Those in charge of the Premier League are happy to take responsibility for everything except the failures

“There is no such thing as society. There are individual men and women, and there are families. And no government can do anything except through people, and people must look to themselves first.”

The misguided fools who hanker after Margaret Thatcher’s tough love might have their dreams come true if her political heirs find themselves in power later this year. In the meantime, there is always the Premier League, where those in charge are happy to take responsibility for everything that happens under their watch except the failures.

“Given the amount of central income that is generated by the Premier League, it would be down to absolutely rank bad management if a club itself was actually to go into administration,” said the league’s chief executive, Richard Scudamore, at the weekend, so distancing the organisation he heads from the financial problems that, to varying degrees, have been visited upon the majority of its member clubs.

Portsmouth? Not me, guv. Manchester United, Liverpool, Hull City, West Ham? Ditto. “I don’t think anyone wants the Premier League running football clubs, it’s very much for the owners to run the football clubs.”

There was a kernel of truth in Scudamore’s comment – he’s right, no one in their right mind would want the Premier League running their club – but there wasn’t much in the way of originality. The same arguments have been made elsewhere, albeit in more expansive form, with supporters of the status quo drawing parallels between the stewardship of Premier League clubs and the stewardship of any kind of business. So what if the money, power and success is concentrated in the hands of the few? That is what happened in the supermarket industry, and no one complains. So what if a football club goes bust? It happens all the time on the high street, the consequence of bad business practice and a failure to meet customer needs and expectations. Get over it.

Football is not unique, the argument goes. People just think it is, which is why they mistakenly conclude that the current problems at, say, Portsmouth are symptomatic of a widespread malaise within the game when, in reality, they are symptomatic of nothing more than the fact that those in charge at Portsmouth couldn’t run a sponsored silence at a Trappist monastery. There is no legislating for incompetence, just as there is no need to rescue those clubs who fall victim to it.

All of this might be true, but only if we are prepared to view football clubs with the bloodless pragmatism of an accountant rather than the emotional investment of a football supporter, which most of us do. Clearly, Scudamore and others of his ilk do not, which is why they have no problem in framing the financial difficulties at Fratton Park and elsewhere in strictly business terms. But what of those Portsmouth fans for whom the club represents a lifetime’s worth of memories; bad, good, individual and as part of wider circle of like-minded friends?

No doubt some will mock this notion, of a Premier League football club as part of the social and cultural fabric of a community of supporters, as quaint and old-fashioned. But it is certainly real and it certainly deserves to be met with something more sympathetic than a lecture on the infallibility of the free market or the unworthy suggestion by one respected commentator that, when all is said and done, “we love the madness” of football’s finances.

Maybe you do love the madness if you are Manchester City fan whose club has fallen into the hands of a spendthrift billionaire, or if you are a Premier League executive who was lucky enough to be around at a time when the expansion in global communications and increased competition for TV sports rights made your job a damn sight easier than it might otherwise have been.

But if you support Liverpool or Manchester United or Portsmouth or Hull City there is little to love about the financial madness that has seen your club’s future imperilled, and even less to love about a Premier League that did little when the madness was growing and even less now that its consequences are being felt.

Neville takes the blame but Tevez is equally guilty

Question: when is it possible to take Gary Neville’s side in an argument over football decorum? Answer: when the target of his ire is Carlos Tevez.

Fingergate, as we must contractually describe Tuesday night’s events at Eastlands which saw the Manchester United club captain flip the bird in the direction of his former team-mate, is now the subject of an FA investigation. Neville’s conduct is being “looked into”, apparently.

Perhaps the FA might also want to look into Tevez’s equally churlish conduct after scoring which, if it did not breach any of the game’s regulations, certainly offended the sensibilities of those who think that a deep and ensuring sense of victimhood is ridiculous from a footballer who is being paid £7m a year to do his job.

McLaren was an inspiration to Scotland’s working class

The tributes to Bill McLaren, the long‑time BBC rugby commentator who died this week, have been fully deserved. He had a wonderful voice, unquenchable enthusiasm and a vocabulary that was irresistible to the ear, even if it was occasionally obscure. Argy‑bargy indeed. But perhaps the greatest of McLaren’s attributes was that without even trying he was able to give the lie to the misguided idea that rugby was somehow a sport for middle-class “toffs”. It wasn’t in his home town of Hawick, and it wasn’t when he was at work. Even on the working-class estates of Scotland in the 1970s and 80s, when football was still king, an afternoon spent listening to a Bill McLaren commentary on television was invariably followed by an impromptu game of rugby, accompanied by our best Bill McLaren impersonations. Argy‑bargy indeed.

