Still on Steven Gerrard’s final game for Liverpool at Anfield. Here are more pictures:
Archive | May 17, 2015
English Premier League results….
Saturday 16 May 2015:
Southampton 6 – 1 Aston Villa
Burnley 0 – 0 Stoke
QPR 2 – 1 Newcastle
Sunderland 0 – 0 Leicester
Tottenham 2 – 0 Hull
West Ham 1 – 2 Everton
Liverpool 1 – 3 Crystal Palace
Sunday 17 May 2015:
Swansea 2 – 4 Man City
Man Utd 1 – 1 Arsenal
Monday 18 May 2015:
West Brom 3 – 0 Chelsea
Wednesday 20 May 2015:
Arsenal 0 – 0 Sunderland
Football stars pay tribute to Steven Gerrard….
Barcelona striker Luis Suarez, Orlando City’s Brazilian playmaker Kaka and Thierry Henry are among the greats from the world of football to have paid tribute to Steven Gerrard after he made his final Liverpool appearance at Anfield. The talismanic captain bid an emotional farewell to the club where he has spent his entire career to date and made more than 700 first-team appearances. Steven Gerrard’s record – 185 goals in 709 appearances in midfield. It’s phenomenal.
Mane scores the fastest Premier League hat-trick….
Sadio Mane scored the fastest hat-trick in Premier League history as Southampton demolished Aston Villa to keep their Europa League hopes alive. Mane’s three goals came in two minutes and 56 seconds with Saints 3-0 up inside 16 minutes. They were 5-1 up at half-time with two strikes from Shane Long, while Christian Benteke headed home his 15th goal of the season for Villa before Graziano Pelle’s late volley. The result means Southampton stay seventh with one game left and – despite the heavy defeat – Aston Villa sealed their Premier League safety after 18th-placed Hull lost. Saints felt they had an early goal wrongly disallowed when Pelle was flagged offside but it mattered little after three stunning minutes at St Mary’s. Mane side-footed home on 13 minutes after Shay Given’s initial save. He had his second when Long latched onto Ron Vlaar’s poor backpass and the Senegalese was on hand to stick it away into an empty net. He created history with a fine first-time side foot from just inside the box to seal his hat-trick and also beat Robbie Fowler’s 21-year record of four minutes 33 seconds for Liverpool in 1994. The goal prompted wild scenes at St Mary’s and there was more to come with Long curling home from 12 yards for 4-0. His second and Southampton’s fifth was a stunning strike from 40 yards that flew over Given and into the net. Villa had a consolation on the stroke of half time through Benteke’s header from close range in what was a breathless 45 minutes of football. Mane turned provider with 10 minutes remaining sending in a fierce low cross which Pelle thumped home from close range for 6-1. Saints end their season at Manchester City next weekend with Liverpool, Tottenham and Swansea also in the hunt for the two Europa League places. An Arsenal victory over Villa in the FA Cup final would also see seventh place earn entry into Europe. Villa host already-relegated Burnley on the final day of the season and their own Premier League status was be confirmed after Hull lost 2-0 to Tottenham on Saturday afternoon.
Steven Gerrard: The Anfield faithful bids farewell….
Liverpool captain Steven Gerrard has brought his 17-year career at Anfield to an “emotional” end after playing his final home match for the club. The 34-year-old was given a rousing reception by supporters in his 709th game for the Reds, which ended in a 3-1 loss to Crystal Palace. “It was very emotional. An unbelievable send-off,” he told BBC Sport. “I am very proud looking back at the last 17 years and I will never forget this day.” He added: “It’s a day I’ve been dreading, because I will miss it so much.” Gerrard will play his final game for his hometown club away at Stoke next weekend, before leaving to play for LA Galaxy in the United States in the summer.
PSG win French title for a third season….
Paris St-Germain were crowned French champions for the third consecutive season after a hard-fought away victory over Montpellier. PSG needed only a point to be certain of becoming only the fourth Ligue 1 club to win three consecutive titles. France midfielder Blaise Matuidi and Argentina forward Ezequiel Lavezzi gave the visitors a two-goal cushion. Montpellier forward Anthony Mounier pulled one back for the home side but Laurent Blanc’s men held on. Now PSG are aiming to become the first team to win a Ligue 1, French Cup and French League Cup treble. They lifted the Coupe de la Ligue with a 4-0 win against Bastia last month and face second-tier Auxerre in the Coupe de France final on 30 May.
Boca Juniors thrown out of Copa Libertadores….
Boca Juniors have been thrown out of the Copa Libertadores after some of the team’s fans sprayed River Plate players with an irritant on Thursday. Boca have also been fined US$200,000 (£127,000) and must play four home games behind closed doors. Four River Plate players were taken to hospital following the half-time incident at Boca’s Bombonera stadium. The last 16 second-leg tie between the Argentine rivals in Buenos Aires was abandoned with the score at 0-0. The River Plate medical team said the players were suffering inflammation of the cornea after the incident in Thursday’s match and needed a few days to recover from their injuries. South American football’s governing body Conmebol handed River Plate a walkover to the quarter-finals of the competition, the continent’s equivalent of the Champions League, where they will face Brazil’s Cruzeiro. Thursday’s match was the third between the teams in 12 days – Boca Juniors beat River Plate 2-0 in the Primera Divison match at the Bombonera on 3 May, but River Plate won the first leg of the Copa Libertadores last-16 tie 1-0, four days later. In addition to the fine and stadium closure, Boca fans will also be banned from four away games.