Liverpool turned up the pressure on Premier League leaders Chelsea this weekend, as they coasted to a second successive 4-0 victory at Anfield, with Southampton the opposition on this occasion. Saints were dispatched as comfortably as Arsenal were a week ago, as Liverpool moved to within a point of the top place. Liverpool became the first top-flight team to score two or more goals for 17 LEAGUE matches in a row, since Sunderland in 1927.
Sunderland AFC started their run on October 30th 1926 with a 2-0 win over Newcastle Utd at home. The "run" ended on 19th February 1927 losing at Sheffield Wednesday 4-1. In that time they won 10 matches, drew 2 and lost 6; this including one FA Cup game in which they lost but did score 2, making 18 games.
| 30 Oct 1926 | Sunderland v Newcastle United | W | 2-0 | League Division One |
| 06 Nov 1926 | Leeds United v Sunderland | D | 2-2 | League Division One |
| 13 Nov 1926 | Sunderland v Liverpool | W | 2-1 | League Division One |
| 20 Nov 1926 | Arsenal v Sunderland | W | 2-3 | League Division One |
| 27 Nov 1926 | Sunderland v Sheffield United | W | 3-0 | League Division One |
| 04 Dec 1926 | Derby County v Sunderland | L | 4-2 | League Division One |
| 11 Dec 1926 | Sunderland v Manchester United | W | 6-0 | League Division One |
| 18 Dec 1926 | Bolton Wanderers v Sunderland | D | 2-2 | League Division One |
| 25 Dec 1926 | Everton v Sunderland | L | 5-4 | League Division One |
| 27 Dec 1926 | Sunderland v Everton | W | 3-2 | League Division One |
| 01 Jan 1927 | Sunderland v Blackburn Rovers | L | 2-5 | League Division One |
| 08 Jan 1927 | Leeds United v Sunderland | L | 3-2 | FA Cup NOTE CUP GAME |
| 15 Jan 1927 | Sunderland v West Bromwich Albion | W | 4-1 | League Division One |
| 29 Jan 1927 | Sunderland v Leicester City | W | 3-0 | League Division One |
| 05 Feb 1927 | Tottenham Hotspur v Sunderland | W | 0-2 | League Division One |
| 12 Feb 1927 | Sunderland v West Ham United | L | 2-3 | League Division One |
| 16 Feb 1927 | Sunderland v Birmingham City | W | 4-1 | League Division One |
| 19 Feb 1927 | Sheffield Wednesday v Sunderland | L | 4-1 | League Division One |
Second-placed Liverpool have now netted 39 times in 13 matches and no player has more Premier League goals individually this season than any of the starting front three of Mohamed Salah (11), Sadio Mane and Diogo Jota (both 7).
Belenenses', a Portuguese top-flight club were due to play Benfica yesterday, but their match was abandoned early in the second half because the home side had only six players on the pitch. They had been forced to start the game with nine men, including a goalkeeper as an outfield player. A Covid outbreak had left Belenenses with 17 players unavailable and their nine men were already 7-0 down at half-time. After a delayed break, the team, third from bottom, emerged with just seven players due to injuries, before a further injury immediately after the restart left them with only six - resulting in an immediate abandonment.
Benfica president Rui Costa said his side were "forced" to play, adding the two bodies who could have postponed the game, the league and the Directorate-General for Health, did not do so. "I regret what happened today, a dark chapter for Portuguese football and for the country itself," he said. Sporting Lisbon, third in the table behind Benfica, released a statement saying: "Portuguese football as a whole is seriously harmed today".
A match is played by two teams, each with a maximum of eleven players; one must be the goalkeeper. A match may not start or continue if either team has fewer than seven players. If a team has fewer than seven players because one or more players has deliberately left the field of play, the referee is not obliged to stop play and the advantage may be played, but the match must not resume after the ball has gone out of play if a team does not have the minimum number of seven players.
No comments:
Post a Comment