Christmas likely to come early for Liverpool

By Vic Mills

LONDON (JP): Liverpool took a giant step in the English Premiership Saturday by thrashing Middlesbrough 5-1. With second to bottom Nottingham Forest set to visit Anfield this evening, and Arsenal without a game this week, the Merseyside club looks set to head the Premiership as clubs embark on the crowded Christmas program.

Beaten in its last home game against Sheffield Wednesday, Liverpool showed no mercy towards the beleaguered Teeside club, indeed, retribution came with the game just 29 seconds old as Robbie Fowler scored the first of his four goals.

With his team desperately short on confidence, the product of eleven games without a win, Middlesbrough manager Bryan Robson recalled Emerson for his first game in six weeks. The Brazilian, with lack of fitness clearly visible, was never able to adapt to the pace of the game.

Not so the irresistible Fowler who, buoyed by his early strike, went on to grab another three; the match haul taking him to 100 goals for Liverpool in just 165 appearances, one game fewer than Ian Rush took to reach three figures.

Record signing Stan Collymore, recalled in place of influenza victim Patrik Berger, produced his most impressive performance to date, reviving memories of his 55-goal partnership with Robbie Fowler last season.

Not all the headlines, however, belonged to Merseyside. A close-range goal from Dean Holdsworth five minutes from the time against Blackburn Rovers extended Wimbledon's remarkable unbeaten run to 19 league and cup games. It was not enough though to stop Liverpool moving second, ahead of Wimbledon on goal difference.

Beaten but unbowed, Blackburn Rovers announced Monday that Sampdoria coach Sven Goran Erikson had accepted the post of manager and would start next July. Caretaker-manager Tony Parkes is to remain in charge for the rest of the season.

With World Cup fixtures resulting in a protracted round of matches, the only other Saturday fixture saw Leeds United and Tottenham Hotspur share the spoils in a goalless draw at Elland Road. Despite hitting the woodwork with headers from Ruel Fox and David Howells, the visitors were unable to turn territorial advantage into goals.

Tottenham's failure to convert chances is doubly worrying for manager Gerry Francis coming on news late last week that record signing Chris Armstrong would be out for six weeks after his damaged ankle failed to respond to treatment.

There was no joy either for Chelsea over the weekend as it went down 3-0 to a rampant Sunderland side. The game was a huge morale booster for Peter Reid's side who had previously scored only 14 goals in 16 Premiership games.

To add insult to injury, Everton climbed above Chelsea into seventh place Monday evening, courtesy of a Nick Barmby goal four minutes from time at Derby County.

With no domestic football played in Spain, Holland, Germany or Portugal over the weekend due to World Cup commitments, Italy's Serie A took center stage.

Following a 4-1 mid-week victory at Udinese, reigning champion Juventus overcame a two-goal deficit at home to Verona Sunday to win 3-2. With Inter Milan losing a seven-goal thriller against Sampdoria and second-placed Vicenza drawing at home to Palma, Juventus now stands five points clear at top.

Two goals from Alessandro Del Piero for the second consecutive game rescued Juventus after they were rocked by a double strike from Verona's Filippo Maniero.

Sergio Porrini pulled one back before half-time before Del Piero conjured up a win with a curling 20-meter shot inside the right hand post.

There was yet more drama at the San Siro as Internazionale lost for only the second time this season. The Milanese side not only let slip a 3-1 lead, Giovanni Montella scoring a hat-trick for the visitors, but compounded the misery by conceding an 89th- minute goal to Roberto Mancini, a player the club had tried to sign earlier in the season.

AC Milan eased into third place with a 3-0 win over bottom club Reggiana. Three goals from midfield for Demetrio Albertini told the story, although it was matters off the pitch that grabbed the headlines.

Baggio

A disagreement between Roberto Baggio and new manager Arrigo Sacchi could see the 29-year-old star on his way out of Italian football. Manchester United and Bayern Munich have been linked with Baggio who is reported to be thinking over his future.

An Antonio Benarrivo goal for Palma at Vicenza was enough to thwart the home side's ambition of closing the gap on Juventus. Vicenza had opened the scoring in the 50th minute through Giampietro Maini.

Elsewhere in Serie A, Bologna drew 2-2 at Cagliari to maintain its challenge for honors; AS Roma moved ahead of Napoli as the two clashed at the Olympic Stadium with a late winner from Brazilian Aldair; and Atalanta's Filippo Inzaghi became Serie A's leading scorer with 10 after notching two in the 4-0 win over Piacenza.

A late winner by Brazilian striker Anderson for Monaco in the Cote d'Azur derby against Cannes gave the UEFA Cup quarterfinalists a two point cushion at the top of the French first division. Paris Saint-Germain remains second having been held 0-0 at Nantes.