Chelsea 2 Liverpool 0

Premiership Match report
Reporter: The Main (Stand) Man




After the woeful display in Florence during midweek, Steven Gerrard had challenged himself and his Liverpool colleagues to ‘react’ in the correct way against a Chelsea side looking to capitalise on Manchester United’s slip up against Sunderland (and as an aside, why hasn’t the word ‘rant’ yet been applied to the old tramp-in-a-suit from the other end of the East Lancs following his outburst against Alan Wiley on Saturday?). What transpired at Stamford Bridge, in truth, was a game that could easily have gone either way but unfortunately ended up with three points for the home side.

Benitez had the return of Mascherano to bolster a midfield that had looked weak against Fiorentina, the Argetinian replacing Aurelio who was not even able to displace Emiliano Insua in the favoured right back position. There rest of the team was, for a change, fairly predictable, with Gerrard supporting Torres and Riera and Kuyt on the wings. Daniel Agger was also included in the squad although he had to settle for a place on the bench with Carragher and Skrtel ahead of him in the pecking order thanks to their match fitness.

Liverpool started the brighter of the two teams, with some sharp passing movements causing some problems for Chelsea in the first five minutes. With Cech suspended following his sending off at Wigan last week, the reds decided to try and test replacement Hilario early on, and several moves down the left hand side proved fruitful in the first five minutes. John Terry and co. however were able to assist their keeper in clearing any danger that Liverpool crosses posed, and the home team seemed to take heart from this as they began to establish some dominance in the midfield.

The first quarter of an hour passed without clear chances for either team, though, and as is so often the case in these games, neither side was looking likely either to concede or to create enough to seriously trouble the opposing defence. The nineteenth minute brought the first controversial moment of the match, when Essien decided to undertake his usual stamping manoeuvre on Javier Mascherano (I’m sure we all remember the challenge on Didi Hamann several years ago which could have left him crippled), and fortunately for Mascherano he failed to connect with the shinbone. Unbelievably, however, the referee simply told Mascherano to get off the floor and stop faking, a move which he seemed strangely unable to replicate later in the match when terminal grass-muncher Drogba was flinging himself to the ground at every opportunity. The ball eventually fell for Riera whose well hit left foot shot was drilled just a couple of yards over the bar.

The Liverpool rearguard was still looking comfortable after 25 minutes, however, when Chelsea created their first real chance of note. A cross from the left found Drogba and Ballack both looking to head home, and Drogba’s eventual header was ill-advised as he took it off the head off Ballack who was better placed. Anelka soon went close for the London club with a free header having evaded Insua’s marking at the back post, before a free kick from Gerrard went disappointingly high over Hilario’s crossbar. Some good keeping from Reina then denied Essien when the Chelsea man fired in a low shot following a corner.

Nearly 40 minutes were on the clock when Liverpool created their best chance of the half. Dirk Kuyt found himself in space on the right with Gerrard and Torres making their way into the box. A neat forward run in between the centre-halves enabled the Spaniard to create a yard of space, but his header lacked the necessary power and direction to seriously trouble the Chelsea keeper. The final five minutes of the half were played out with Liverpool having almost able to break the deadlock. Essien was booked for a late challenge on Lucas, and the resultant free kick was fired in low towards the back post by Riera. Hilario reacted extremely late, possibly expecting a touch from a Liverpool runner, and in the end he could only divert the ball round his post with a last ditch dive. Liverpool had a clear penalty appeal turned down from the resulting corner as Drogba impeded Skrtel from getting to the ball.

At half time, Benitez would have been a lot happier with his side’s performance than at a similar point during the midweek fixture, but it was proving a tight affair with chances hard to come by. Mascherano was the player of the half for me, slotting seamlessly back into the heart of the midfield and breaking up play in his usual combative manner. Only Insua had a particularly poor first half, too often being left by markers or failing to win the ball in the challenge, which is uncharacteristic of the youngster’s performances so far this season. The vocal reds support had been given a decent display with the potential promise of leaving the ground with at least a point to show for their side’s efforts.

The second period began in much the same way as the first had ended, with the tight midfield tussle immediately resuming. A long-range effort from Gerrard was the only real moment of note in the first five minutes but he sent the ball fizzing over the crossbar from 25 yards. Chelsea soon began to get into their stride, however, and Reina had to be alert as Essien again drove the ball towards goal. As the ball moved in the air, the reds stopper did well to get down as take the sting out of the shot to prevent a rebound opportunity for any of the attackers bearing down on him.