Murray should hurry in chase for grand slam win

Is it too early to say that Andy Murray’s time has come? Of course it is. Far better to say that Murray’s time better come soon, or it may never come at all.

It is only natural to feel optimistic about the Scotsman’s chances of winning his first grand slam title a week come Sunday after his first two appearances on the Melbourne courts, both of which ended in comfortable victory. But we have been here before only for hopes to be quashed either through an inexplicably lacklustre performance by Murray (see last year’s US Open loss to Marin Cilic) or a great effort by his opponent (see last year’s Wimbledon semi-final defeat at the hands of Andy Roddick).

Such is the ebb and flow of any top-class athlete’s life, but recognition of that fact does not diminish the sense that with Roger Federer still around, Rafael Nadal edging back towards the form that once made him irresistible and Juan Martín Del Potro developing a competitive will to match his obvious talent (witness his epic second-round victory over James Blake), Murray’s chances of winning a grand slam event will be limited. When one does present itself, he had better take advantage before it is too late.

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Arsenal’s ascent to the Premier League’s summit is complete, though even they may struggle to comprehend quite how this furious occasion yielded the ­leadership of the division. A breathless and hugely controversial recovery from a two-goal deficit tonight was completed when Andrey Arshavin thrashed in the hosts’ fourth goal five minutes from time and ensured that Chelsea had been eclipsed, for now, on goals scored. Comebacks such as these can only pep belief in these parts that the title can, indeed, be theirs again.

This was a blistering collision with ­Bolton, who were worthy of the comfortable lead that had stood until just before the interval, then incensed over the manner of the home side’s equaliser just as they had dared to dream of a first away win against the Gunners since 1962. William Gallas’s clumsy challenge on Mark Davies was ignored, Cesc Fábregas scoring as play progressed with the midfielder in agony on the turf and Bolton livid. By the end the visitors had been utterly washed away. As, too, had all memory of Chelsea’s lead over Wenger’s side standing at a daunting 11 points.

The second-half riposte served as a microcosm of Arsenal’s season to date: an apparently hopeless deficit recovered in slick and unstoppable fashion. This contest had been lurching away from them as half-time approached, their soft underbelly pierced twice in the opening half-hour, only for Wenger’s charges to summon their best from nowhere. Tomas ­Rosicky’s thundered effort – the Czech a blur of quick feet as he found space away from Zat Knight and belted the ball in at Jussi Jasskelainen’s near-post – sparked the recovery. The controversy surrounding Fábregas’s equaliser aside, Arsenal were untouchable thereafter.

“I thought we could come back but you always know that the next mistake can be deadly and can turn the game back the other way,” said Wenger, whose frustrations after seeing Kevin Davies inadvertently head against his own bar were eventually eased. “We had to play at a high tempo and not make another mistake at the back but pulling it back to 2-1 created belief in our minds and doubt in theirs.”

Jaaskelainen had been at fault for the first Arsenal goal and it always felt like an error that might hand the hosts a route back into the match. The second half rally confirmed as much.

Fabregas’s scurry and bundle through two weak, flustered challenges to finish through Jaaskelainen’s legs, as Mark Davies lay inside the Bolton half, brought the sides level. Wenger said his players could not have been expected to stop play, given they had their back to their injured opponent, yet Gallas had been involved in the move that led to the goal after his challenge on the Bolton midfielder. The jeers, and even some taunting cheers, that accompanied Davies as he left the pitch on a stretcher later forced an uncomfortable acknowledgement of regret from Wenger.

His opposite number, Owen Coyle, was livid on the bench and subsequently went as far as to claim the challenge was ­tantamount to “assault”.

