LONDON, (Reuters) – Liverpool battled to a 3-1 victory at 10-man Hull City yesterday to keep the pressure on Manchester United at the top of the Premier League.
Two second-half goals by Dirk Kuyt following Xabi Alonso’s opener gave Liverpool the points against the relegation strugglers, who had Caleb Folan sent off in the 59th minute.
The win gave the Anfield club 74 points and top spot on goal difference from United, who were to play one of their two games in hand when they hosted Tottenham Hotspur later yesterday.
“It was a tough game but my team controlled the game on a bad pitch,” Liverpool manager Rafa Benitez told Sky Sports News. “Hull play direct and look for the second balls and it made it difficult to manage. If they (United) feel the pressure, so much the better, but we can only do our job.”
Chelsea stayed third on 71 points with a 1-0 victory at West Ham United. Fourth-placed Arsenal (62) entertain Middlesbrough today.
Bottom club West Bromwich Albion gave their fans a glimmer of hope when they overcame Sunderland 3-0, dragging the losers deeper into the mire, but Bolton Wanderers look safe after a 1-1 draw with Aston Villa.
Sixth-placed Everton lost 2-1 at home to Manchester City while Fulham moved up to seventh after beating Stoke City 1-0.
DROP ZONE
Hull drew 2-2 with Liverpool at Anfield in December but those heady days are long gone as they went into Saturday’s match with one win and four draws in the 16 league games since then, and the relegation zone looming.
With Liverpool having scored four goals in each of their last three games Hull worked hard to keep on terms but were undone in first-half stoppage time when Alonso hit a free kick into the wall before lashing in the rebound.
The home team suffered a further setback when Folan was sent off for kicking Martin Skrtel and it looked all over four minutes later as Kuyt headed the second goal.
Hull pulled one back with an excellent effort from Geovanni after 73 minutes.
Fernando Torres struck the bar with a flashing header but Liverpool endured some nervous moments before eventually settling it at the death with Kuyt’s second.
Chelsea’s title hopes effectively disappeared with their goalless midweek draw with Everton and, with a Champions League semi-final against Barcelona on Tuesday, there was a lack of urgency about their match at Upton Park.
The visitors went ahead 10 minutes into the second half when Frank Lampard crossed for Salomon Kalou, who controlled the ball well and poked it home for his first goal in 15 games.
Kalou offered West Ham a way back when he brought down Herita Ilunga in the box, only for Petr Cech to save Mark Noble’s 71st-minute penalty.
