Arsenal upset in cup, Liverpool beaten in league

LONDON (AP):

Arsenal conceded a late goal to lose 1-0 at second-tier club Ipswich in the League Cup semi-finals yesterday; and Liverpool went down 2-1 at Blackpool in the English Premier League.

Tamas Priskin's goal gave Ipswich the first-leg advantage, holding off a defender before sliding the ball past goalkeeper Wojciech Szczesny in the 78th minute.

Kenny Dalglish's first Premier League match back as Liverpool manager ended in the club''s second loss this season to Blackpool, which returned to the top flight after a 39-year absence.

Fernando Torres scored after three minutes, but Blackpool's Gary Taylor-Fletcher levelled nine minutes later and teammate D.J. Campbell's second-half goal inflicted Liverpool's 10th loss of the season.

Ipswich have had a turbulent week with Roy Keane leaving as manager and Paul Jewell appointed as his successor. The team is only three points above the League Championship relegation zone and had been thrashed 7-0 at Chelsea in the FA Cup on Saturday.

"Pretty much everyone in the country wrote us off today, so we've surprised a lot of people," Ipswich captain David Norris said. "We let a lot of people down against Chelsea. We didn't do ourselves justice, so we went out tonight with that bit of extra determination and did what we had to.

"But there's still work to be done and we still have to go to the Emirates in the second leg."

Strong side

Looking for his first trophy since the 2005 FA Cup, Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger fielded a strong side that included Spain World Cup winner Cesc Fabregas and England internationals Theo Walcott and Jack Wilshere.

But the Premier League's third-place team failed to hit top gear and were fortunate not to lose by a bigger margin ahead of the second leg on January 25 at Emirates Stadium.

Priskin gave Arsenal centre backs Johan Djourou and Laurent Koscielny a torrid time, demonstrating why Wenger needs to reinforce in defence during the January transfer window.

"Let's not think that we lost the game because we haven't bought a central defender," Wenger said. "We lost the game because we didn't play as well as we can.

"We have only two central defenders and we are short - it is early to talk about a player coming in."

Blackpool showed that the 2-1 result at Anfield in October was no fluke and exposed the size of the task facing Dalglish, who returned Saturday to the job he relinquished 20 years ago following Roy Hodgson's dismissal.

Dalglish's challenge is not to deliver Liverpool's first English league title since 1990, but to keep the 18-time champions in the top flight. They are four points above the drop zone with 17 matches to go.

Blackpool's winner came in the 69th, Ian Evatt beating Liverpool defender Martin Skrtel to Neal Eardley's deep cross for Campbell to head home.