The game went with Bolton’s ­emotions. Thomas Vermaelen thrashed in a third off a post from Abou Diaby’s knock-down while the visitors still smouldered at the injustice and while nerves briefly flared again in the hosts’ rearguard – this team is permanently ruffled by Kevin Davies – Arshavin’s wonderful late ­finish ensured the Londoners of top spot. Chelsea have a game in hand, but Arsenal’s challenge may now hinge upon a quartet of mouthwatering fixtures to come: Sunday’s trip to Stoke in the FA Cup is followed by meetings with Aston Villa, next midweek, and then with Manchester United, Chelsea and Liverpool.

They will need to be tighter than this to flourish in those contests. The toils of the opening half-hour may seem distant now, but they had exposed a weakness. Everton had done the same in a recent 2-2 draw. Bolton had arrived ensconced in the bottom three and without an away win since September, and damaged by Sunday’s home defeat to the same opponents, yet they still unnerved their hosts. Mark Davies’s hopeful punt into the box prompted the initial panic, Diaby and, even more horribly, the returning Gaël Clichy failing to muster distance with their clearances. Kevin Davies reached the skied slice first and nodded down for Gary Cahill to score from the edge of the six-yard box.

Clichy could point to rustiness, with this being his first start since Halloween. Denilson, restricted recently by a side problem, was just as slack in lunging into Lee Chung-yong as the half-hour approached, with Matt Taylor’s penalty precise and past Manuel Almunia’s attempt to save.

For a while it had appeared as if another opportunity to scale the division was to be passed up, with Arsenal’s feverish attempts to find a reply running aground on Wanderers’ five-man midfield. In the end, though, they found a way. This team do not know when they are beaten; the other contenders should beware.

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A run of six wins in eight games has put Arsenal top in January for the first time in two years, almost despite themselves

The neutral will feel that a winter run by Arsenal was what this title race needed. Too much of the attention has been on Liverpool’s decline, Manchester United’s debt and Manchester City’s wealth. The campaign needed a pure footballing story: a revival for the claim that Arsenal would get there in the end, even if Arsène Wenger went geriatric trying.

Two-nil down, then 4-2 winners. Top in January for the first time in two years. Here in the house of eternal promise they saw the future pay an early visit as ­Chelsea were knocked off their plinth on goals scored. These Arsenal ­graduates sense the opportunity to exploit ­instability and ­vulnerability elsewhere in the league. They have no excuse to deviate from the simple task of trying to play the best ­football in England. In this year more than any, sustained brilliance will carry a team past the faltering and the insecure. The prize for Wenger’s men is a first English championship since 2004.

Here in north London they found that seizing a chance is sometimes harder than not having one at all. Arsenal’s unlikely return to the No1 spot would, Wenger said, have “psychological meaning” for the other contenders. But the thought of it had a mental impact on his own players too as the dark horses succumbed to dark thoughts.

The concession of two first-half goals to a Bolton Wanderers side they had beaten comfortably four days earlier on northern turf showed that the dynamic has changed in Highbury and Islington. To be “written off” had its advantages. It removed the burden of expectation that was apparent when Arsenal made such a fretful start to this game and allowed Owen Coyle to put early gloss on his managerial move from Burnley to Bolton.

But led by their redoubtable captain, Cesc Fábregas, who was about 18 years old at birth, Arsenal surged back into the ­reckoning with a curling first-half strike from Tomas Rosicky and then a ­Fábregas equaliser after the home side had showed they are not all poetry and pretty ­patterns. The stamp by William Gallas on the standing ankle of Mark Davies escaped the attention of the referee, Alan Wiley, but put the Bolton midfielder on a stretcher. Gallas can expect to see endless replays of this unsavoury challenge and Wiley should be asked to explain why he waved play on for Fábregas to score.

The main animating force of Arsenal’s play was the desire not to let a chance go floating by. Wenger would not have wanted to spend the rest of the evening explaining that the class of 2010 were just too callow to beat a relegation-threatened opponent twice in four days. His half-time team talk would have been of the non-professorial variety. Sure enough, Arsenal took the lead through Thomas Vermaelen and then grabbed the fourth goal they needed to depose Chelsea courtesy of Andrey Arshavin.

After their 3-0 thumping at home to Carlo Ancelotti’s team at the end of November, Arsenal had demanded time and space to continue on the long path to maturity. The Champions League seemed their only major target as another title challenge fell down the well of youth and inexperience. But like the two ­under-worked thespians in Withnail and I who went on holiday “by mistake”, the Gunners have surged past Chelsea and United without really planning it, with a run of seven wins in nine games.

