Liverpool Chew Up & Spit Out Championship Newcastle

Liverpool 3 - Newcastle 0 (Premier League, May 3, 2009) With Alan Shearer taking the decision to bench Michael Owen, Liverpool controlled the opening stages at Anfield as Gerrard forced Harper into a finger-tip save early on. It was no surprise when the Reds finally scored, Yossi Benayoun (offside) converting a Kuyt cross. Poor Newcastle quickly conceded a second, Bassong lost Dirk Kuyt from a corner and the flying Dutchman threw himself into a crashing header. Xabi Alonso was unfortunate to see his shot rebound off the woodwork as Liverpool ran riot in the first half. (First half highlights here.) Joey Barton received a straight red for a nasty foul on Alonso late on, before Fabio Aurelio’s free-kick was headed home by Lucas Leiva with the Toon defence all at sea.

Andrius Velicka found himself at the right place at the right time to sweep Rangers into the lead on the stroke of halftime with Hearts.

Almeria broke the deadlock at Santander inside 2 minutes with Juan Manuel Ortiz crashing home a volley in the box. And after 13 minutes it was two as Oritz fired home his second of the game.

Young Tunisian forward Lassad Nouioui grabbed his chance of receiving some playing time for Depor by putting the hosts ahead with a clinical strike in the box after 7 minutes.

Getafe’s defence were torn wide open by a quick Mallorca free-kick with Jurado have the simple jop of slotting the ball home.

Walter Pandiani scored a trademark header to put Osasuna ahead over Recre.

Juventus 2 - Lecce 2 (Serie A, May 3, 2009) Juve fell behind at home to Lecce after Axel Cedric Konan broke the offside trap before slipping the ball past Buffon. Alex Del Piero came close to equalising with a free-kick. After the break Juve drew level as Pavel Nedved equalised for the Old Lady, and the legendary Czech midfielder doubled his tally with a second in the 67th minute. But Lecce dug deep to find a 93rd minute leveller through Jose Ignacio Castillo’s diving header. Gigi Buffon’s face at full time told the story of the match.

Catania 0 - AC Milan 2 (Serie A, May 3, 2009) AC Milan took the lead at Catania with Kaka feeding the ball into Super Pippo who spun and found the back of the net. Kaka doubled the Rossoneri’s lead poking the ball over the line early in the second half.

Udinese 3 - Atalanta 0 (Serie A, May 3, 2009) Fabio Quagliarella put Udinese ahead against Atalanta. Fabio Quagliarella helped himself to a second 15 minutes from time with the visitors’ defence caught napping before Giovanni Pasquale slotted home the third at the death.

Siena 2 - Napoli 1 (Serie A, May 3, 2009) Houssine Kharja scored a fantastic solo effort to fire Siena ahead against Napoli, Massimo Maccarone slamming home the second after the visitors fell asleep from a throw-in.

Palermo 5 - Cagliari 1 (Serie A, May 3, 2009) Palermo took a two goal lead through Giulio Migliaccio and Fabrizio Miccoli (stunning free-kick) before Jeda pulled a goal back for Cagliari. Hopes of a comeback were snuffed out by further strikes from Giovanni Tedesco and Edinson Cavani at the start of the second half.

Fiorentina 1 - Torino 0 (Serie A, May 3, 2009) Fiorentina moved ahead against Torino with a lovely goal from Juan Manuel Vargas who controlled a through ball on his chest, beat the keeper through his legs before rolling the ball into the unguarded net.

Roma 0 - Chievo 0 (Serie A, May 3, 2009) A lively game in Rome ended goalless as Chievo’s defence was able to hold out for ninety minutes.

Hamburg struck first in the massive top of the table clash with Hertha, Marcell Jansen connecting with a cute volley at the near post after brilliant work by Olic down the left-hand side.

Christian Bekamenga powered a shot inside the near post to hand Nantes the lead over Le Harve.

Twente 3 - AZ Alkmaar 0 (Eredivisie, May 3, 2009) Steve McClaren finished the season in style with Twente as they battered the champions to end the year in second place. Kenneth Perez (a perfect free-kick), Peter Wisgerhof and Eljero Elia netted the goals in the second half.

Utrecht 2 - Feyenoord 2 (Eredivisie, May 3, 2009) Tom Caluwe gave Utrecht the lead on the final day of the Dutch season, Feyenoord soon levelling the match through Jon Dahl Tomasson.

Gaziantepspor 2 - Sivasspor 1 (Super Lig, May 3, 2009) Mehmet Yildiz handed Sivas the lead, but the Turkish league leaders that suffered a terrible collapse Ibrahim Ferdi Coskun and Beto turned the match in Gaziantepspor’s favour. (Beto was sent off for ripping his short off during his celebration.)

Krylya Sovietov Samara 1 - CSKA Moscow 3 (Russian Premier League, May 3, 2009) Samara’s backline failed to deal with a long straight punt and Evgeniy Savin benefitted by stabbing home a 36th minute opener. Vasili Berezutski headed the hosts level just after the hour mark, but Vagner Love restored CSKA’s advantage four minutes later with Ouwo Moussa Maazou tapping in a third at full-time.

Rostov 2 - Zenit St. Petersburg 1 (Russian Premier League, May 3, 2009) Dmitri Akimov gave Rostov the lead, which was cancelled out by much-hyped Zenit striker Pavel Pogrebnyak’s 83rd minute penalty. But Zenit could not hold on for a point, Aleksandr Gatskan winning the match for Zenit who had Fatih Tekke sent off at the death.

Orlando Pirates 2 - Kaizer Chiefs 1 (South African Premier League, May 2, 2009) The Pirates completed the double over the Chiefs in the Soweto derby, Katlego Mashego becoming the hero with a brace for the Buccaneers.

Al Ahly 2 - Kano Pillars 2* (Agg. 3-3) (African Champions League, May 2, 2009) The African champions were dumped out of this year’s competition in a shock result against Nigeria’s Pillars. Pillars took a two goal lead in a hectic second half through Victor Namo and Rabiu Mohamed, before Flavio Amado and Mohamed Barakat levelled the scores.