JANUARY 5
Kewell: I'm no diver
By James Carroll - hankly Gates
Harry Kewell has become the centre of attention in
the aftermath of Liverpool's 2-0 victory over Yeovil
Town at Huish Park yesterday, in the FA Cup third round
encounter.
Awkward centre back Hugo Rodrigues (he's the tallest man
in the league you know) has come forward to blast
Liverpool's Aussie front man, claiming that he dived in
order to win the Reds penalty that was duly converted by
Danny Murphy.
Rodrigues says that Liverpool pressured the referee into
giving decisions and that the players in Red were more
than keen to hit the deck.
"I spoke with Kewell at the time and told him I never
touched him," said the defender.
"I have seen my challenge on Kewell again on the TV and
it definitely wasn't a foul. Liverpool tried it at least
four times in the first half and they do it to put
pressure on the referee."
Rodrigues also claims that Kewell admitted to him that
he had dived and the Portuguese was clearly suffering
from memory loss as he failed to mention his challenges
on El-Hadji Diouf and Danny Murphy that should have
resulted in spot kicks in the first half.
Liverpool, and Kewell himself, have hit back at
Rodrigues' desperate appeal.
Kewell said today: "I've got nothing to be ashamed
about. If you look at the situation, he's touched me. If
a defender touches a striker in the box it's a penalty."
"I don't know what he has to complain about. He come up
to me during the game and asked me why I dived. I said
to him 'Did you touch me?' And he said yes."
"He got his foot stuck, his knee stopped my movement,
stopped me going towards goal and denied me a shot at
goal. At the end of the day that is a penalty in my
book."
"I wouldn't dive. It's not fair on the opposition. Some
strikers are known for doing that but I'd never consider
trying to con the referee."
"It's a free country and he can say what he wants but
I'm not going to lose any sleep over it. I know he
touched me."
"It was the referee's decision to award the penalty
and he was well placed to do so. I don't know why he's
making such a big fuss about it now."
JANUARY 5
Reds: Harry is no cheat
By Chris Bascombe - Liverpool Echo
Liverpool have hit back at claims Harry Kewell
admitted to diving to help the Reds to victory at
Yeovil.
Kewell earned his side the penalty which sealed a 2-0
win at Huish Park in the FA Cup third round. But
Yeovil's Portuguese defender Hugo Rodrigues says the
Aussie confessed he cheated to win the spot kick.
However, Liverpool's assistant manager Phil Thompson
today said Kewell was 'stunned' by the accusation.
"Harry is 100 per cent adamant he did not say he dived,"
said Thompson.
"I can't understand where this is coming from.
"It was a clear penalty. You can see on TV the
defender's knee catches Harry.
"Harry said after the game that their defender came up
to him after the incident and said 'What did you do that
for'?
"Harry said to him, 'If you touch me you know what's
going to happen.'
"If their lad is taking that to mean Harry is going to
dive that's up to him but he just meant that if you
touch a striker in the box it's going to be a penalty.
"If the lad has misconstrued that and wants to make more
of it I feel sorry for him. He's obviously got it
wrong."
Thompson added he thought the Reds deserved more credit
for the manner in which they overcame a tricky tie.
He said: "We have upset a lot of people by winning. Our
friends at the BBC were gutted. I wish people would give
us a break.
"We knew what to expect from Yeovil. At first they threw
everything but the combine harvester at us but after 25
minutes it was one way traffic."
JANUARY 4
Houllier pays
tribute to Yeovil
BBC Sport Online
Liverpool manager Gerard Houllier paid tribute to
Yeovil after seeing his Premiership side brush off the
threat of an FA Cup giant killing.
Houllier breathed a huge sigh of relief after seeing
late goals from Emile Heskey and Danny Murphy end
Yeovil's brave resistance.
"We have to acknowledge that Yeovil had a very good
game," said Houllier.
"Some were probably expecting an upset and Gary
Johnson's men fought very hard and made it very
difficult for us.
"But I think my boys were magnificent today - in
these games attitude and commitment are assets.
"It's important because, even though we are missing some
players, the spirit is so good in the team."
Johnson was equally proud of his players after they
had played to a level way above their Third Division
status.
Johnson said: "I feel disappointed but also proud - I'm
very proud of the players.
"A couple of enforced changes didn't help our pattern.
"We didn't create as many chances as I would have liked,
but I think we created as many as Liverpool."
Johnson was also diplomatic in his verdict of the
late penalty that sealed victory for Liverpool.
Harry Kewell appeared to dive under an innocuous
challenge from Hugo Rodriguez, but Johnson said: "It
means they respected us. Sometimes players go down and
sometimes they get the decision.
"We won't get involved in that - we tried to play
football, and I thought the boys did me proud."
JANUARY 4
Reds see off brave Yeovil
Sky Sports
Liverpool avoided a possible banana skin with a
comfortable 2-0 win over brave Division Three side
Yeovil Town in the third round of the FA Cup at Huish
Park.
Second half goals from Emile Heskey and a Danny Murphy
penalty were enough to ensure progression into the
fourth round of the Cup for Gerard Houllier's men but
only after surviving a real scare in the first half.
Yeovil showed no signs of nerves and attacked Liverpool
from the outset with some fine passing moves to put The
Reds on the backfoot.
The Division Three side created the first noteworthy
effort of the game on 17 minutes with Darren Way blazing
over the crossbar from just inside the box after a neat
flowing move down the right.
Liverpool created their first chance of the contest six
minutes later when El Hadji Diouf swung over a cross
from the left to Vladimir Smicer, but his header lacked
the power to beat Chris Weale.
Yeovil came closest to breaking the deadlock on 25
minutes when the ball broke to Gavin Williams on the
edge of the area and he fired in a stinging shot which
forced Jerzy Dudek to fling himself across goal to push
round the post.
Seconds later Yeovil threatened the visitors' goal again
with Way finding himself free at the far post, but
Liverpool were able to get players across to smother the
danger.
The visitors almost opened the scoring against the run
of play three minutes before the break when Smicer broke
free down the right and pulled the ball back invitingly
for Diouf, but the Senegal star could not get his shot
on target.
Liverpool came out in determined fashion in the second
half and substitute Heskey forced Weale into a good
block with a close-range shot after being played through
by Sami Hyypia.
The visitors were now in dominant mood and were
unlucky not to score after 63 minutes when Smicer fired
in a shot from the edge of the box which beat Weale, but
came back off the post much to the home side's relief.
Liverpool finally made the breakthrough their dominance
warranted on 70 minutes when Murphy and Harry Kewell
swapped passes before Murphy picked out Heskey in the
box and the striker kept his cool to fire past Weale.
The Premiership side put the game beyond doubt six
minutes later when Murphy converted from the spot after
Kewell was brought down by Hugo Rodrigues inside the
box.
Yeovil refused to give in and Terry Skiverton should
have done better on 79 minutes when he beat Stephane
Henchoz at the back post, but he could not get his
header on target.
Substitute Kirk Jackson also went close seven minutes
from time with a fine shot on the turn which forced
Dudek into an acrobatic stop.
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