Wenger’s array of ball-sprayers were last No1 back in August after a 6-1 win at ­Everton and a 4-1 demolition of Portsmouth. To lead the title race before 1 September hardly registers, though, and after defeats by the two Manchester clubs they dropped to ninth. So resounding was Chelsea’s conquest in this stadium that another set of domestic hopes were packed away as Wenger began a new round of lectures on patience and faith.

“Everyone wrote us off, but we are back in it,” he said. That sent tremors through his squad. But not for long. Fábregas, the team’s top scorer with 14, has added ­composure in front of goal to his formidable repertoire. Arshavin is forever primed to inflict hurt and the absence of Robin van Persie has been concealed by mass artistry in midfield.

Just when Wenger had persuaded us that the league title is not a life-defining obsession (or that any time would do), tomorrow showed up with snow on its boots. Only 16 games left for their nerve to hold.

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• Pompey yet to rearrange payment for 2007 move
• Grant’s transfer plans held back by financial uncertainty

The Premier League is refusing to lift Portsmouth’s player registration embargo until it is provided with legal documents confirming the club’s claim that payments for Sulley Muntari’s move from Udinese in 2007 have been rescheduled. The deal is the only one of Portsmouth’s outstanding transfer payments that has not been paid or rearranged, after the Premier League paid around £5m directly to the club’s football creditors last week.

Ali al-Faraj, Portsmouth’s owner, is fighting a winding-up petition that was served by Her Majesty’s Revenue and ­Customs before Christmas. The Saudi-based businessman may have to find around £10m by early next month.

A high court writ has also been served by Sol Campbell, a former club captain, for around £1.5m that he claims is owed to him in image rights and bonus payments. Portsmouth confirmed the receipt of the writ today and a club spokesman said: “The matter is being dealt with by our ­lawyers.” .

Last weekend, Portsmouth threatened to take the Premier League to arbitration if the embargo was not lifted, but no further public comment has been made. The delay caused by the demand for proof regarding the Muntari payments means the chances of Avram Grant, the Portsmouth manager, having time to strengthen his team this month are becoming ever slimmer, with only 10 days remaining in the transfer ­window before it closes on 1 February.

Grant has seen the Tottenham ­Hotspur midfielder Jamie O’Hara return to White Hart Lane ­following the end of his loan deal and the manager has no immediate opportunity to renew the loan agreement with Harry Redknapp. The League refused to countenance even allowing Portsmouth to sign players on loan or free transfers.

While the Israeli has identified ­several targets, a further stumbling block he has encountered when sounding out players is the club’s poor record ­regarding paying players’ wages this ­season.

On three occasions the Fratton Park club have failed to pay salaries on time and with this month’s due date approaching, at the end of next week, the problem could well be repeated, further damaging Grant’s ­prospects of recruiting much-needed new ­talent.

It is thought that at least one ­German international is of interest to the club, but even should the Premier League embargo be lifted he will need convincing after expressing doubt about the instability at the south-coast club.

Portsmouth have offered no official comment in response to Campbell’s writ and are considering whether to lodge an appeal against Tuesday’s ruling from the high court which threw out their ­challenge against HMRC’s winding-up petition. They have until early next week to do so.

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• Filipino says rival had been trying to avoid fighting in March
• Says much-anticipated bout could be staged in the summer

Manny Pacquiao, who will fight Joshua Clottey on 13 March, said today that Floyd Mayweather Jr had been looking for a way out of fighting him and that “maybe Mayweather is scared to lose.”

The biggest fight in boxing fell apart because of the drug testing protocol, with Pacquiao refusing to have blood drawn more than 24 days before the fight. Mayweather wanted testing done two weeks before the fight.

Pacquiao will defend his version of the welterweight title against Clottey at the new Cowboys Stadium in Dallas, where promoters are hoping to attract 40,000 fans. The fight will be televised on pay-per-view.

Pacquiao says he will eventually fight Mayweather Jr.

“I believe the fight will happen some other time,” he said. ” I’m still hoping the fight will be pushed through, maybe by summer time. It would be a good fight if it happened.”

