Source: Telegraph
Liverpool title challenge in tatters as Middlesbrough record valuable win
Liverpool Football Club is in a right old mess off the field and their team was not much better on it as their Premier League title suffered a potentially irrevocable setback.
The behind-the-scenes chaos that has become synonymous with Anfield this season was mirrored by disarray throughout Rafael Benitez's side at the Riverside as they failed to make up ground on pacesetters Manchester United
Just days after a famous Champions League victory over Real Madrid, Benitez's side were brought back down to earth with an almighty bump on Teesside against relegation candidates who brought a 15-match unbeaten run with their first league win since Nov 9.
As a civil war unfolds above them, Benitez's team were their own worst enemies as they fluffed a series of goal-scoring opportunities before Boro moved into the lead as Liverpool shot themselves in the foot with Xabi Alonso's own goal before they found themselves outmanoeuvred in midfield and defended atrociously as Tuncay Sanli doubled their misery.
Benitez made three unforced changes following his players heroics in the Spanish capital but things might have been different had Bernabeu goal-scoring hero Yossi Benayoun been in the thick of it but he remained on the substitutes' bench until late on.
With skipper Steve Gerr ard restored to the 1st XI following a hamstring injury, Benitez's team picked up where they left off in the 1-0 win over Real Madrid and created three early chances.
However, with talismanic Fernando Torres ruled out through injury and Robbie Keane plying his trade elsewhere, the Reds had no one to apply a finishing touch as Boro goalkeeper Brad Jones foiled Nabil El Zhar, Ryan Babel and Dirk Kuyt, who also sent a shot wide while Gerrard was thwarted by David Wheater's block.
But Liverpool goal looked equally vulnerable thanks to the enterprising Stewart Downing and in between the flurry of Jones saves, Pepe Reina came to his defence's rescue when Gary O'Neil nipped ahead of Fabio Aurelio following the England winger's cross.
There was nothing Reina could do about the opening goal in the 32nd minute as a corner swung over by Downing eluded the leaping Martin Skrtel at the near post before being deflected in by Xabi Alonso.
After the break, Gerrard did his best to take the game by the proverbial scruff of the neck with a forceful run to the byline and his pull-back invited El Zhar to equalise he blazed over. Gerrard's frustration boiled over shortly afterwards when he rebuked El Zhar following a misunderstanding. They weren't on the same wavelength.
Tuncay put clear water between the two sides in the 63rd minute when he expertly finished off an excellent Boro move as the Liverpool defence fell apart.
He guided the ball beyond Reina after Jeremie Aliadiere had lured Sami Hyypia out to the wing before giving him the slip following O'Neil's pass and crossing to the unmarked Tuncay.
Gerrard had a shot saved and set up Kuyt but the Dutch striker just failed to make adequate contact with his cross. Then Gerrard was trudged off by Benitez, shoulders hunched, his grimace - caused by cramps - said it all as his team slumped to defeat at the ground they have not won since 2002.
Marlon King should have killed off Liverpool but Reina saved and the O'Neil volleyed narrowly wide after the excellent Downing's cross.
It could have been embarrassing for Liverpool but King had a goal chalked off for offside after most Liverpool fans had headed off home, no doubt resigned to another year of hurt after ironically playing their own part in their side's downfall by contributing to Boro's highest attendance of the season
"The fixtures worked out well for us this week. If we'd played at a half-empty stadium it would have been difficult to get the players' energy levels up and the quality of the opposition lifted everyone." said Boro manager Gareth Southgate.
