Liverpool overcame a resilient Blackburn Rovers 4-3 at Anfield this evening to move above beaten Manchester United into second place in the Premiership. Rovers, managed by former Anfield legend and manager Graeme Souness, came from behind on three separate occasions but were finally undone by a spectacular effort from Emile Heskey to claim all three points and now move into the automatic Champions League spot with one round of games remaining.
England boss Sven-Goran Eriksson witnessed a marvellous seven-goal thriller littered with spectacular goals and drama. Liverpool know now that if they beat Ipswich at Anfield at the weekend they will clinch second place and consign United to the Champions League qualifying round.
England hopeful Danny Murphy opened the scoring with a goal after 23 minutes that underlined his guts and determination. John Arne Riise fired in a cross from the left and Murphy won possession but fell in the effort. Yet as he lay on the ground he had the foresight to hook the ball past a shocked Alan Kelly, who was deputising for Brad Friedel, already on World Cup duty with the USA.
Damien Duff replied for Rovers with a stunning equaliser five minutes later, when he cut in at high speed from the left, played a double one-two with first Nils-Eric Johansson and then Tugay – leaving Heskey a bemused by-stander - before drilling the ball past Jerzy Dudek. Nicolas Anelka restored Liverpool's lead on 39 minutes when he linked with Riise and sped away from Craig Short to guide the ball wide of Kelly.
Blackburn hauled themselves level four minutes after the break when Lucas Neill's cross was met by a leaping header from Andy Cole six-yards out. But two minutes later Liverpool were ahead again when Sami Hyypia powered above the Blackburn defence to glance a header wide of Kelly from a curling right foot free-kick from Murphy. Rovers then squandered several chances before another England hopeful, Matt Jansen, arrived on the far post with 11 minutes left to drill home substitute Keith Gillespie's low cross for the equaliser.
Two minutes later Eriksson left, with plenty to dwell on during his trip back to London. Sadly Eriksson missed Heskey's cracker with five minutes left. The big striker took Jamie Carragher's pass and powered across the face of the box to spin and smash a superb shot into the far corner. Liverpool hung on to claim victory, with word of United's defeat being instantly relayed to a delighted Anfield crowd.
Filed by Shane Murray