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United remain a capable team but no one needs to tell Sir Alex Ferguson that his veterans look vulnerable

Manchester United still have admirers in high places. Roberto Mancini, once the successful manager of Internazionale, showed them every respect on Tuesday night. His policy, for the most part, was one of mere containment, yet it worked well enough to leave his Manchester City side with a 2-1 lead to take into the second leg of the Carling Cup semi-final.

Innumerable teams have felt compelled merely to try to get in United’s way. Over the years, they have usually been trampled by Sir Alex Ferguson’s players. The visitors did run all over City once again but the only real harm was to the dignity of Mancini’s players. United may have scored, but the opposition’s goalkeeper, Shay Given, was asked simply to be his usual impressive self and had no need to be superhuman.

United need nobody to tell them about the fallibility stealing over their squad. They have now endured seven defeats in all competitions and there are a lot of stiff challenges still. This campaign is, all the same, an odd one since the team is definitely not in desperate straits.

It would be no shock if they recovered to eliminate City in the second leg. For that matter, they have a close-up view of the pinnacle of the Premier League, since they are only a point behind the new ­leaders, Arsenal.

The Champions League did not cause them all that much distress either, even if Besiktas beat them at Old Trafford. The gap between English and Italian football is probably narrowing, but United will expect to wriggle past Milan in the last 16 tie next month.

United must primarily be concerned about the medium and long-term prospects. Nobody has to tell Ferguson that key men are getting old. On Tuesday, Gary Neville had to confine his provocative ­gesturing to the sidelines, since he was an unused substitute. Paul Scholes, 35, was not introduced until the 88th minute and Ryan Giggs, 36, looked ­ageless in the autumn and may have other sprightly spells to come, but his impact was limited at Eastlands even if he was in ­position to knock home the opener. Edwin van der Sar, 39, had nothing to apologise for, but the veteran understandably does not dominate the goalmouth.

Ferguson may well have had it in mind to engineer a transition, but Ben Foster was undone when he had to justify his sound reputation by standing between the posts for United week after week. The manager is having some trouble in accomplishing what he has achieved memorably in the past, the reconstruction of the squad.

Some additions such as Anderson have still to convince and he was at fault when Carlos Tevez, with his second goal of the night, scored the winner against United. Apart from that, renewing the squad is a thorny topic in this financial climate.

United followers, understandably, rage against the Glazers and the various means they can deploy to extract money from the club. Unless the takeover had been conducted by a bidder of immeasurable means, as Sheikh Mansour sometimes seems to be at City, the owner of United was bound to a target of understandable rage.

The Glazers are not endearing, but ­having completed the takeover for £800m in 2005 at the delirious heights of the ­Premier League’s fashionability, they will not be stopped now from striving to make sense of that benefit. A splurge on signings would only make sense if it was calculated that the disaffection of fans was liable to be even more costly. It would take a great deal more distress before Ferguson turned into some rogue manager who gave a coded endorsement to would-be ­insurrectionists. The very idea is inconceivable. Ferguson’s emphasis will be on winning and it is not at all outlandish to visualise the Premier League trophy remaining in his grasp.

There was a piquancy about Tevez’s goals, but few people had quibbled when United did not exercise the £25m option of retaining the Argentinian in 2008. He had almost seemed to try too hard, omitting in the process to show his flair. The manager would not have guessed then that he would have to take a chance on a Michael Owen who had . a limited impact at Newcastle UnitedFerguson will explain that he has merely refused to pay outlandish prices of late, but he is left with a squad that, while capable, is in gradual decline. United badly need to see Rio Ferdinand returning to the line-up, but at the centre-half’s age a back condition will probably have to be managed anxiously rather than cured. Amid the various difficulties in the squad, Wayne Rooney had the industry on Tuesday of a man determined to make do for every deficiency.

That level of technique and desire is precious. Should Rooney be injured, jaded or disillusioned, United’s niggling problems could turn into agonies of despair.

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The final score suggest that Aston Villa cavorted to a Carling Cup final against Manchester City or Manchester United, but this had been far stranger match than that. The goal they had scored at Ewood Park was soon looking irrelevant when he visitors rapidly struck twice here. Martin O’Neill’s side were aided greatly by the red card for Christopher Samba when he conceded the penalty from which drew level in this game before half-time.

