Benitez admits title hopes dealt severe blow
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AFP
Oluşturulma Tarihi: Mart 02, 2009 00:00
MIDDLESBROUGH - Liverpool manager Rafael Benitez admits his side's Premier League title hopes are fading after a morale-sapping 2-0 defeat at Middlesbrough
Benitez concedes the title is now Manchester United's to lose thanks to Saturday's meltdown at the Riverside Stadium. Xabi Alonso's own goal plus a Tuncay Şanlı second-half strike ended Liverpool's 15-game unbeaten league run to leave them a daunting seven points behind runaway leaders United.
Liverpool have also played a game more to make their key trip to Old Trafford later this month assume must-win proportions as they bid to keep their slim hopes alive. Even that might not be enough to prevent their bitter rivals from bagging their latest Premier League crown.
Benitez knows Sir Alex Ferguson's leaders are strong favourites to retain their title and he said, "It depends on Manchester United. Will they slip up? Maybe, I don't know. The ball's in their court now."
"We will have to make sure we beat Sunderland in our next game now. Before this game winning the title was a difficult task, clearly now it's even more difficult," he said.
The Spaniard also would not use Liverpool's tough 1-0 midweek Champions League victory at Real Madrid as an excuse for a below-par display which saw his side badly run out of steam after the opening half hour.
"It was a frustrating game for us because we created around five chances in the opening half hour but you have to take those chances. If you want to win, you have to score. To stay at the top of the table you have to score, if you don't it leaves you in a bad position."
Liverpool are now without a win at Middlesbrough's Riverside Stadium for seven years, a venue where they have failed to score in six of their last seven visits after they were denied early on by Australian keeper Brad Jones.
Alonso's deflected own goal from Stewart Downing's corner broke Middlesbrough's near nine-hour Premier League goal drought, before Tuncay's angled drive secured the hosts' first league win for 15 games to lift them out of the bottom three.
Middlesbrough manager Gareth Southgate is backing United for the title, and he added, "United are winning so regularly that it'll be difficult for anybody to catch them. For all the top teams chasing United is a formidable task at the moment."
Liverpool have also played a game more to make their key trip to Old Trafford later this month assume must-win proportions as they bid to keep their slim hopes alive. Even that might not be enough to prevent their bitter rivals from bagging their latest Premier League crown.
Benitez knows Sir Alex Ferguson's leaders are strong favourites to retain their title and he said, "It depends on Manchester United. Will they slip up? Maybe, I don't know. The ball's in their court now."
"We will have to make sure we beat Sunderland in our next game now. Before this game winning the title was a difficult task, clearly now it's even more difficult," he said.
The Spaniard also would not use Liverpool's tough 1-0 midweek Champions League victory at Real Madrid as an excuse for a below-par display which saw his side badly run out of steam after the opening half hour.
"It was a frustrating game for us because we created around five chances in the opening half hour but you have to take those chances. If you want to win, you have to score. To stay at the top of the table you have to score, if you don't it leaves you in a bad position."
Liverpool are now without a win at Middlesbrough's Riverside Stadium for seven years, a venue where they have failed to score in six of their last seven visits after they were denied early on by Australian keeper Brad Jones.
Alonso's deflected own goal from Stewart Downing's corner broke Middlesbrough's near nine-hour Premier League goal drought, before Tuncay's angled drive secured the hosts' first league win for 15 games to lift them out of the bottom three.
Middlesbrough manager Gareth Southgate is backing United for the title, and he added, "United are winning so regularly that it'll be difficult for anybody to catch them. For all the top teams chasing United is a formidable task at the moment."