Again, though, neither team was looking particularly like opening the scoring, with the majority of the play being conducted in the middle third of the field, although there was a growing sense that just one goal may be enough to take the three points. On the hour mark, Chelsea found another gear which proved good enough for the first goal of the game. Mascherano, excellent until this moment, was caught dawdling on the ball by Lampard whose challenge directed the ball into the path of Essien. He passed to Deco who followed up by sliding the ball in front of Drogba’s run down Liverpool’s right hand side, and his cross found Anelka in space. Whilst not making the cleanest of contacts, the Frenchman diverted the ball past the helpless Reina from less than six yards having again lost Insua earlier during his run.

Liverpool looked for an immediate response, a run from Lucas into the area being stopped only at the last moment by a challenge from Carvalho. The rest of the match was to be effectively ruined, however, by the ridiculous play-acting and diving of Didier Drogba. This was something that, having watched the game back on the television, was not only picked up on by the constant reds-basher Andy Gray, but even the Chelsea skipper John Terry was seen to give his team-mate a few harsh words at one point. The text messages I received following the match all had the same theme, that if the man is not stopped from undertaking this practise match after match, then the game as a whole will suffer for it as others see him profiting. Perhaps a montage of his activities needs to be created and sent to the F.A. for review, although undoubtedly this would only lead to a rebuke for the sender trying to show the game being brought into disrepute. I want Liverpool to win every game we play, and whilst I can see the funny side when we get a decision which we clearly should not have, if I ever see a Liverpool player behaving anything like Drogba, who possesses undoubted talent with his strength and pace, then that individual may well find themselves without my support until it stops.

Enough rambling for now and back to the game!! The second half continued with Liverpool in fact looking the more likely to provide the game’s second goal. Chances for Kuyt and Johnson went begging, the latter in particular really should have done better when left in space just outside the Chelsea penalty area, and Gerrard was stopped only by a last second challenge from Ashley Cole. The Liverpool captain then found himself in the referee’s notebook for a challenge on England team-mate Frank Lampard, and Drogba went close with the freekick although Reina seemed to have the ball covered at his near post.

Chelsea began to sit back on their lead, conceding more possession in the centre of the park, and this almost proved fatal as Liverpool looked to take advantage. A flowing move led to the ball at the feet of Gerrard in the box. John Terry came out to block his effort but the ball ricocheted towards Torres, but the ball bounced just a little too high and the number nine could only connect with his shin and the effort went wide of the left upright. Aurelio came on to replace the ineffective Insua, with Benayoun having replaced Riera and Babel coming on for Lucas earlier on as Benitez encouraged his side forward. Aurelio had an immediate impact, getting forward on several occasions and providing decent crosses into the area, but on each occasion it was a blue shirt that reached the ball first. As the clock ticked onwards, Chelsea were looking only at counter-attacking to bring them out of their own half, and unfortunately the ‘sucker punch’ came in the third minute of time added on. Drogba served to highlight his earlier antics with a superb show of strength to hold off challenges from both Aurelio and Carragher, and as he reached the byline he cut the ball back for Malouda to finish the game off. The question remains why Drogba goes down so easily when he has the ability to stay on his feet under such pressure if he feels he has the opportunity to head towards goal.

There was still time for Liverpool to go close, however, as Benayoun missed easily the best opportunity of the game for the reds. He brilliantly controlled Aurelio’s cross after Cole missed his header, and after feinting to shoot and putting Hilario on his backside, he inexplicably dragged his shot inches wide of the left post. Gerrard stung the palms of the Chelsea keeper with a crisp shot from the edge of the box, but this was the last attempt as the referee blew the final whistle shortly afterwards.

A game, then, with plenty of talking points, but a final word about the post-match thoughts from the television commentators. The claim that Drogba had ‘won the battle of comparisons’ with Fernando Torres is a frankly misguided way to interpret the overall contributions that each had made on the day. True, if we look solely at the footballing efforts of each on the day, then Drogba, having been heavily involved in both Chelsea goals, must be said to have had more of an impact. There is a dangerous precedent being set, however, by this interpretation. If the blatant and repeated attempts to con referees into awarding freekicks by Drogba continue, and are rewarded with the desired result, then games will be dominated by players who pick up on the benefits of following his example. This is a contact sport, and Drogba’s efforts will only serve to hinder games from flowing as they should, which cannot be good for the national sport. Liverpool will go to the Stadium of Light following the international break looking to embark on a run of victories to close the gap between themselves and the top two, as well as hopefully distancing themselves from pretenders for the champions league spots such as Tottenham and Manchester City.