There can only be the utmost regard for Sam Allardyce’s indefatigable side. Against all reason, they were playing with gusto even when 5-1 down at Villa Park. Brett Emerton, for instance, scored for them with a low shot in the 84th minute. The losers were not convinced fully of the hopelessness of the situation until Ashley Young curled in a sixth for Villa in stoppage time.

Despite the intrepid attitude of Blackburn, the promise of Villa is not to be overlooked. Much as the authorities will disapprove, the presence of many fans on the pitch at the end emphasised the excitement of the crowd here. This outcome could stimulate the bid for fourth place in the Premier League. There was an awkwardness to be dealt with last night.

An away win can be a troubling achievement. The 1-0 victory for Villa at Ewood Park robbed them of impetus here. While they pondered how to deal with a return match the visitors, who had no reason to be cautious, scored twice. Nikola Kalinic, who struck the post on two occasions in the first leg, was fractionally and crucially more accurate with a pair of first-half finishes. Villa may have been level by half-time, but it was natural that the recovery should not depend solely on the attackers. O’Neill has improved his defence and midfield radically but it is not so simple to afford a top-class forward or, for that matter, persuade such a figure to come to Birmingham when he pictures himself in Milan, Barcelona, Madrid or London.

With John Carew absent because of a knee injury the Villa strikers here were Emile Heskey and Gabriel Agbonlahor and the latter made an important if questionable contribution to his side’s first goal after half-an-hour. It seemed that he might have fouled Ryan Nelsen at the near post as Ashley Young’s cross flew deep for the left-back Stephen Warnock to shoot home.

Villa’s midfield made their mark, too when James Milner levelled this game with a penalty, having scored the only goal in the first leg when he started and finished a move. His opportunity to score here arose when Agbonlahor, who was deemed on-side, outpaced the defence before being brought down by Samba.

The centre-half was shown a red card by Martin Atkinson before Milner tied the score in the match 2-2 from the spot. That episode ought to have helped his side recover their poise fully after being so shaken initially.

Villa would be expected to withstand a corner, but when David Dunn delivered one in the 10th minute Nikola Kalinic connected cleanly and a deflection off Warnock helped the ball on its way to the net. Although the breakthrough came from a set-piece the identity of the man who had taken it was significant in a broader sense. Sam Allardyce saw the sense of employing the individualism of Dunn, who had been confined to the bench for the whole of the first leg. Blackburn had also been emboldened by the weekend victory over Fulham that took the club to 12th place in the Premier League.

They struck again in the 26th minute of this match. Olsson connected strongly with a cross which Brad Friedel saved excellently but Kalinic turned in the loose ball. Even so, Blackburn’s morale was collapsing by the interval here.

It was natural that the second half should take on the air of a rout, with Villa soon scoring on three occasions. An own goal was especially dispiriting for the visitors in the 52nd minute. A Stewart Downing free kick came off the Blackburn full-back Gaël Givet and the Vllla centre-half Richard Dunne before a touch from Steven Nzonzi sent the ball into his own net.

Agbonlahor scored next, bursting forward after the referee had played the advantage following a foul on Heskey. The scorer there was soon setting up Heskey to go around Robinson to finish.

Spirit was not lacking in the Blackburn ranks, with Olsson then claiming a goal stylishly with an overhead kick. It made no difference, of course. The visitors’ endeavour impressed but that dismissal of Samba had opened the way for Villa to illustrate how slick they can be.

The prospect of a trophy underlines the impact O’Neill has had at Villa Park.

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George Gillett may have a strange take on the definition of a blip, his considered analysis of a moribund season for Liverpool, but at least there is some respite for Rafael Benítez. His team could not afford to fail against Tottenham Hotspur if their prospects of a top-four finish were to retain more life than their Champions League, FA Cup and Carling Cup campaigns and a resolute display kept Harry Redknapp’s team in sight in that contest last night.

For all the rancour and recrimination Liverpool are now just a point behind Spurs after Dirk Kuyt’s early goal lifted the tension around Anfield and his late penalty after Sébastien Bassong had brought down David Ngog heralded a determined response from Benitez’s men. It is now Redknapp with cause for alarm in the race for Champions League qualification.

