BRAZILIAN midfielder Lucas reckons that Liverpool’s dramatic last-gasp victory over Fulham has given them the belief that they can finally land the Premier League title.
Liverpool returned to the summit on Saturday night courtesy of substitute Yossi Benayoun’s injury-time strike at Craven Cottage but dropped back down to second yesterday following Manchester United’s dramatic late victory over Aston Villa.
Despite winning the old First Division on a record 18 occasions, Liverpool, who were 11 titles ahead of United when English football’s top flight was revolutionised in 1992, have yet to add to their tally while Sir Alex Ferguson’s men’s dominance of domestic football has seen them climb to 17 championships, just one behind their North West of England rivals.
With both sides going toe-to-toe this term, the name at the top has changed on several occasions with Liverpool seeing their big lead in the New Year eroded by the Old Trafford outfit, only to fight back in recent weeks with an historic 4-1 win at United which rocked the Red Devils, who went down 2-0 at Fulham the following week while Benitez’s men triumphed 5-0 over Aston Villa at Anfield.
Although Liverpool dominated the game at Craven Cottage on Saturday evening, they wasted several golden opportunities to go ahead in the first half with Andrea Dossena striking the crossbar twice, Xabi Alonso hitting the bar and Fernando Torres seeing a shot rebound off the post.
The winner eventually came two minutes into stoppage time from Yossi Benayoun and given the dramatic nature of their victory, which was understandably greeted by great adulation from the travelling supporters who remained singing in the away end for several minutes after the game had finished, preventing Liverpool’s players from embarking on their usual post-match warm-down, Lucas reckons that everyone at the Anfield outfit now feels they can be champions again this season.
He said: “I think we really do believe we can win the league now.
“We deserved the win, especially the way we played in the first half with four efforts hitting the woodwork but now we must keep going.
“There are still seven more Premier League games so we must keep working hard but I think we have enough quality to win the title.
“Whatever Manchester United did against Villa this gave us the belief – especially the fans.
“We are in a fantastic position now, we have confidence, everybody is playing well so that’s the most important thing, especially at the end of the season, and everyone is fit.”
The victory at Craven Cottage also displayed the character within Liverpool’s team as they showed the mental strength to overcome their earlier spurned opportunities to keep battling right through to the final whistle to secure the three points.
Lucas said: “We knew we must keep going until the end, we had lost some games in the last minute but Yossi (Benayoun) proved that the squad is important as he came from the bench to score the winning goal.
“I don’t remember a first half like that, I remember the Real Madrid game but we took all our chances then.”
With Javier Mascherano suspended for Wednesday’s Champions League quarter-final first leg with Chelsea at Anfield, it was widely predicted that the Argentinian would feature against Fulham.
Mascherano endured a miserable trip last week with his country as he skippered Argentina in their 6-1 shock defeat in a World Cup qualifier away to Bolivia.
However, Lucas was delighted to be given his chance and knows all too well why his fellow South American was feeling jaded after his international exploits.
He said: “We knew Javier could be a bit tired because he had a long trip from Argentina. It is always really difficult, I know as I’ve played for Brazil and the journey takes a long time.
“But I was ready and had the chance and I had to take it.”
Liverpool returned to the summit on Saturday night courtesy of substitute Yossi Benayoun’s injury-time strike at Craven Cottage but dropped back down to second yesterday following Manchester United’s dramatic late victory over Aston Villa.
Despite winning the old First Division on a record 18 occasions, Liverpool, who were 11 titles ahead of United when English football’s top flight was revolutionised in 1992, have yet to add to their tally while Sir Alex Ferguson’s men’s dominance of domestic football has seen them climb to 17 championships, just one behind their North West of England rivals.
With both sides going toe-to-toe this term, the name at the top has changed on several occasions with Liverpool seeing their big lead in the New Year eroded by the Old Trafford outfit, only to fight back in recent weeks with an historic 4-1 win at United which rocked the Red Devils, who went down 2-0 at Fulham the following week while Benitez’s men triumphed 5-0 over Aston Villa at Anfield.
Although Liverpool dominated the game at Craven Cottage on Saturday evening, they wasted several golden opportunities to go ahead in the first half with Andrea Dossena striking the crossbar twice, Xabi Alonso hitting the bar and Fernando Torres seeing a shot rebound off the post.
The winner eventually came two minutes into stoppage time from Yossi Benayoun and given the dramatic nature of their victory, which was understandably greeted by great adulation from the travelling supporters who remained singing in the away end for several minutes after the game had finished, preventing Liverpool’s players from embarking on their usual post-match warm-down, Lucas reckons that everyone at the Anfield outfit now feels they can be champions again this season.
He said: “I think we really do believe we can win the league now.
“We deserved the win, especially the way we played in the first half with four efforts hitting the woodwork but now we must keep going.
“There are still seven more Premier League games so we must keep working hard but I think we have enough quality to win the title.
“Whatever Manchester United did against Villa this gave us the belief – especially the fans.
“We are in a fantastic position now, we have confidence, everybody is playing well so that’s the most important thing, especially at the end of the season, and everyone is fit.”
The victory at Craven Cottage also displayed the character within Liverpool’s team as they showed the mental strength to overcome their earlier spurned opportunities to keep battling right through to the final whistle to secure the three points.
Lucas said: “We knew we must keep going until the end, we had lost some games in the last minute but Yossi (Benayoun) proved that the squad is important as he came from the bench to score the winning goal.
“I don’t remember a first half like that, I remember the Real Madrid game but we took all our chances then.”
With Javier Mascherano suspended for Wednesday’s Champions League quarter-final first leg with Chelsea at Anfield, it was widely predicted that the Argentinian would feature against Fulham.
Mascherano endured a miserable trip last week with his country as he skippered Argentina in their 6-1 shock defeat in a World Cup qualifier away to Bolivia.
However, Lucas was delighted to be given his chance and knows all too well why his fellow South American was feeling jaded after his international exploits.
He said: “We knew Javier could be a bit tired because he had a long trip from Argentina. It is always really difficult, I know as I’ve played for Brazil and the journey takes a long time.
“But I was ready and had the chance and I had to take it.”
1 comment:
What a waste fer villa to throw away the points. Am fearing the worst as that result might just spur the scum to win all 5 trophies this year.
http://anfielddevotee.blogspot.com/
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