LIVERPOOL, England -- Liverpool fuelled the growing belief that the
English championship is on its way back to Anfield after 24 years by
thrashing Tottenham 4-0 on Sunday, lifting the team to the top of the
Premier League above Chelsea.
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On a successful day for the Merseyside clubs, Everton won 3-1 at
last-place Fulham to close to within four points of fourth-place Arsenal
ahead of their meeting at Goodison Park next weekend.
Liverpool -- the leagues top scorers -- produced another masterful
attacking display against a porous Spurs defence, with Younes Kabouls
second-minute own-goal added to by strikes from Luis Suarez, Philippe
Coutinho and Jordan Henderson to seal an eighth straight win for the
Reds.
They made the most of Chelseas 1-0 loss at Crystal Palace on Saturday
and are two points clear of Jose Mourinhos side with six games left.
Manchester City, which drew 1-1 at fourth-place Arsenal, is two points
further back in third and crucially has two games in hand.
The destiny of the Premier League is in Liverpools hands, though, and
the momentum is with them. "Youll Never Walk Alone" -- the clubs anthem
-- is being sung with renewed gusto before every game while scarves and
flags are out in force in the stands, recalling the period in the
late-1970s and early 1980s when Liverpool was the dominant team not just
in England but in Europe.
"Outstanding team performance and I thought the supporters were
brilliant -- thats as good as Ive heard at Anfield since Ive been
manager here," Liverpool manager Brendan Rodgers said. "Its been a tough
period over 20-odd years, and they can see something building here."
Chelsea and City must come to Anfield next month and they will not
relish the task one bit. Certainly Spurs didnt look up for the fight --
they conceded after 97 seconds and were all over the place in defence on
another dire performance against a leading club.
Kaboul, who endured a miserable match, turned a deflected cross into his
own net to set Liverpool on its way and substitute centre back Michael
Dawson inadvertently set Suarez clear in the 25th for the Uruguayan to
put away his 29th league goal of the season -- a Liverpool record in the
Premier League era, surpassing Robbie Fowler (from 1995-96).
"The game was pretty much finished after two mistakes early on. They
took a lot of belief from that and went from strength to strength," said
Spurs manager Tim Sherwood, whose team is sixth and now eight points
off fourth-place Arsenal in the race for the final Champions League
qualification spot.
The second half was just as one-sided, with Coutinho finishing off a
wonderful team goal in the 55th with a low drive from 25 metres before
Hendersons inswinging free kick missed everyone in the area and landed
in the bottom corner.
"For us, the mantra has always been to focus on the next game, we never
get too carried away," said Rodgers, again downplaying Liverpools title
hopes. "It is very difficult, theres lots of people dreaming about
Liverpool winning the title."
The way Everton is playing, there could yet be two Merseyside clubs in
the Champions League next season.
Roberto Martinezs side secured a fifth consecutive league win thanks to
an improved second-half performance at Craven Cottage, where it took the
lead in the 50th when Fulham goalkeeper David Stockdale turned a
deflected shot by Steven Naismith into his own net.
Ashjan Dejagah drew Fulham level in the 71st with a stunning 25-meter
drive that beat Tim Howard at his near post, but well-taken goals by
Kevin Mirallas and Naismith in the final 11 minutes saw Everton home.
Everton is now four points above Spurs and has a game in hand over them
and Arsenal, whose trip to Goodison Park next Sunday could have a
massive bearing in the race for fourth.
"Im not saying were going to get that because we admire Arsenal because
they get in the Champions League consistently," Martinez said. "They
have developed a real understanding (of) what to do in these games, so
that makes Sunday a phenomenal challenge.
"It will probably go down to the last game of the season."
Fulham stayed bottom and is five points adrift of safety.
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ATLANTA -- The Atlanta Hawks cancelled a scheduled meeting between their
CEO and city civil rights leaders Wednesday, prompting one of the
groups leaders to say his community was greatly offended.
The Rev. Markel Hutchins said the meeting with CEO Steve Koonin was
called off "at the last minute." He later said he received a call from
Hawks spokesman Garin Narain on Tuesday night asking the appointment be
postponed.
Hutchins said he needed to hear that request from Koonin, and because
Koonin didnt personally cancel the meeting, the group of 12 civil rights
leaders showed up as planned.
When they entered Philips Arena and were told there would be no meeting,
Hutchins and the other leaders said they were insulted.
"The entire civil rights community, locally and nationally, have been
offended, the likes of which we have not seen in this community in
decades," Hutchins said.
The group asked for the meeting to discuss what Hutchins said was the
Hawks "disrespect for people of colour." The request followed racially
charged comments by Hawks co-owner Bruce Levenson and general manager
Danny Ferry.
In a statement Wednesday, the Hawks asked for patience from the
community and said they want to reschedule the meeting.
"Koonin postponed todays meeting last night," the Hawks statement said.
"This conversation is a priority for us. We are committed to having this
meeting and will work with community leaders to reschedule as soon as
possible. We ask our community to work with us, be patient with us, and
help us heal."
The Hawks did not say why the meeting was cancelled.
Levenson said Sunday he will sell his majority share of the team. Koonin
said Tuesday Ferry has been punished but wont be fired.
Hutchins said when he arranged the meeting with Koonin on Monday night,
he made it clear the group wanted Ferry to lose his job.
"Perhaps one of the reasons why they cancelled the meeting is we made it
very clear we were going to demand in our conversations that
Danny Ferry be fired or resign," Hutchins said. "There is no way that a
man who uses the kind of language and holds the kind of sentiments that
hhe does should be the general manager of the basketball team in the
home of Dr.
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Martin Luther King Jr. and the cradle of the civil rights movement."
Others also have called for Ferry to be fired. Former NBA great Magic
Johnson said late Tuesday on his Twitter feed "Atlanta Hawks GM
Danny Ferry should step down after making racist statements about NBA
player Luol Deng."
Deng and Ferry are former Duke players under Mike Krzyzewski, who is
coaching the U.S. team at the World Cup. Krzyzewski said he couldnt
comment on the controversy involving his former players because he hasnt
followed the news.
Bulls coach Tom Thibodeau, serving as an assistant on the U.S. team,
defended Deng on Wednesday.
"Ive never been around a better person," Thibodeau said. "Hes not only a
great basketball player, hes an even better person. Ill stand by Luol
any day. Hes good. Hes done a lot of great things in the community. Hes a
great human being. Hes a very humble guy. He has a lot of integrity. I
cant say enough good things about him. ... It was a privilege for me to
be his coach."
Thibodeau said he "cant imagine" why Ferry made the statements.
Ferry made inflammatory comments about Deng in a conference call with
the Hawks ownership group in June when the team pursued Deng as a free
agent. Ferry described Deng as someone who "has a little African in
him."
Deng, who was born in what is now South Sudan, now plays for the Miami
Heat. He responded to Ferrys comment on Tuesday by saying, "Im proud to
say I actually have a lot of African in me, not just a little."
A letter from co-owner Michael Gearon Jr. to Levenson recommended that
Ferry resign or be fired. Gearon said Ferry made that description of
Deng to the teams ownership group.
Gearons June 12 letter to Levenson said Ferry went on to say, "Not in a
bad way, but hes like a guy who would have a nice store out front and
sell you counterfeit stuff out of the back."
Added Gearon: "Ferry completed the racial slur by describing the player
(and impliedly all persons of African descent) as a two-faced liar and
cheat."
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