This was never likely to be a Liverpool XI to enrapture with its quality but the spirit shown since that abysmal FA Cup defeat by Reading a week ago suggests the threats to reputations and employment have galvanised Benítez’s team. A siege mentality has grown not only on widespread criticism but the loss to injury of Fernando Torres, Steven Gerrard, Yossi Benayoun, Glen Johnson and Daniel Agger – the combined source of 58% of Liverpool’s goals this season – and a change in tack from Benítez himself.

The Liverpool manager rarely strays into emotive, soundbite territory in press conferences, or at least not on the topic of his team’s prospects, so his admission that Tottenham represented “make or break” for the season demonstrated the seriousness of his side’s plight. A reaction from a demoralised squad was more pressing than the Spaniard’s usual diplomacy, and from every player on display, whether accustomed to the pressure like Jamie Carragher, or desperate to fill the injury void and answer their many detractors, such as Philipp Degen and Sotirios Kyrgiakos, he received one.

Carragher called the Liverpool team into a huddle before kick-off and led by zealous example throughout, manically so at times. Tottenham were made to look subdued by contrast and resembled another of those European scalps stunned by Anfield’s hostility until finally beginning to pass their way dangerously around the Liverpool midfield late in the first half.

Liverpool pressed from the off with Carragher, captain in the absence of Gerrard, flying into both Wilson Palacios and Niko Kranjcar to concede a blatant free-kick that he protested against with a creditable impression of innocence. His next challenge was also illegal, although the visitors could not benefit as it was inflicted on Javier Mascherano, while a rampaging pursuit of a lost cause brought Anfield to its feet at the end of the first period when it resulted in a Liverpool corner. From Albert Riera’s delivery, Kuyt had a goalbound header hacked clear by Gareth Bale and Martin Skrtel sent the subsequent rebound wastefully high over Heurelho Gomes’ crossbar.

A goal at that point would have given Liverpool the rare luxury of a comfortable two-goal lead, after Kuyt had taken only six minutes to atone for the miss that cost his side a precious victory at Stoke City on Saturday. The breakthrough came via route one with a polished touch. José Reina saved a low cross from Bale at the third attempt with Kranjcar closing in and, from his launched clearance, Kuyt chested the ball expertly into the path of Alberto Aquilani, who rolled possession back to the Dutchman. Kuyt seized his rare opportunity to lead the Liverpool line with a measured finish from 18 yards into Gomes’ right-hand corner.

Tottenham took more than 30 minutes to shake off their lethargy and match Liverpool’s endeavour, although their approach was unlikely to brook many complaints from the home side. A central defence of Kyrgiakos and Martin Skrtel offered an open invitation to the pace and movement of a Jermain Defoe or Luka Modric but, as they showed at the Britannia Stadium, that pairing was more than comfortable with an aerial assault. For the majority of the first half Redknapp’s team barely troubled the Liverpool defence, with too many hopeful long punts presenting Peter Crouch with a forlorn task against his former club.

It was the 45th minute before Spurs displayed the invention required to unsettle Liverpool, Jermaine Jenas and Wilson Palacios combining to release Modric who was unable to beat Reina with a low shot to the goalkeeper’s left. That opening shaped the visitors’ tactics after the interval and the improvement was marked, with Jenas testing Reina from 20 yards, although Liverpool engineered the better chances.

Riera, making his first start since the goal-less draw at Blackburn on 5 December, headed against Gomes’ bar from a Carragher cross and Degen should have doubled the advantage only to lose his nerve completely with just the Brazilian to beat. Kuyt was again at the heart of the Liverpool threat, seizing on a defensive error to burst clear and release Degen into acres of space on the right. As soon as Anfield realised it was the Swiss full-back with the game at his mercy the noise dropped. They clearly knew what was to come, as Degen declined to shoot and sought out a return to Kuyt instead, only to play the ball behind his aghast team-mate.

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Nigeria 3-0 Mozambique

Peter Odemwingie scored either side of half-time as Nigeria sealed a place in the quarter-finals of the Africa Cup of Nations with a 3-0 victory over Mozambique.

The Lokomotiv Moscow forward scored in the 45th and 48th minutes, before the substitute Obafemi Martins added a third with a late strike to hand the under-fire head coach Shaibu Amodu a welcome boost.

