Football Corner

Arsenal and Liverpool have today both dropped points against Birmingham and Middlesbrough respectively.

Arsenal went into today's game two points ahead of Manchester United hoping to make that five before United's 5:20 kick-off against Newcastle but that hasn't happened.

The Gunners took the lead mid-way through the first half when Phil Dowd awarded them with a penalty after Eduardo was taken down in the box. Emmanuel Adebayor stepped up and slotted home well.

Birmingham were by no means out of it and they fought back to bring the sides level when Sebastian Larsson swung in a corner that Gary o'Connor got on the end of only for Cesc Fabregas to turn the ball into his own net.

Obviously not good news for the Gunners but they do stay top for now. What a fantastic result for Alex McLeish and his Birmingham side. They previously went to North London and beat Tottenham 3-2 and today was just as good a result.

Liverpool were hoping to regain fourth spot in the league with a victory over Gareth Southgate's Middlesbrough but they also slipped up.

They fell behind when Boro captain George Boateng get on the end of a Jermaine Alliadiere pass to send the Riverside crowd into raptures. Boro could of gone two in front mid-way through the second half when Stewart Downing struck a magnificent shot off the post.

Liverpool got back in the game soon after when, who else but, Fernando Torres struck a peach of a shot from all of twenty five yards out to make sure they didn't go home with nothing. Liverpool could of, in truth took the whole three points when Steven Gerrard and Ryan Babel both went close with long range efforts.

This obviously ends Liverpool's faint title hopes and it puts them in real danger of missing out on a top four spot. A great result for Boro, but it does beg the question, why can't they play like that every week. They have already beaten Arsenal at home this season and another terrific result today but they have also lost to sides like West Ham and Blackburn.