Liverpool overcome Sunderland, referee to stay in the hunt (ESPN article)

by Dave Usher for ESPN

This title run-in might just be the death of me, you know. When John O'Shea's header flashed across the face of goal and wide as the game against Sunderland entered its final moments, there was a collective gasp from 40,000 Reds inside the stadium and my heart skipped several beats.

The last time I experienced that split-second feeling of complete panic followed by an immediate sense of overwhelming relief was when Eidur Gudjohnsen's shot fizzed across Jerzy Dudek's goal in the 2005 Champions League semifinal and somehow went wide. Even to this day when I see that Gudjohnsen effort, I'm half expecting it to nestle inside the post. I'm not sure how that stayed out, and I'm not sure how O'Shea failed to find the net either.

I'm just massively relieved that he did, as it keeps the dream alive a little longer. Who knows, it may even turn out to be a pivotal moment, like the Gudjohnsen miss or the Dudek miracle save from Andriy Shevchenko in extra time of the final in Istanbul. Only time will tell if O'Shea's miss ultimately means anything, but it was certainly the kind of moment that makes you think, "If it were all going to go wrong, that was the moment." There may well be several more such moments between now and that final weekend in May, as no doubt there are plenty of twists and turns still left in this race.

If only every game were as comfortable as a trip to Old Trafford, eh? At this stage of the season almost every fixture has the potential to go horribly wrong; even ones against relegation threatened sides in dreadful form. Sunderland arrived at Anfield with most of their fans expecting them to get hammered. Many Liverpool fans felt the same way. The contrasting recent fortunes of both sides pointed to a big home win, and it could so easily have turned out like that, too.

At 2-0, Liverpool were playing some wonderful football and a third goal at that point may have opened up the floodgates. It really was looking like a case of how many would Liverpool score, and a third goal would have completely killed off Gus Poyet's side.

It didn't arrive, though, and Sunderland began to get a foothold in the game and grew in confidence; once impressive substitute Ki Sung Yeung pulled a goal back, it was panic stations for the home crowd. Both Ki and fellow sub Adam Johnson breathed new life into the Mackems, and they looked a side transformed. The Reds were hanging on at the end, even resorting to keeping the ball in the corner to waste time. You don't see that too often, but the Black Cats certainly gave the title-chasing Merseysiders a huge scare.

Read the full article here