The Super Eagles manager, whose side lost to Egypt in the opening game before edging past Benin, needed a win to secure their place in the next round. They created the first chance after just three minutes when Odemwingie and Mikel John Obi exchanged quick passes, but there was no one in the penalty area to pounce on a square ball from the Chelsea midfielder.

Minutes later sloppy play between Campira and Dario Khan saw an attempted clearance by the latter fall straight into the path of Chinedu Obasi, whose 12-yard shot from the left was parried away by Joao Rafael Kapango in the Mozambique goal.

Despite dominating possession and displaying some slick passing, the Mambas failed to create many openings in the first 20 minutes with their best efforts coming from distance – Paito first failing to trouble Vincent Enyeama with a wayward strike, before Genito’s shot was straight at the Nigerian goalkeeper.

At the other end, Obasi missed with a header from two yards out when Danny Shittu nodded a free-kick into the path of the Hoffenheim striker.

Four minutes before half-time, Mozambique’s Miro came closest to breaking the deadlock with a low strike from just outside the area that came back off the right post.

And just as it seemed the two sides would be level at the break, Odemwingie caught out Kapango with a shot from just outside the penalty area seconds before the interval.

The advantage was doubled in the third minute after the restart when a sweeping break saw Obasi play Yakubu in on the left and his cross enabled Odemwingie to finish from close range.

Martins wrapped up the victory four minutes from the end when another error saw the Mozambican defence dispossessed once more and, when Mikel’s shot was saved, the former Newcastle United striker was on hand to apply the finishing touch.

Victor Obinna should have made it 4-0, but missed an easy one-on-one chance at the death as the Super Eagles eased into the next round alongside the Group C winners, Egypt.

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• One-month touchline ban suspended to end of year
• Saracens director of rugby apologies for remarks

Brendan Venter has issued a public apology to the referee David Rose and thereby escaped immediate punishment for criticising the official by implying he had been nobbled at half-time during Saracens’ home match with Leicester on 2 January.

Venter, the Saracens director of rugby, faced a Rugby Football Union disciplinary panel after being charged with conduct prejudicial to the interests of the game for saying that Rose had been influenced during the interval of the Premiership game, which Leicester won 22‑15. He was found guilty and given a one-month touchline ban suspended until the end of the year on condition he issued a public apology to Rose and paid £250 costs.

“I apologise unreservedly for issuing a statement that caused offence to David Rose,” said Venter. “I firmly believe that I did not question, or intend to question, David’s integrity and any criticism that has been implied was not meant. When I said that he had been influenced at half-time I did not intend to mean that he was improperly influenced.

“As I said in the interview, I have no doubt that all the referees operating in the Guinness Premiership are honest and operate without intentionally favouring one side over another. I look forward to welcoming David Rose back to Vicarage Road in the near future.”

The three-man panel, which was chaired by the RFU’s chief disciplinary officer, Jeff Blackett, expressed its concern at the Premiership system that allows coaches to have written communication with a referee at half-time through the fourth official. The reserve referee at Vicarage Road for the Leicester match, JP Doyle, told the hearing that he received communication cards from both coaching teams. He thought Leicester raised a point about “refereeing both sides” but could not remember the exact wording. He put the cards in his pocket but did not raise any of the points with Rose because the referee had either already identified them or, in the case of refereeing both sides, Doyle deemed it irrelevant.

“The [written card] system does allow coaches to influence the referee and there is potential for that influence to be improper,” Blackett wrote in the panel’s judgment. “We understand that this was established to diffuse [sic] any potential conflicts which might occur if there were direct contact. However, we believe that the system should either prevent any direct or indirect contact or, if there is to be written contact, be more formal and transparent. Ed Morrison [the RFU’s director of elite referees] has agreed to review this process.”

Venter’s suspended ban from match-day coaching will only be activated if he is found guilty of any other offence this year. The panel accepted that he did not intend to impugn the integrity of Rose, who said in evidence that he had found the remarks, which he read on Ceefax when he returned home after the game, extremely offensive and an attack on his integrity.

Blackett said the case showed the need for directors of rugby to be careful about what they say to the media after matches. “Robust debate is healthy and they must be free to express general concerns about the game, but when doing so they must not offend the RFU’s core values, which highlight the importance of teamwork and respect. Where specific concerns arise, which might include criticism of individuals, they should be dealt with in private through the recognised channels that have been agreed by the clubs.”

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