D Tuesday, November 10, 2009 METROSPORT 23 barclays premier league Liverpool ...........2 Birmingham ......2 Ngog 13 Benitez 26, Jerome 45 Gerrard 71 pen Att 42,560 P W D L F A Pts Chelsea 12 10 0 2 29 8 30 Arsenal 11 8 1 2 36 14 25 Man Utd 12 8 1 3 23 12 25 Tottenham 12 7 1 4 23 17 22 Aston Villa 12 6 3 3 20 12 21 Man City 11 5 5 1 21 14 20 Liverpool 12 6 1 5 27 18 19 Sunderland 12 5 2 5 20 19 17 Stoke 12 4 4 4 12 15 16 Burnley 12 5 1 6 15 25 16 Fulham 11 4 3 4 14 14 15 Everton 11 4 3 4 15 17 15 Wigan 12 4 2 6 13 22 14 Blackburn 11 4 1 6 14 25 13 Birmingham 12 3 3 6 10 14 12 Bolton 11 3 2 6 15 24 11 Hull 12 3 2 7 10 25 11 West Ham 12 2 4 6 16 20 10 Wolverhampton12 2 4 6 12 22 10 Portsmouth 12 2 1 9 10 18 7 coca-cola championship Barnsley ..........2 Sheff United ... 2 De Silva 53 Henderson 61 pen, Bogdanovic 74 83 pen P W D L F A Pts Newcastle 16 10 3 3 25 10 33 West Brom 16 9 4 3 31 14 31 Cardiff 16 8 3 5 33 19 27 QPR 16 7 6 3 29 17 27 Blackpool 16 7 6 3 26 17 27 Leicester 16 7 6 3 19 14 27 Bristol City 16 6 8 2 19 15 26 Nottm Forest 16 6 7 3 18 15 25 Swansea 16 6 7 3 14 12 25 Middlesbrough 16 7 3 6 22 17 24 Preston 16 6 6 4 23 22 24 Watford 16 6 6 4 24 26 24 Crystal Palace 16 5 7 4 16 17 22 Sheff Utd 16 4 6 6 25 28 18 Barnsley 16 5 3 8 20 28 18 Sheff Wed 16 4 5 7 23 25 17 Coventry 16 4 5 7 18 25 17 Derby 16 5 2 9 19 27 17 Scunthorpe 16 5 2 9 20 32 17 Doncaster 16 2 9 5 19 22 15 Plymouth 16 4 3 9 16 27 15 Reading 16 3 5 8 15 25 14 Ipswich 16 1 9 6 17 28 12 Peterborough 16 2 5 9 19 28 11 fa cup first round Millwall ............4 AFC Wimbledon . 1 setanta cup group 1 Cork City ........ P Sligo Rvrs .......P (Postponed - due to waterlogged pitch) SOCCER Setanta Cup Group 3 St Patricks v Derry City ............. 8.00 League of Ireland First Division Monaghan Utd v Wexford Y ...... 8.00 HORSE RACING Exeter, Lingfield Park, Sedgefield gerrard hits the spot to rescue reds again LIVERPOOL 2 BIRMINGHAM 2 LIVERPOOL were let off the hook by a dubious refereeing decision against Birmingham last night. Manager Rafael Benitez looked to be heading for a seventh defeat in nine games when David Ngog went down in the box. Blues midfielder Lee Carsley appeared not to have made contact with Ngog but referee Peter Walton awarded the home side the lifeline of a penalty. And half-fit Steven Gerrard, who had replaced Albert Riera in first-half stop- page time, scored from the spot to haul the Reds back into the game at 2-2. Alex McLeishs Birmingham had ear- lier sprung a major surprise at Anfield by taking a 2-1 half-time lead. Ngog put the hosts in front after 13 minutes with a fine half-volley but Chris- tian Benitez levelled 13 minutes later from close range. Then the stage was set for Birmingham striker Cameron Jerome to unleash a stunning 30-yard effort to put his side ahead in time added on before the break. Gerrard responded with a header against the post, having been rushed into the action when Riera was injured. He eventually grabbed the equaliser but Liverpools injury crisis worsened when Riera and then Yossi Benayoun, clutch- ing his buttock, went off with Fernando Torres already sidelined and captain Ger- rard also struggling. Liverpool: Reina, Johnson, Skrtel, Agger, Insua, Mascherano, Lucas (Aquilani 83), Kuyt, Benayoun (Babel 77), Riera (Gerrard 45), Ngog. Booked: Ngog. Goals: Ngog 13, Gerrard 71 pen. Birmingham: Hart, Carr, R Johnson, Dann, Ridgewell, Larsson, Bowyer, Tainio (Carsley 16), McFadden (Vignal 68), Benitez (McSheffrey 86), Jerome. Booked: McFadden, Carsley. Goals: Benitez 26, Jerome 45. Att: 42,560. Ref: Peter Walton. MATCH FACTS True Blue: Cameron Jerome celebrates after his wonder strike gave Birmingham a half-time lead Picture: Getty No doubting Thomas is up for title charge THOMAS VERMAELEN insists Arsenal will make a sustained challenge for the Premier League crown this season. The Gunners are now leaders Chelseas nearest rivals after the weekend win over Wolves. Arsene Wengers side sit five points behind the Blues with a game in hand and face Carlo Ancelottis pacesetters at the Emirates Stadium on November 29. Arsenal have recovered from their back-to-back defeats by Manchester United and Manchester City to put together a 13-match unbeaten run going into the international break and Belgium defender Vermaelen said: If we look at the table, we are second and it is a message to other teams that we are involved in the race to be champions. It is good we have had a good series of games, it is important to continue and stay focused on every game because there are a lot of important ones. Gunners skipper Cesc Fabregas, meanwhile, insists the incident which saw William Gallas stripped of the captaincy last season is old news now. The France defender publicly questioned the character of his team-mates but Fabregas added: The issue with William is gone for us. We dont think about it any more and are happy with the way things are going at the moment. The captaincy hasnt changed me at all. My team- mates have done a great job for me as well. There has never been any trouble so I am very happy with how things are going. Sending a message: Vermaelen with Fabregas fIxtuREs REsuLts By MATTHEW NASH sOCCER PREMIER LEAGUE LEAGuE Of IRELANd Deadline for Derry players DERRy City players have been warned they will be banned from football in the League of Ireland or anywhere else in the world next season unless they come forward with full information on the alleged double contracts they have been operating on this season. FAI chief executive John Delaney insists he is prepared to go to court to prove there was a discrepancy of 337,000 between the contracts submitted to the FAI and those the players received. Derry players, past and present, will now be given until noon on Thursday to make full information available to the FAI or PFAI chairman Stephen McGuinness on their contracts, said Delaney. Unless that is forthcoming, they will not be registered to play for any club in Ireland or any other country of the world. index.html2.html3.html4.html5.html6.html7.html8.html9.html10.html11.html12.html13.html14.html15.html16.html17.html18.html19.html20.html21.html22.html23.html