Swindon Town 0 – Liverpool 5 – The Best is Yet To come – Warned Graeme Souness
Three games into the new campaign, 10 goals scored, one goal conceded, three wins and top of the table. Graeme Souness’s Liverpool side was laying down an early marker in the season and the Anfield boss who had spent the best part of the previous season on the verge of getting sacked warned that his Reds were only just getting started.
Neil Ruddock, the £2.5 million signings from Tottenham scored his first goal for the club after 17 minutes before Steve McManaman doubled the lead. McManaman scored his second on the hour mark before Ronnie Whelan made it 4-0 and Mike Marsh completing the rout for the newly-promoted side. Graeme Souness was beaming after the match whereas John Gorman, the Swindon manager was still looking for positives from the drubbing.
Graeme Souness said “We can only get better. I have some of the best players in the country and if they have the desire we have a chance in all three competitions this season.”
John Gorman said “It was Liverpool’s sheer quality that finished us off but I saw a lot of good things in our play. It’s my job to lift the team now but we will stick to our passing game because it will bring us joy against lesser sides than Liverpool. For certain we won’t be meeting teams of their caliber every week.”
Aston Villa 1 – Manchester United 2 – Razor “Sharpe” Finishing Earns United a crucial win
In the meeting between previous season’s winners and the runners up in the premier league, a boyhood Aston Villa fan and a player who had seen his opportunities dwindle at Old Trafford was the difference. Lee Sharpe the attacking forward scored two crucial goals to give United a vital away win against a strong Ron Atkinson side.
The emergence of Ryan Giggs & Andreis Kanchelskis along with the arrival of Eric Cantona had seen Sharpe play a secondary role for United in the previous season. But on one of the rare starts he got for Alex Ferguson’s side, he gave his manager a great headache.
Lee Sharpe said “Hopefully now I have given the manager a bit of a selection poser for Saturday’s game with the saints.”
United took the lead before Dalian Atkinson equalized for the home team. Ryan Giggs hit the post in the second half before Sharpe scored his second to seal all three points and Ferguson admitted that he was spoilt for riches when it came to selection.
Alex Ferguson said “That’s one of the best games I have ever been involved in. I think we just deserved to win it but there were so many good things that even if we’d have lost I’d have still been delighted with the performance.”