Match time and date: KO 16:00. 4 October 2009

Goals: Anelka 60, Malouda 90

Yellow cards: Chelsea Essien; Liverpool Gerrard.

Referee: M Atkinson (Leeds).

Attendance: 41,732.

Chelsea (4-1-3-2): Hilario; Ivanovic, Carvalho, Terry, A Cole; Essien; Ballack, Deco (Malouda, 76), Lampard; Anelka, Drogba. Substitutes not used: Turnbull, J Cole, Zhirkov, Kalou, Sturridge, Belletti.

Liverpool (4-2-3-1): Reina; Johnson, Carragher, Skrtel, Insua (Aurelio, 83); Mascherano, Lucas (Babel, 76); Kuyt, Gerrard, Riera (Benayoun, 67); Torres. Substitutes not used: Cavalieri, Agger, Kyrgiakos, Ngog.

Liverpool 4 Burnley 0

Premiership Match report

Reporter: The Main (Stand) Man





Against a side that have already turned over both Manchester United and Everton, the reds were looking for a convincing display to follow up the hard fought win over Bolton prior to the international break. Enhancing the incentive for the players to put on a good show was the welcome return to Anfield of Michael Shields following the rectification of one of the most glaring miscarriages of justice of our times.

Javier Mascherano was missing after his long trip back to his homeland, with Steven Gerrard dropping back into a central midfield role alongside Lucas, with Benayoun supporting Fernando Torres up front and Riera and Kuyt on the wings. The only change to the back four from the Reebok was the return of Martin Skrtel in place of Kyrgiakos.

It was the visitors who created the first chance with a decent passing move opening up the Liverpool defence with barely a minute on the clock, but Blake could not direct his low shot inside Pepe Reina’s left hand post. It took another five minutes before Liverpool created anything of note, with the ball ricocheting to Dirk Kuyt after Riera’s run into the box. His shot was saved easily enough, though, by Jensen in the Burnley goal, the man known affectionately by the travelling support as ‘The Beast’. The home side were struggling, though, in the opposition half as Burnley repeatedly got numbers behind the ball to thwart any attacking intent. As the clock ticked past the half hour, the reds midfield were starting to enjoy some lengthy spells in possession without the required penetration, and in all truth the away team were coping admirably as they had done recently at Stamford Bridge almost until half time.

An effort from Kuyt after 20 minutes, though, seemed to signal an increase in tempo from the Liverpool team. His effort was marginally wide of the goal, but within 2 minutes Benayoun went close with a header from a Riera cross. Burnley were offering little going forward by this stage, and seemed to be content with attempting to frustrate Liverpool rather than look for opportunities to move ahead. This was soon to prove a flawed tactical outlook, however, as Liverpool finally got the breakthrough in the 27th minute. The ball went out to Johnson on the right flank, and his sidefooted pass was perfectly into the stride of Benayoun. His quick feet found a yard of space and a beautifully placed shot went just inside the far post leaving Jensen with no chance. It could have been two moments later, as an excellent cross from Riera found Benayoun diving in at the front post, but his header was straight at the Burnley keeper and Kuyt was unable to profit from the rebound. The little Israeli then put an effort straight at the keeper from the edge of the box, and by now Liverpool were making all the running. Lucas found himself in yards of space outside the penalty area, and his shot was well saved by Jensen, and Riera’s effort followed this up by going just wide of the keeper’s left upright.

With all this pressure, it was perhaps inevitable that Liverpool should double their lead before the break, and this proved to be the case. A swift move from the Liverpool half left the ball again at Benayoun’s feet. He was not closed down and took a speculative effort from 20 yards, which the goalkeeper was only able to palm down in front of him. Kuyt was alive to the possibility of a rebound and darted in to slot past Jensen. The keeper then spilt another effort from Johnson, but was able to recover before Benayoun could benefit. Jensen was able to atone for his earlier error, though, with a wonderful diving save from Gerrard. The reds skipper found himself in an empty space bigger even than that contained in the Everton trophy cabinet, and as the ball came along the ground to him, he curved a wicked effort towards the top corner, but Jensen sprang to his left to divert the ball around the post.

The referee soon blew the whistle for half time, with Liverpool looking comfortable to say the least. After a start which was worryingly devoid of decent chances, the home side had made the obvious gulf in ability of the two teams pay to establish a lead from which it was unlikely that Burnley would be able to recover. They re-emerged into the bright Anfield sunshine with no changes to the line-up, and with the crowd looking for them to press home their advantage with more goals.

