All four English teams in Europe has progressed to the last eight of the Champions League tournament. Manchester United beat Jose Mourinho’s Inter Milan 2 – 0 in the return leg at Old Trafford. Arsenal went through on Penalties after Roma finished the 90 minutes 1 – 0 up in Italy after Arsenal won their home leg 1 – 0 two weeks ago. Chelsea went through on aggregate 3- 2 carrying through their 1 – 0 home advantage and two away goals. And most importantly from my point of view, Liverpool went through with a 5 – 0 aggregate score. The Reds won 4 – 0 on the night at Anfield with Fernando enjoying a renaissance of form after coming back from injury. The Spaniard gave Liverpool the lead in the 16th minute tapping in Dirk Kuyt’s cross from close range. Steven Gerrard doubled the lead in the 28th minute from the penalty spot after Gabriel Heinze was adjudged to have handled in the area. Gerrard found himself on the scoresheet again unleashing another one of his trademark rockets from outside the penalty area two minutes after the half time interval. Andrea Dossena put the cherry on top of Liverpool’s performance scoring from the edge of the penalty to make it 4 – 0 on the night and 5 – 0 on aggregate. Liverpool made a very good team look very ordinary at Anfield reinforcing Liverpool’s credentials in Europe. Red’s manager Rafa Benitez recently went on the attack after criticism from fans about his credentials in Europe. Mr Benitez, we know your credentials in Europe, what we are pissed off about is the way you always put European glory ahead of domestic glory!
Plymouth Argyle didn’t have such good luck on Tuesday evening being beaten 1 – 0 away at the Liberty Stadium. The difference between the two teams was a spot kick scored by Jason Scotland to bring his Swans goal tally upto 50 and 21st of the season. The Argyle players felt that it was never a penalty but that’s academic really as the referee gave the spot kick and that’s all that counts. It’s disappointing to not get anything from the tie but that’s the way your luck goes sometimes. Let’s hope that this result doesn’t deflate the Argyle spirit. Argyle drop back to 18th and four points off the drop zone so the next few games will be vital for the clubs survival as a Championship team. Argyle have games against fellow strugglers Norwich and Blackpool in the next three games, it’s vital that we beat both these teams to ensure Championship survival.