Weekend In Review Writes Liverpool's Obituary: 3/2

Everton 2-0 West Bromwich Albion

Yawn.

Middlesbrough 2-0 Liverpool

On February 28th, at 11:45 AM, Liverpool FC's chances of winning the Premier League for the first time in 19 years passed away. Liverpool leaves behind its fans, and Rafa Benitez, though the Spaniard is not expected to outlive them by more than a few weeks. In lieu of flowers, send beer. Or hard alcohol.

Arsenal 0-0 Fulham

I can't even bring myself to revel in Arsenal's continued epic failure. Well, maybe a little...

Chelsea 2-1 Wigan

Super Frankie Lampard gives the Blues a win in extra time, and Chelsea takes over the "Can Team X catch Man U??" title.

Hull City 1-2 Blackburn

Are any of this year's promotees going to stay up?

West Ham United 1-0 Manchester City

The Hammers are moving up the table quietly, and with the Carling Cup results they may have a shot at playing in Europe next season.

Bolton 1-0 Newcastle

An awful year for Newcastle continues, especially with Man U coming to visit mid-week.

Aston Villa 2-2 Stoke City

A shocking final five minutes steals two points from the Villans.

CARLING CUP FINAL:
Manchester United 0-0 Tottenham
Manchester United wins on penalties, 4-1

After 120 scoreless minutes, Jamie O'Hara and David Bentley fail to convert on their penalty attempts, and Man U's quest for five trophies is now officially up to two, assuming you count their Club World Cup victory. With the loss, Spurs' torrid love affair with UEFA Cup appears to be over, at least for a year.

Promotion Watch:

Automatic-
Wolverhampton 64 Pts. +20
Birmingham City 61 Pts. +10

Playoff-
Reading 59 Pts. +29
Preston North End 56 Pts. +4
Sheffield United 55 Pts. +15
Bristol City 54 Pts. +7

Other Contenders-
Cardiff City 53 Pts. +14
Swansea City 52 Pts. +13
Burnley 52 Pts. -1
Ipswich Town 50 Pts. +10

Elsewhere:

In Spain, Real Madrid won on Saturday, and Barcelona lost leads of 2-0 and 3-2 on the way to a 4-3 defeat by Atletico Madrid on Sunday, closing the points gap at the top of their table to four. Barcelona's near-certain Spanish league championship is falling apart fast.

In Italy, Roma and Inter drew on Sunday, and AC Milan lost, while Juventus won on Saturday, which makes the Inter league lead 7 points.

Top Of The Table:

Man U 62 Pts. +35
Chelsea 55 Pts. +31
Liverpool 55 Pts. +23
Aston Villa 52 Pts. +15
Arsenal 46 Pts. +13
Everton 44 Pts. +8

Man U now gets another "game in hand" in the league, and Liverpool's loss gives them a seven point lead outright. It's barely even a race at this point. Everton joins the list as they move into the second UEFA Cup spot for next year.

Relegation Musical Chairs:

Manchester City 32 Pts. +7
Sunderland 31 Pts. -6
Hull City 29 Pts. -17
Tottenham 28 Pts. -4
Newcastle 28 Pts. -10
Portsmouth 28 Pts. -14
Blackburn 26 Pts. -13
Middlesbrough 26 Pts. -16
Stoke City 26 Pts. -19
West Bromwich Albion 22 Pts. -27

Man City and Sunderland rejoin the race to stay up after Man City lost and Sunderland sat idle. Blackburn's victory leaves them safe for the moment, at the expense of Stoke City.

Goal Of The Week:
Celtic drops 7 on St. Mirren



Mid-week Action:

The Premier League has some midweek matches ahead of the FA Cup next weekend, and Coppa Italia and Copa Del Rey return briefly for their semifinals.

Important Advice From Max Weinberg:



Weekend In Review posts Mondays at 8:15.