Midweek Pink Round-up 78/79: Liverpool have the champagne ready; Forest come unstuck; Muhren double secures point at Villa

BY STEVE MITCHELL

KENNEDY DOUBLE HAS THE CHAMPAGNE ON ICE AT ANFIELD:

Liverpool are virtually home and hosed in their quest to win back the First Division title from Nottingham Forest, after a devastating display at Burden Park on Tuesday night which saw them brush aside Bolton Wanderers 4-1.

England midfielder Ray Kennedy was the star of the show, smashing in two wonderful goals to put Bob Paisleyâ€™s men on the brink of the championship. Such was Liverpoolâ€™s dominance, Bolton boss Ian Greaves said after the match that; â€œLiverpool are the greatest club side Iâ€™ve ever seen, they are even better than Manchester United in their hey-dayâ€. Praise indeed from a man who was on the playing staff at Old Trafford during the Matt Busby era.

The visitors ran the game from start to finish, on a boggy pitch that had been battered by heavy snow showers. Liverpool goalkeeper Ray Clemenceâ€™s biggest problem all evening was to try to keep himself warm, as his teammates camped in the oppositionâ€™s territory for large swathes of the contest.

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Their passing game was an absolute joy to behold and when David Johnson opened the scoring after great work between Kennedy and Footballer of the Year Kenny Dalglish, it was always going to be about damage limitation for the home side.

In fact, the Reds should have been four goals to the good by half-time, but Bolton had been spared (for now) by some wayward finishing â€“ the only negative in a truly dominant first 45 minutes.

After the break, Liverpool set to put that right; Kennedyâ€™s first coming from a stunning volley after Bolton centre-half Sam Allardyce had made a mess of a clearance, his second, and Liverpoolâ€™s fourth, a superb drive from 20 yards.

In between, the home side had the audacity to pull a goal back thanks to a Graeme Souness own-goal, but shortly after, Dalglish (who else), collected a fine headed pass from Johnson for Liverpoolâ€™s third.

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The massed hordes of travelling fans began singing â€œWe are the championsâ€, as their team threatened to score more. Their superiority across the whole campaign has never been in question; nights such as this just reaffirms what a wonderful football team Paisley has constructed.

FIRST DIVISION ROUND-UP:

Nottingham Forestâ€™s late charge to defend their title came unstuck at Molineux on Monday night, when a John Richards goal gave Wolves a 1-0 win over the European Cup finalists. This slip allowed West Bromwich Albion to take over second spot after a 2-0 win over Everton at Goodison Park 24 hours later.

David Mills and Bryan Robson were on target for the visitors, with reports suggesting the latter is being watched by some of the countryâ€™s biggest clubs and could be the subject of transfer speculation this summer.

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With Peter Barnes and Asa Hartford in the stands once again, Manchester City inflicted another defeat on relegated Birmingham City. Both Barnes and Hartford have been linked with moves to West Brom this summer, but they would have been impressed with a double strike from Polish star Kazimierz Deyna and skipper Paul Power. Birminghamâ€™s consolation came courtesy of Steve Lynex.

Young Manchester United striker Andy Ritchie ensured the FA Cup finalists got a point at Southampton on Monday night; Phil Boyer getting the home sideâ€™s goal before they had to travel to the East Midlands to take on Nottingham Forest last night; million pound man Trevor Francis grabbing the only goal of the game as Forest move level on points with West Brom, but with an inferior goal difference.

Two goals in the space of five days for Aston Villaâ€™s Ken Swain ensured his team took a share of the points at Villa Park against Ipswich Town last night. John Deehan was also on target for the home side in a 2-2 draw, with Dutchman Arnold Muhren getting both goals for the visitors.

RESULTS:

MONDAY APRIL 30:

Southampton 1-1 Manchester United (Boyer; Ritchie)

Wolves 1-0 Nottingham Forest (Richards)

TUESDAY MAY 1:

Bolton Wanderers 1-4 Liverpool (Souness o.g; Johnson, Kennedy R 2, Dalglish)

Everton 0-2 W.B.A (Mills, Robson)

Manchester City 3-1 Birmingham City (Deyna 2, Power; Lynex)

WEDNESDAY MAY 2:

Aston Villa 2-2 Ipswich Town (Swain, Deehan; Muhren 2) (FULL MATCH PROGRAMME BELOW)

Nottingham Forest 1-0 Southampton (Francis)

League Division One table after close of play on 02 May 1979

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts
1	Liverpool	38	26	8	4	76	16	60	60
2	West Bromwich Albion	37	21	11	5	69	33	36	53
3	Nottingham Forest	38	18	17	3	54	23	31	53
4	Everton	41	17	16	8	51	39	12	50
5	Leeds United	39	17	14	8	65	44	21	48
6	Arsenal	40	17	12	11	60	47	13	46
7	Ipswich Town	40	18	9	13	56	47	9	45
8	Aston Villa	38	14	15	9	56	43	13	43
9	Manchester United	39	14	14	11	56	59	-3	42
10	Coventry City	41	13	16	12	55	68	-13	42
11	Bristol City	41	15	10	16	47	49	-2	40
12	Southampton	40	12	16	12	47	50	-3	40
13	Middlesbrough	40	14	10	16	54	49	5	38
14	Manchester City	39	12	13	14	53	50	3	37
15	Norwich City	41	7	22	12	50	56	-6	36
16	Tottenham Hotspur	39	11	14	14	43	59	-16	36
17	Bolton Wanderers	40	12	10	18	53	72	-19	34
18	Wolverhampton Wanderers	40	13	8	19	42	62	-20	34
19	Derby County	41	10	11	20	44	68	-24	31
20	Queens Park Rangers	39	6	13	20	41	62	-21	25
21	Birmingham City	40	5	9	26	34	63	-29	19
22	Chelsea	39	5	8	26	40	87	-47	18