Liverpool stops surge by Everton

Press, 27 April 1987, Page 26

Liverpool stops surge by Everton

NZPA-Reuter London Liverpool dramatically halted Everton's tide surge when it beat its city rival, 3-1, in a thrilling English soccer league top-of-the-table clash at Anfield during the weekend. The reigning champion knew defeat would almost certainly mean the league crown returning to Everton and, in spite of having won only one of its last five matches, it rose superbly to the challenge in front of a capacity 44,800 crowd.

Steve McMahon gave Liverpool the lead in the ninth minute with a powerful 20m drive. Everton equalised seven minutes later from a similar distance when Kevin Sheedy rifled home a free kick.

It was left to lan Rush, playing in his last Merseyside clash before his move next season to Juventus, of Italy, to score two more vital goals which equalled Dixie Dean’s record of 19 in games between the two clubs. The Welsh international was on hand to head home a corner from Ronnie Whelan a minute before half-time. Then he put the match out of Everton’s reach with a second goal 11 minutes from time.

The result, which brought to an end a run of six consecutive league victories by Everton, closed the gap between the two clubs to three points.

But Everton is still the favourite to regain the title. With four matches left it still has a game in hand on Liverpool and also has a much better goal difference. The third-placed Tottenham retained its slim chance of sneaking past the top two with a 3-1 win at home to the lowly Oxford.

Tottenham was 2-0 up. in 15 minutes through Chris Wad' die and Paul Allen. Although Dean Saunders scored for Oxford in the twenty-first minute Glenn - Hoddle 'wrapped it up' in the last minute after racing half the length of the field and dummying the goalkeeper for a typically flamboyant strike. Tottenham’s neighbour, the fourth-placed Arsenal, had a miserable afternoon, losing 03 to the bottom club, Manchester City. Two goals from Imre Varadi and one from Paul Stewart, all in the second half, gave City a welcome tonic. But it looks to be too late. Its fellow struggler, Aston Villa, handed out a 4-0 thrashing to the visitors, West Ham, and remained one point ahead of Qty with three games remaining. >■ Charlton gained a hardearned point with a 2-2 draw at Southampton to move to 38 points,, two ahead of Aston Villa and two behind Leicester, which slipped deeper into trouble with a 2-1 home defeat at the hands of Watford. Newcastle made it five successive home wins with a 1-0 triumph over Chelsea, a result which virtually guarantees it first division football next season. Almost inevitably the goal came from the former West Ham striker, Paul Goddard, his eighth in the last nine games. In Scotland, the champagne remained on ice for Glasgow Rangers in spite of a glorious hat-trick from Ally McColst in the 3-0 defeat of Hearts. Results.— ENGLISH LEAGUE Division one Aston Villa 4, West Ham 0; Leicester 1, Watford 2; Liverpool 3, Everton 1; Luton 0, Sheffield Wednesday 0; Manchester City 3, Arsenal 0; Newcastle 1, Chelsea 0; Norwich 1, Coventry 1; Queen's Park Rangers 1, Manchester United 1; Southampton 2, Charlton 2; Tottenham 3, Oxford. 1; Wimbledon 2, Nottingham Forest 1. Division two Barnsley 2, Ipswich 1; Blackbum 1, Brighton 1; Bradford 2, Hull 0; Crystal Palace 2, Oldham 1; Grimsby 0, Portsmouth 2; Leeds 4, Birmingham 0; Millwall 0, West Bromwich 1; Plymouth 1, Huddersfield 1; Reading 0, Stoke 1; Sheffield United 0, Derby 1; Shrewsbury 0, Sunderland 1. Division three Blackpool 1, Bournemouth 3; Bolton 0, Bristol City 0; Bristol Rovers 0, Gillingham 1; Chesterfield 0, Chester 1; Fulham 1, York 0; Middlesbrough 2, Brentford 0; Port Vale 1, Darlington 2; Rotherham 3, Newport 1; Swindon 1, Doncaster 1; Walsall 3, Bury 1; Wigan 3, Mansfield 0. ■' Division four Cardiff 1, Burnley 0; Crewe 1, Aidershot 3; Exeter 0, Scunthorpe 0; Orient 1, Preston 2; Peterborough 2, Torquay 1; Rochdale 2, Cambridge 0; Wrexham 0, Stockport 0. SCOTTISH LEAGUE Premier division Dundee 4, Clydebank i; Falkirk 1, Dundee United 2; Hibernian 1, Hamilton I; Motherwell 0, Aberdeen 2, Rangers 3, Hearts 0; St Mir-, ren 1, Celtic 3. Division one. Dumbarton 2, Clyde 1; Dunfermline 1, Queen of the South 0; Forfar 1, Airdrieoni->■ ans 0; Kilmarnock 0, Brechin 1; Montrose 1, Morton 4; Partick 2, East Fife 0. Division two ’ Albion 2, Stranraer 0; Alloa 2, Stirling 1; Ayr 0, Raith 0; Berwick 1, Cowdenbeath 6; Meadowbank 2, East Stirling I; Queen’s Park 2, Arbroath ); St Johnstone 0, Steniousemulr 1.