The Hindu : Sport / Football : Liverpool outplays Fulham

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Friday, Mar 17, 2006

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Sport - Football

Liverpool outplays Fulham

LONDON: Robbie Fowler scored his first goal in nine games since his return to Liverpool, helping the Reds beat Fulham 5-1 in the English Premier League on Wednesday.

Elsewhere, West Ham beat Bolton 2-1 in a FA Cup fifth-round replay to set up a quarterfinal with Manchester City.

Fowler had 120 goals in 236 appearances during his first nine-year spell with Liverpool. His 16th-minute header spurred Fernando Morientes and Peter Crouch also to score their first league goals of 2006.

Fulham midfielder Michael Brown turned the ball into his own net and Liverpool defender Stephen Warnock added a fifth. Collins John's reply for Fulham was a first-half equalizer before Liverpool took control.

The victory moved Liverpool within two points of second-place Manchester United, while Fulham stayed two places above the relegation zone.

Espanyol in final

Espanyol advanced to the Copa del Rey final after a 0-0 draw with Deportivo in La Coruna on Wednesday in the second leg of the semifinals.

Espanyol, which won 2-1 on aggregate, will face Zaragoza in the final at Real Madrid's Santiago Bernabeu stadium on April 12.

It will be Espanyol's ninth appearance in the final. The team has won the trophy three times.

Roma eliminated

Middlesbrough squeezed past AS Roma through an away goal from Dutch striker Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink to book a berth in next round of UEFA Cup despite of a 1-2 defeat in Roma on Wednesday.

A header from Hasselbaink was decisive for Boro as Steve McLaren's outfit took a shock lead at the Stadio Olimpico. A goal in each half from Roma's Brazilian striker Amantino Mancini set up a nerve-jangling finale, but Boro keeper Mark Schwarzer kept the Italians at bay with a string of superb saves to restrict the scoreline to 2-1.

That left the tie 2-2 on aggregate with Boro advancing on away goals at the end of an ill-tempered encounter, which had been marred by clashes between rival fans on Tuesday that left three Middlesbrough supporters with stab wounds.

The results:

FA Cup: West Ham United bt Bolton Wanderers 2-1. Manchester City bt Aston Villa 2-1.

UEFA Cup:

At Hamburg: SV Hamburg bt Rapid Bucharest 3-1 (3-3 on aggregate; Rapid Bucharest win on away goals).

At Seville: Seville bt Lille 2-0. (Seville wins 2-1 on aggregate).

At Rome: Roma bt Middlesbrough 2-1 (2-2 on aggregate; Middlesbrough wins on away goals). — Agencies

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