Federico Macheda saved Manchester United for the second week running on Saturday when the 17-year-old Italian got the decider in a 2-1 win at Sunderland with his first touch seconds after coming on. Macheda, whose brilliant debut goal in stoppage time secured a 3-2 win over Aston Villa last weekend, made another enormous contribution to the Premier League title race in the 76th minute after Kenwyne Jones had cancelled out Paul Scholess opener.
Liverpool had earlier piled on the pressure with a 4-0 home win over Blackburn Rovers, helped by two goals for Fernando Torres, and Chelsea also led 4-0 at home to Bolton Wanderers after an hour but ended up hanging on for a 4-3 win. United, who have a game in hand on the chasing pack, remain top on 71 points with Liverpool second on 70. Chelsea are third on 67 with Arsenal fourth on 61 after they came from behind to win 4-1 at Wigan Athletic.
In yet another enthralling, extraordinary day in the Premier League, there was also drama aplenty at the other end of the table. Middlesbrough, with just one win in their previous 19 league games, beat fellow-strugglers Hull City 3-1 to breathe life into their fight against the drop, while bottom club West Bromwich Albion also briefly had a lifeline as they led at Portsmouth but ended with a 2-2 draw. United, who had lost to Liverpool and Fulham before their late recovery against Villa, were below their best again despite leading through Scholess early glancing header.
FRAGILE DEFENCE They were also fragile at the back in the 2-2 home draw with Porto in the Champions League on Tuesday. Sunderland sensed the uncertainty and got the equaliser their efforts deserved 10 minutes into the second when recalled striker Jones escaped his marker to squeeze the ball past Ben Foster at the second attempt. United hit back though as Macheda, on for Dimitar Berbatov, stuck out a foot to divert a Michael Carrick shot into the net for a remarkable winner.
Chelsea, fresh from their 3-1 Champions League win at Liverpool, were on fire again. They led with a goal by Michael Ballack, two for Didier Drogba and a Frank Lampard penalty that enabled Guus Hiddink to take off Drogba and Lampard for a rest. Long odds would have been available on Bolton coming back into the game but that is exactly what they did as Chelseas defence crumbled under the weight of an aerial bombardment, conceding three goals in eight minutes to Andy OBrien, Chris Basham and Matt Taylor.
The game ended with Chelsea clearing an effort off their line as they defended a series of corners while their disbelieving fans could barely believe what they were seeing. The Anfield game was preceded by a minutes silence for the 96 victims of the Hillsborough disaster, which took place 20 years ago next Wednesday, and Blackburns former Liverpool defender Stephen Warnock laid a wreath in front of The Kop.
The match itself was a stroll in the spring sunshine for Liverpool, who had been rocked by their midweek 3-1 Champions League defeat by Chelsea. They took the lead spectacularly after five minutes when Torres chested down a long ball before hooking in a fierce shot and the Spaniard headed the second after 33 minutes.
Liverpool boosted their goal difference with a 25-metre drive by Daniel Agger and a David Ngog header. "Its very positive, we needed to play well and score goals," Benitez told Sky Sports. "We didnt concede and Im pleased we scored four but it should have been even better as we missed chances in both halves."
ENGLISH PREMIER LEAGUE RESULTS Chelsea 4 (Ballack 40, Drogba 48, 63, Lampard 60-pen) Bolton 3 (OBrien 70, Basham 74, Taylor 78)
Liverpool 4 (Torres 5, 33, Agger 83, Ngog 90) Blackburn 0
Middlesbrough 3 (Sanli 3, Bates 29, King 90) Hull 1 (Manucho 9)
Portsmouth 2 (Kaboul 33, Kranjcar 65) West Brom 2 (Greening 48, Brunt 62)
Sunderland 1 (Jones 55) Man Utd 2 (Scholes 19, Macheda 76)
Tottenham 1 (Pavlyuchenko 65) West Ham 0
Wigan 1 (Mido 18) Arsenal 4 (Walcott 61, Silvestre 71, Arshavin 90, Song 90).
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