49 days after winning the Champions League, Liverpool begin the defence of their title with a 3-0 win in the first leg of the First Qualifying Round against Welsh minnows Total Network Solutions.
All three goals came from Steven Gerrard with the first hat-trick of his professional career.
In another First Round Qualifier, two goals from Jason Byrne gave the Republic’s Shelbourne a valuable 2-1 victory at Northern rivals Glentoran in the all-Ireland derby at The Oval.49 days after winning the Champions League, Liverpool begin the defence of their title with a 3-0 win in the first leg of the First Qualifying Round against Welsh minnows Total Network Solutions. With supreme irony, all three goals came from Steven Gerrard. The first hat-trick of the England midfielder’s professional career came days after an astonishing U-turn on his future when he signed a new four-year contract and rejecting a reported £35 million pound move to Chelsea just days after claiming he wanted to leave Anfield. For the visitors, the proud TNS manager Ken McKenna commented ‘we were very close to a good result, but who knows about the second leg? Maybe we can do to Liverpool what they did to AC Milan’.
In another First Round Qualifier, two goals from Jason Byrne gave the Republic’s Shelbourne a valuable 2-1 victory at Northern rivals Glentoran in the all-Ireland derby at The Oval. With Shelbourne midway through their summer season and lying second in the Eircom League, it looked as though their fitness tell but Sean Ward maintained the home teams interest with his 77th minute goal. Thankfully, the match passed off without the violent scenes many feared in a game between teams from either side of the border during Northern Ireland’s marching season. The match took place a day after annual celebrations in which pro-Protestants mark historic victories over Catholics in parades that often spark violence.
Chelsea widen their rift with Arsenal by releasing a statement supporting Jose Mourinho’s criticism of Gunners vice-chairman David Dein. It followed statements released earlier in the day by the FA and the Premier League. The FA believe ‘some of those views expressed by Mourinho are unnecessary, unhelpful, bad for the image of the game and inaccurate’ while the Premier League feel the Blues manager’s comments ‘are not only unfounded, but also display a lack of understanding’.
On the field, Lyon midfielder Michael Essien says he still wants to join Chelsea although he decides to go on the club’s pre-season trip to South Korea. Lyon president Jean-Michel Aulas has held meetings with Chelsea chief executive Peter Kenyon but remains determined to keep the player. Aulas comments ‘they came back with an extraordinary offer but we are not crazy.’