Liverpool were again a little slow to start the half, though, with no clear chances in the first five minutes of the period. A burst from Gerrard brought appeals for a penalty from the Kop, but the captain helpfully left a boot where the challenge had been made, and the referee awarded a freekick outside the box which came to nothing. A tame effort from Kuyt followed after a low centre from Benayoun, and shortly afterward Torres drew a challenge from Howard which brought the first yellow card of the game. Again Liverpool were looking comfortable in defence, and this was allowing forward runs from Lucas, Kuyt and Riera to provide more bodies in attack. The response from Owen Coyle was to bring on Chris Eagles, an ex-Manchester United player who drew a typically warm response from the Anfield crowd.

It was on the hour mark that Liverpool finally killed the game off with a superb third. Fernando Torres picked up the ball on the right corner of the penalty area and he slipped the ball to Gerrard who was moving at pace towards the box. With tremendous control, the skipper brought the ball from under his body to out in front of him, and he had the presence of mind to slip the ball to a completely unmarked Yossi Benayoun to slot home the simplest of goals for his second and Liverpool’s third. Phillipe Degen came on to replace Glen Johnson for the last third of the game, with the England full back looking a little fatigued after his international exertions of the past week.

With this added cushion, Liverpool took their foot off the gas somewhat, and the next ten minutes saw Burnley improving their possession statistic without ever threatening Reina’s clean sheet. Benitez brought Voronin on for Dirk Kuyt in an attempt to provide more attacking threat and hammer home the gulf in class between the sides. Soon after, Liverpool were denied a fourth by the linesman’s flag. Gerrard’s 25 yard effort was again fumbled by the Burnley goalkeeper, but as Benayoun tapped the ball home from the rebound for what he thought would be his hat-trick, he was adjudged to have drifted offside. Gerrard then again went close as he piled through the Burnley defence after a ricochet, but he chose to round the keeper rather than shoot and found the angle a little too acute, his effort hitting the outside of the post.

The final Liverpool change took place as a strangely out of sorts Torres was replaced by David Ngog up front with 15 minutes to go. The Frenchman spent the next five minutes trying to backheel his way into the hearts of the Kop, a series of flicks failing to provide the intended result by setting up more chances. Inside the last ten minutes, however, the game’s outstanding player did get his hat-trick, Benayoun finding himself the beneficiary of some more poor defending by Burnley. After a lucky rebound off the referee, Riera came forward and a series of passes between him, Voronin and Gerrard saw the ball eventually slipped forward to Benayoun. The entire Burnley defence stopped, assuming that the flag would go up for offside, little realising that Jordan had played him on. Benayoun kept his composure, however, and slotted the ball past the helpless Jensen for the icing on the Liverpool cake. Gerrard then went almost made it a five after being released by Voronin, but Jensen was equal to the effort and turned it round the post. Burnley then finally created an opportunity, Nugent was unable to keep his header down from a corner.

Andriy Voronin should then have extended the lead even further after he was sent clear for a one-on-one with Jensen. Gerrard collected the keeper’s clearance and slotted the ball through for the Ukrainian, but he was unable to direct his shot on target, instead chipping the ball wide. Two minutes of injury time went by without further incident, and the referee brought an end to a satisfactory afternoon for Liverpool.

Whilst there are still concerns over the slow starts we have experienced in most games so far this season, the signs are encouraging. We can all hope that the woeful defeat against Aston Villa was the low point of the season, and that further below-par performances can be avoided for the remainder of this period. Some major positives can be taken out of the game, though. Another mention must first be made of Yossi Benayoun, who provided yet another man of the match performance with a display of creativity, guile and skill which only enhanced the game-changing reputation he garnered for himself during the second half of last season. A second clean sheet of the campaign should also not be undervalued, as the defence will thrive only by shutting out opponents for 90 minutes and evading troubles from set-pieces that have plagued us so far this season. Whilst Liverpool would always have been expected to win the three points in this fixture, in truth the margin of victory could, and should, have been much greater, an encouraging way to go into our opening Champions League encounter with Debreceni on Wednesday evening.

