Liverpool took the lead through Maxi in the 33rd minute after the visitors started off brightly. Chelsea tried their best but luck did not seem to favour them as Drogba came close to netting a free-kick. However, after Daniel Sturridge came on as a subsitute post half-time, he helped Chelsea equalise.

Old Team-mates battle it out

Both sides attacked and counter-attacked as well as had some defensive goof ups which led to the goals being scored. A draw seemed to the best result but Johnson had other ideas. He brilliantly controlled Adam’s cross and slotted the ball into the corner of Chelsea’s net.

The Indian owners believe the club should be fourth or fifth in the Premier League.

Allardyce said he was “shocked and disappointed” after being axed on Monday despite the club winning four of its last seven league games and being five points off the top six.

Other Premier League managers also voiced out their opinions. Sir Alex Ferguson called the decision “absolutely ridiculous”.

The Rovers’ club owners stated:

“We do not mean anything bad for Sam Allardyce but we feel that we need to take the club up in the league and grow.”

“We want Blackburn Rovers to be fourth or fifth in the league or even better. It is nothing against Sam but we have a different vision looking forward and we want the club to grow.

“We had been talking to Sam in the past few weeks but he did not fit in with our vision for the club’s future. We wanted good football, wanted the games to be interesting and of course wanted to win and to have good players.”

She also added:

“The fans should trust us and have belief in us because this is in the best interests of the club. Our thinking now is that it will be a British manager, but we are open if there is an outstanding candidate: someone who would be really, really good for the club.”

Assistant coach Steve Kean will take over first-team duties until Rovers find a new manager.

Ji Sung Park must be feeling on cloud 9 right now as he helped The Red Devils secure a win over rivals, the Gunners.

United scored with four minutes to go before halftime. The South Korean midfielder, Park headed in a Nani cross which caught a deflection off Arsenal defender Gael Clichy.
They missed a chance to go 2-0 up when Wayne Rooney fired a penalty over the bar.
The hosts remained unbeaten in the league this season with the best home record. Arsenal’s performance lacked any luster, they are now two points behind United in the league table.
The Gunners struggled to keep possession when they got near the box and the usually devastating combination of Marouane Chamakh and Samir Nasri looked disjointed.
United were keen to test young Arsenal goalkeeper Wojciech Szczesny, making his first Premier League appearance. Szczesny made some excellent saves, first from Anderson and an attempted lob by Rooney.

Arsenal fans started chanting; “We want Cesc Fabregas” at the start of the second half and with less than half an hour to go manager Arsene Wenger consented. The skipper was out with a hamstring injury came on with Robin van Persie. But it was United who created the better chances.

However, Arsene Wenger did not react to the insults. This war of words comes right before the clubs match up on Monday at Old Trafford.

Evra called Arsenal a ‘training centre’ and a club in ‘crisis’ in an interview with television channel Canal+. Wenger had an opportunity to counter the spew of words but decided not to give it too much attention, during a press conference on Friday.

Arsene Wenger - Arsenal Manager

The Gunners manager said:

“He gave you some good stuff to make it all hot before the game.”

“We are guided by the way we want to play football and not by the statements of anybody who plays against us.”

“Personally, I believe if you are a big player you always respect your opponent and that is what we try to do.”

When asked if Evra was being disrespectful, Wenger was again reserved:

“I leave that judgment to you. We do not want to go into any unneeded talking before a game like that. We want to focus on the way we want to play and ignore any provocation before a game. We are motivated by the desire to win the game and by the quality of the football we want to play.”

Lee Bowyer’s opening-half goal – his first for nearly 12 months – earned Alex McLeish’s side a shock victory.

But their hero was Foster who bounced back from his error on England duty in midweek with a series of stunning saves.

Chelsea dominated proceedings for the entire 90 minutes but they could not find a way past the former Manchester United player.

It was a vastly improved performance by Chelsea compared to their 3-0 home defeat by Sunderland last weekend.

But they tasted defeat in back to back league matches for the first time since the end of the 2005-2006 campaign and they now only lead Manchester United on goal difference.

In addition to Foster, City centre-backs Scott Dann and Roger Johnson were outstanding.

Chelsea were quickly into their stride and Salomon Kalou missed an early chance to put them ahead.

Didier Drogba’s flick found Kalou with only Foster to beat but his shot went through the legs of the keeper and just past the post.

