RED HOT LIVERPOOL!

It was an awesome display of football power before an overflowing capacity crowd at their home stadium in Anfield, as Liverpool scored an emphatic 2-1 victory over the reigning UEFA Champions League titlist and defending Premier League champs, Manchester United last Saturday.

The Reds actually had a slow start as Man-U dictated the early part of the game, punctuated by a 3rd minute goal from striker Carlos Tevez, from an amazing deep cross pass from newly-signed Berbatov. Liverpool equalized on a 27th minute own goal from Man-U midfielder Wes Brown. From thereon, it was an all-Liverpool show as they dominated most of the ball possession until the final whistle.

Liverpool Boss Rafa Benitez pulled off another trick from his hat as he sent in forward Ryan Babel late in the final half. The Dutch scored the winning goal in the 67th minute. Man-U tried in vain in the hope of at least salvaging a draw, by playing aggressive offense late in the game, but to no avail.

With the win, Liverpool now shares the over-all lead in the primiership with Chelsea, both with 10 points after 4 games apiece early in the season. Benitez is hoping that the form showed by Liverpool against Man-U can be brought up to their coming UEFA Champions League stint, which kicks off on September 17 (Manila time). They travel to France to face powerhouse Marseille in their opening game.

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Chelsea matched Liverpool's great performance last Saturday, as they foiled the debut of the 32-million pound man Robinho, 3-1, to share the lead in the Premier League with the Anfield outfit at 10 points apiece.

Robinho, the Brazilian whiz kid, signed by Man City from Real Madrid on a British record-breaking price, scored his first goal in the premiership with a brilliant 13th minute free-kick to give Man City a 1-0 lead. But the blues immediately went back to work as they scored 3 successive goals thereafter, courtesy of old reliables Ricardo Carvalho, Frank Lampard and Nicolas Anelka.

With the loss, Manchester City now remains at the 4th spot of the standings with 6 points after 4 games. But still, Man City fans are looking up for a breakout season following Robinho's signing.