minutes over, match was at 2-2.

One final roll of the dice, Fergurson brought on Danny Welbeck in the place of Tevez. He had a great opportunity almost immediately but Villa survived. The clock ticked over 90 minutes. I was elated to see that Man U might drop 2 points, shrinking the lead on the top. 5 minutes were added on. My joy was short-lived. 3 minutes into added-time, an AMAZING piece of work from the teenager Macheda gave Man U the all-important lead. He was on the end of a good pass from Giggs, turned beautifully towards goal and in the same turning motion, curled the ball around a diving Freidel.

It was one of the best goals of this season, considering his age, the pressure of the situation and the gravity of the result. From nowhere to a hero in his first match, Macheda might have just given Man United its season back.

See the highlights below. Don't forget to see the 93rd minute goal!

Manchester United v Aston Villa
by Doleymai