Foster made a fine save to keep Birmingham on level terms after Drogba was sent clear by Kalou.

It was the kind of chance Drogba would normally convert but Foster raced off his line to reduce the angle and saved low to his left.

Arsenal missed the chance to go top of the Barclays Premier League as Tottenham Hotspur fought back from 2-0 down to record a remarkable first victory at Emirates Stadium.

Samir Nasri and Marouane Chamakh had put the Gunners in complete control as they looked set to leapfrog Chelsea, who play Birmingham City later in the day.

However, Spurs – who had just one Premier League away victory over their old rivals, in May 1993 – regrouped for the second half following the introduction of fit-again England striker Jermain Defoe.

Gareth Bale pulled a goal back on 50 minutes, before a handball from captain Cesc Fabregas from a free-kick gave away a penalty, which Rafael van der Vaart converted.

Arsenal were then condemned to successive home league defeats for the first time in 13 years when Younes Kaboul headed in a dramatic late winner.

Samir Nasri and former team-mate William Gallas clashed within the opening few moments when Nasri raced clear, only to be halted by a fine saving tackle from the former Gunners defender.

It was a positive start for Arsenal, with Fabregas getting into the right side of the Spurs penalty area, but opted to shoot across goal rather than pull the ball back for Nasri.

Fabregas’ chip split the Tottenham defence, but Nasri’s touch into the penalty area was just too heavy, which should have allowed Gomes to come off his line to collect.

However, the Spurs keeper hesitated and failed to gather the ball on the penalty spot, which then bobbled wide.

The return of Wayne Rooney made it a perfect day for Manchester United as Sir Alex Ferguson’s side took full advantage of their title rivals’ misfortunes.

United brushed aside Wigan Athletic, who self-destructed in the second half with two unnecessary red cards, but perhaps more importantly Rooney made his first appearance since the contract saga that saw the England striker threaten to leave before signing a new five-year deal.

The setbacks suffered by Arsenal and Chelsea made it imperative that United did not slip up too and they made no mistake as headers by Patrice Evra and Javier Hernandez ensured Ferguson’s men second spot in the Barclays Premier League table, behind Chelsea only on goal difference.

Rooney should have put the icing on the cake by scoring too but passed up a glorious opportunity.

For Wigan, red cards for Antolin Alcaraz and Hugo Rodallega virtually ensured they would get nothing from the match.

Source: Premier League

The Red Devils trail four points to current leaders, Chelsea.

Red Devils Vs The Reds

United have five wins from the last six at home to Liverpool, and in 18 Premier League fixtures between the sides at Old Trafford, United have won 10 and lost four.

They had a frustrating midweek draw against Glasgow Rangers in the Champions League. Liverpool will be buzzing after a 4-1 success over Steaua Bucharest in the Europa League.

The Reds have won once in their last 11 away matches and scored just eight goals in their last 14.

The season opener for Liverpool ended with disappointment. Earlier in the match Joe Cole was sent off on his debut for the Reds for a clumsy challenge on Arsenal debutant Laurent Koscielny who was himself dismissed just before the end for a second yellow card.

Liverpool were given the lead by David Ngog just after half time. Arsenal had a lot of possession but created few chances. They would have surely been thankful to Reina, his mistake helped them equalise when Chamakh headed against the post which Reina spilled into his own net with just 15 seconds of normal time remaining.

Pepe Reina reacts after fumbling the ball into his own net.

Hodgson was disappointed with the draw and commented on the match:

“It was a bit disappointing to lose two points so close to the end, but it was a remarkable performance having to play the whole of the second half with 10 men. There was no intention from Joe Cole to foul the player, he threw himself in to try and block the ball.. but when players try to block the ball, the referee often sees it as a worse foul than it was.”

On the other hand Arsene Wenger was naturally pleased to grab a point and said:

“We had a lot of possession but Liverpool defended very well and we did not create many chances,” he said. “We kept going and did not give up and in the end came back to 1-1 which is a very good result at Liverpool.”

He is the head of Hong Kong-based investment company QSL Sports, which, according to its website, was founded to build on China’s success in staging the 2008 Beijing Olympics. It is claimed QSL has the backing of one of the biggest sovereign wealth funds in the Far East while the website says the company’s aim is “to expand China’s sporting platform through enhancing professional athleticism among the youth and elevating the nation’s direct involvement in the industry at an international level.”

