Mixed bag
Manchester United FC led the way as two goals from Wayne Rooney helped them to a 4-0 victory against Aston Villa FC. Arsenal FC also claimed an impressive triumph but for different reasons. A man down and trailing 2-0 with 30 minutes to play against Bolton Wanderers FC, they recovered in memorable fashion, stealing the points in added time. Chelsea FC and Liverpool FC left less to chance as early goals proved sufficient for them, the latter in the Merseyside derby, and Fenerbahçe also savoured cross-town success. AS Roma and FC Schalke 04 were both held, while the German side's opponents on Tuesday, FC Barcelona suffered the opposite fate to Arsenal, losing after squandering a 2-0 lead in Spain.
| AS Roma v Manchester United FC | Cagliari Calcio 1-1 AS Roma (Ferrari og 3; Totti 45)
Luciano Spalletti: "We were great and deserved three points. I cannot fault my players - some games are just like that. Luck was not by our side today and we have to settle for a draw. We were not found wanting in any department, though. Totti played 90 minutes so he is fully fit. He did what he had to do despite a bit of pain in his knee." | Manchester United FC 4-0 Aston Villa FC (Ronaldo 17, Tévez 33, Rooney 53 70)
Sir Alex Ferguson: "We thought the players had reached their peak last week but they continued that form today. It's a race to the line and we need consistency and focus. Today we showed fantastic energy. They realise we need top-level performances and there's been good evidence of that in the last two games. It's a good omen. We don't feel that close [to the title] as we have six games left, but there's confidence in the way the team's playing." |
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| FC Schalke 04 v FC Barcelona | Karlsruher SC 0-0 FC Schalke 04
Mirko Slomka: "Looking at both matches against KSC this season, we have claimed only one point against a newly-promoted team. This is bad for us, but it shows the quality Karlsruhe have. We have made things enormously difficult for ourselves though." | Real Betis Balompié 3-2 FC Barcelona (Edu 64 78, Juanito 76; Bojan 13, Eto'o 15)
Frank Rijkaard: "It's very difficult to explain what happened. It was almost unbelievable how the game changed in the second half. We seemed to have the game in the bag but we let it slip. We spoke at half-time about how we had to go out motivated for the second half, that we had to keep up the pressure and spend as long as possible in our opponents' half. At times like these it's best to try to stay calm but it's a difficult period." |
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| Fenerbahçe SK v Chelsea FC | Chelsea FC 1-0 Middlesbrough FC (Carvalho 6)
Avram Grant: "It was an important win. I can't say it was the quality we're used to but after so many games it's important to take the points and we did that. We could have scored two or three goals more but we're happy with the win. Maybe we scored too early - we started the game very well but we didn't play our game and sometimes it is like this. The last two months we've played wonderful football and we need to continue with this to put pressure on Manchester United." | Beşiktaş JK 1-2 Fenerbahçe SK (Serdar Özkan 74; Alex 11 80)
Zico: "I hope this level of performance continues. We have important matches to come against Galatasaray [AS] and Trabzonspor. The team that makes the fewest mistakes throughout this spell will win the title." |
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| Arsenal FC v Liverpool FC | Bolton Wanderers FC 2-3 Arsenal FC (Taylor 14 43; Gallas 62, Van Persie 68 pen, Samuel og 90)
Arsène Wenger: "It's an incredible win. It was a real mental test today. It looked as if everything was going against us; 2-0 down at half-time and down to ten men when you know 2-2 is not good enough. But I'm very proud of the team because they gave absolutely everything. We fought until the last seconds and we got a great win. [At 2-0] we wanted to dig deep; you have to go for it and we did that in a marvellous way. I've said many times that this team is mentally very strong." | Liverpool FC 1-0 Everton FC (Torres 7)
Rafael Benítez said: "We're in a good position but there are difficult games to come so we need to keep winning. When you're five points above the other team, it's always a lot easier. The understanding between Steven Gerrard and Torres is good and we need to use these two key players. Ryan Babel and Dirk Kuyt are also playing well going forward so this formation has been good for the team." |
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