Match Reports
Derby 0-1 Liverpool An early Michael Owen goal and a late Jerzy Dudek penalty save from Fabrizio Ravenelli's spot kick earned Liverpool their 5th away win in the league this season to extend their lead at the top. It took just five and a half minutes for Owen to put his side into the lead. A long range effort by Berger was stopped by derby keeper Mart Poom, but he spilled the ball and Owen raced in to collect the ball, taking a touch around the keeper and finishing from the narrowest of angles. Berger could have doubled the lead shortly after with a ferocious volley as the ball dropped from a corner, but his shot was charged down just a couple of yards from the goal line. After being much the better side in the first half though, Liverpool were put under an enormous amount of pressure in the second half and Derby would probably consider themselves to be unlucky not to have gained at least a draw. Derby's first real chance was a shot by Carbone, which hit his owen teammate, Ravenelli, before bouncing out of the area. There were a couple of Liverpool players on the line however, so even if the ball had managed to beat Jerzy Dudek, it would not have been likely to find the net. The home side came a lot closer just a few minutes later when Powell found himself with space to shoot just 10 yards out. Powell looked as though he was trying to place the ball just inside the post, but Dudek pulled off a fantastic one handed save after appearing to have been wrong footed. The Polish keeper then dived bravely at the feet of Malcolm Christie to prevent a second chance. But with just a couple of minutes to go, Derby looked like they were finally going to get a reward for all of their troubles. A corner was headed back by Ravenelli and the ball bounced off the arm of Heskey. Ravenelli himself opted to take the spot kick, but Dudek went the right way and made a terrific save, also following up the rebound. It proved to be a match winning save, and one which moves them further ahead of their Premiership rivals. In other results affecting the top of the league, Arsenal won at Ipswich to stay 3 points behind Liverpool, Aston Villa were beaten, while Newcastle also lost points with a draw at Charlton. The big result of the day was Man United's 3-0 home defeat by Chelsea, who are now 4th, but United have now fallen 8 points behind Liverpool, and have also played one more game. Leeds are away to Fulham tomorrow, currently sitting 5 points behind the Reds on equal games. View match pictures from this game!
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