Liverpool photocollage at the Anfield Stadium shop
Any new owners of Liverpool will be buying in to a rich footballing history

The latest part of that mission, it now seems, is to be achieved by paying £325m to buy Liverpool Football Club.

As they awoke to the news of Huang’s interest on Monday morning, Liverpool’s long-suffering supporters may have thought that maybe, just maybe, this is the one.

But would anyone who has followed the Liverpool ownership saga closely over the last three-and-a-bit years dare predict that this is going to reach a straightforward conclusion?

It is understood Huang’s bid is one of several – perhaps five or six – which were submitted last week to Liverpool’s chairman Martin Broughton and Barclays Capital, who were appointed on 16 April to handle the sale of the club.

Although it seemed the process was drifting over the summer, Broughton and Barclays Capital are aiming to make a final decision on a preferred bidder by the end of next week – just before the start of the new Premier League season.

All of which poses the question of why Huang has gone public with his interest now. His advisers have been briefing that he is the only show in town but, while he is acknowledged as a serious candidate, the idea he is the only one in the race is strongly contradicted by representatives acting for Liverpool and Barclays Capital.

As ever, this situation is made complicated by the fact that there are so many parties involved.

There’s Tom Hicks and George Gillett, who haven’t seen eye to eye for years except in their desire to secure as big a profit as possible from the sale of the club.

Then there’s Broughton and Barclays Capital, whose primary interest is in achieving not only the best price but also the most sustainable new owner of the club.

Royal Bank of Scotland, who are owed somewhere around £250m and who have deferred their loan to Hicks and Gillett until October, are also anxious to have their money back and are driving the sale. However, they are also anxious not to do anything in the current climate that would make our state-owned banks even more unpopular.

Finally, there’s the club itself, represented by managing director Christian Purslow and commercial director Ian Ayre. Their interest is in finding a buyer who will not only end the destabilising years of American ownership but find a way to fund a new stadium at Stanley Park and invest in a team which is out of the Champions League and in danger of losing its best players.

The biggest stumbling block to a swift deal at the moment is Hicks and Gillett. They paid £218m for the club in 2007 and, according to parties familiar with the sale process, invested a further £144m either as security on financing further loans, design and legal fees for the new stadium or on players and their salaries.

To break even on a sale the club would need to fetch a price of £362m. But given that most of the money they have invested in Liverpool has been from borrowings, it is debatable how much of that investment has come from their own funds. If Hicks and Gillett walk away with any profit, it will cause outrage among the club’s supporters and opponents of debt-financed football takeovers who argue they have seriously damaged Liverpool.

But this explains why they are holding out for a bigger price than the £325m on the table from Huang. It also explains why a Syrian businessman, Yahya Kirdi, emerged on the business pages of a Sunday newspaper yesterday as a possible buyer. He is said to be close to Gillett’s son and, while he has been confirmed as one of the five or six who lodged an interest last week, must be seen as a stalking horse to help drive up the price.

Given the series of possible investors who have been linked with buying into Liverpool in recent times – Dubai International Capital, the Rhone Group and the Al-Kharafi family from Kuwait to name just three – it would be wise to treat the latest developments with a degree of caution.

But it does seem that this affair is finally reaching the end game.

Source: BBC Sport

Cole is eager to play in center of midfield with Gerrard. Cole arrived on a free transfer from Chelsea.

Cole said:

“I hope I did play a part in making him stay. Every year the big clubs have come calling for him because he’s a fantastic player but we have got to look to the future now at this club. This year, Liverpool is about consolidating, then moving on. There are players here who would get into any team in the world. Stevie is one of them and he knows what I can do – we have played together for England for ten years.”

He also added:

“I am looking forward to playing with him for Liverpool and the relationship is going to be important. I will play anywhere, though I hope it is central with him, with one of us going forward and the other pivoting. I can’t talk about our tactics but the manager knows what I can do on the left and the right. But it will be nice to be close to Stevie. I had conversations with him and Jamie Carragher at the World Cup – more afterwards because I was concentrating on the tournament. Everything about Liverpool impressed me. I just want to be part of something. We are part of a club which can do something special. If you win a trophy here – one of the big ones – it would be immense.”

Cole signed for Liverpool looking over offers from Arsenal and Tottenham.