BACK-TO-BACK TITLESHowever, United equalised six minutes later after left-back Alan
Kennedy dramatically pulled up with a damaged hamstring as
winger Steve Coppell took him on down the right. Ray Clemence
fumbled Coppell’s cross and winger Mickey Thomas equalised
from one yard out. And despite Liverpool’s domination it was
the home side who nicked a 65th-minute winner when Jimmy
Greenhoff headed home a Ray Wilkins corner to keep the title-race
alive.
The Reds returned to winning ways a week later when they
saw off Derby County 3-0 at Anfield. There was a rare strike from
full-back Colin Irwin, deputising for the injured Kennedy and an
own-goal by the Rams’ Keith Osgood either side of another strike
from in-form striker David Johnson.
The FA Cup now intervened and threatened to throw the Reds
off course in their bid for a 12th league title. The semi-final tie with
Terry Neill’s Arsenal turned into an epic and Paisley would surely
have bitten off the hand off anyone suggesting a penalty shoot-
out solution rather than fixture congestion.
The tie with the Gunners would need four matches to separate
the teams and it ultimately ended in more cup frustration.
Dinamo Tbilisi had ended Liverpool’s hopes of a third European
Cup in October and after losing in the semis of the League Cup
to Nottingham Forest, the Reds now sampled defeat at the hands
of Arsenal as midfielder Brian Talbot’s goal in a third replay at
Highfield Road saw his side through to the final against West Ham
United.
As so often happens, the Reds also faced the Gunners in a
league game in the midst of the cup saga. The meeting of the two
teams at Anfield was their third game in a week and again ended
all-square, this time Talbot striking late on to cancel out Dalglish’s
first-half opener.
This meant that United had now closed the gap at the top to a
single point although they now only had three games to play while
Liverpool had four. The Reds’ vastly superior goal-difference was
probably worth an extra point.
The top two won their next games. United defeated Aston Villa
2-1 at Old Trafford thanks to a brace from Scotland centre-forward
Joe Jordan, while Liverpool completed a league double with a 2-0
win at Stoke City with a goal in each half from the Davids, Johnson
and Fairclough.
United clinched another 2-1 home win in their penultimate
fixture, this time against Coventry City thanks to a double from
midfielder Sammy McIlroy on the same afternoon that the Reds
were held to a goalless stalemate by Crystal Palace at Selhurst
Park.
The teams were now level on 58 points but Paisley’s men
had two games remaining to United’s one. And with that goal-
difference of plus-49 compared to the Red Devils’ plus-32
keeping Liverpool top, it all meant that a home win over Aston
Villa would clinch the championship...unless United went to
Elland Road and put 20 or so goals past Leeds!
Liverpool’s FA Cup extravaganza with Arsenal – the longest
semi-final in the tournament’s history – had concluded less
than 48 hours earlier, but Paisley was focused on what his
predecessor as Reds boss Bill Shankly had famously described
as the ‘bread and butter’ of the league.
“The FA Cup might be the showpiece competition but the
league is the big one,” he said. “Anyone in football worth his
salt wants a championship medal and it’s always been more
important to me.”
In the event, Leeds won their game against Manchester
United 2-0 in Yorkshire while the Reds enjoyed an afternoon of
celebration at Anfield. For the second successive season, they
won the title by comprehensively seeing off Villa in L4.
David Johnson put the Reds into an early lead which should
have settled nerves but an own-goal from Cohen left things in
the balance. The popular Israeli then made amends by popping
up in attack early in the second half to fire the Reds back in
front with Paisley leading the plaudits. “It proves just how
versatile Avi really is,” he later said.
Johnson then made it 3-1 with a spectacular strike. “Ronnie
Moran had a go at me for not scoring enough goals with my
left foot. I lashed one and it hit the post and shot across into
the net,” he explained afterwards.
It was Johnson’s best goalscoring season as a Liverpool
player. The former Everton striker had established himself
alongside Kenny Dalglish a year earlier and the pair formed a
powerful partnership with ‘Doc’ netting 21 league goals (27 in
total) as Paisley’s side clinched back-to-back titles.
His haul included goals against Everton and Manchester
United and he hit doubles on five occasions, including this
brace in the title-clincher against Villa.
A late own-goal by Villa defender Noel Blake made it 4-1
and the glittering trophy was carried out of the tunnel and
on to the pitch by David Fairclough and Alan Kennedy. The
victorious squad were joined by Paisley in embarking on a
lap of honour as they applauded the supporters who in turn
provided their own rapturous salute.
And so Bob’s mighty Reds made a successful defence of
their Division One crown and were able, for a few weeks at
least, to bask in the glory of a 12th league championship and
their fifth in a decade.Annie Road ecstasyFull houses to watch the defending champs