Andy Carroll scored two goals as Liverpool kept their faint hopes of a top-four finish alive with an emphatic 3-0 win against Manchester City FC.
City started the evening 11 points ahead of their opponents in fourth, the final place for a Champions League qualifying berth, but Roberto Mancini’s men never looked like claiming a victory that would have moved them above Chelsea FC.
More worrying than the lose for City was the sight of Carlos Tevez walking off the pitch in the 16th minute grabbing his hamstring. Tevez is expected to out for at least two weeks, which means he will miss the FA Cup semi-final matchup with Manchester United this weekend, plus league games against Blackburn and West Ham.
This game was over inside the first 35 minutes as Liverpool ripped City to shreds. First Carroll scored his first goal for Liverpool with a great strike from 25 yards. Then City caved under Liverpool pressure and Dirk Kuyt made it 2-0 with a nice finish. A minute later is was three nil as Carroll beat Lescott to the ball to power a header past Joe Hart.
Man City’s loss really opens up the race for fourth in the Premier League. City have three more points than Spurs in 5th and have played a game more. The two teams also still have to play each other on May 10 at Eastlands. Could we have the repeat of last season where Spurs got a famous victory at Eastlands to grab that fourth place?
After the game @andersred tweeted that last season after 32 games Man City were 4th with 59 pts. This year they are 4th with 56 pts. Net spend over intervening period £126m.
As for Liverpool, they look like a different side under King Kenny. Carroll and Suarez play really well together and if they can add three or four players in the summer, Liverpool will be a top four contender next season.