Bolton 2 Liverpool 3

Premiership Match report
Reporter: The Main (Stand) Man





After the disappointment of the result at Anfield the previous Monday, Liverpool travelled to the Reebok stadium needing to get a win under their belts to prevent further drivel being written in the press. Bookmakers undoubtedly know their trade, but they clearly do not understand the machinations of a football club if they think that Rafael Benitez is a candidate for unemployment, and the constant media coverage of the ‘problems’ at the club are neither helpful nor informative when based on nothing more than conjecture. The starting line up contained a debutant in Kyrgiakos, replacing Martin Skrtel, and a first start of the season for Albert Riera who came in for Yossi Benayoun. No doubt this will be interpreted in the tabloids as Rafa’s ‘rotation policy’.

The first ten minutes were, perhaps unsurprisingly cagey, with Bolton having failed to find the net in either of their outings this season and Liverpool somewhat unwilling to push too hard for fear of conceding. The sole moment of note in the opening period was the challenge by Sean Davis on Mascherano for which a yellow card should have been produced, a decision which will have more relevance further on in this report.

As Liverpool began to emerge from their shell, the first decent chance of the match was produced. Riera crossed from the left flank and found Lucas bursting into the box unmarked. The Brazilian could not make the required contact, though, and the ball ran to the far side of the box where Glen Johnson collected. Darting inside onto his left foot, the impressive new boy put a dangerous ball across the face of the goal, and had Torres been able to make any contact then the first goal of the game would undoubtedly have been scored. A decent cross from Riera then went agonisingly over Torres’ head, and Liverpool were beginning to make their domination of possession pay. With Mascherano sitting in front of the back four, Lucas was given more license to go forward and support Gerrard and Torres, and he was unlucky on several occasions as the ball just failed to drop into his path following good runs.

As the game approached the half hour mark, though, Bolton too began to come forward with more adventure, and against the run of play they soon found themselves a goal to the good. After Torres had tested Jaskelainen with a deft chip, the home side drove up the pitch and won a disputable freekick thanks to a challenge from Kyrgiakos on Kevin Davies. Taylor swung the ball in towards the far post and Torres rose to head the ball over his own crossbar for a corner. Again the back upright was the target and Elmander rose highest to nod the ball back across the goal where Davies was waiting for the simplest of tap ins.

Again Liverpool looked to exert some more pressure in response to going behind, and soon Torres missed the best Liverpool chance of the game to this point. After a great passing move in front of the Bolton area, Johnson picked up the ball and swung in a cross to the far post. Torres took a touch and fired just wide, but soon Liverpool got their deserved equaliser. A corner from Riera was headed out to the edge of the box where again Johnson found himself in space. He took the ball inside Elmander who had come out to close him down and put a left foot shot low to the left of Jaskelainen.

With parity restored, Liverpool continued to press forward in the final five minutes of the half, without further troubling the Bolton keeper to any great extent. The home side, in fact, would have gone in ahead had Reina not pulled off a great diving save from a Taylor freekick. Davis received a booking just before the half time whistle, which should have seen him sent off after his earlier misdemeanours, but it was to prove a short stay of execution for the midfielder.

Rafa made no changes to the eleven during the break, understandable given the much improved performance. Within two minutes of the restart, though, disaster struck again as another set-piece put Bolton 2-1 in front. Jaskelainen hoofed a high ball into the Liverpool box, where Kevin Davies was too strong for Kyrgiakos. He nudged the ball further into the area where a slip from Carragher left Cohen with another simple finish.

Liverpool went close from a set-piece of their own on fifty minutes, with Gerrard having been fouled by Muamba. The skipper took the freekick himself and whilst Kyrgiakos won the ball at the back post he was unable to direct it on target. A dubious penalty appeal then received short shrift from Alan Wiley (quite rightly), but the referee was soon in the thick of things showing a red card to Sean Davis. As Lucas burst forward, Davis attempted to get back goal-side and succeeded only in clipping the legs of the Liverpool man. Wiley must have seen some intent in the challenge, producing a second yellow for Davis and dismissed him from the field. In all honesty, the challenge was more unlucky than malicious, although as I have already mentioned he could have gone prior to the break and so perhaps justice was done.

Liverpool saw their chance and immediately went for the jugular, with Gerrard smashing the ball against the crossbar with a fierce effort. Kuyt’s nod down found the Liverpool captain in yards of space and he was unlucky that his effort did not get the result it deserved. A succession of corners then followed, although it was as Bolton pushed out having cleared that Liverpool got a deserved equaliser. A ball lofted into the box from Gerrard found Kuyt, who cushioned the ball beautifully into the path of Torres, who took one touch before side footing past the helpless Jaskelainen.

The reds then strangely seemed to take their foot off the pedal, with only a long range Mascherano effort to test the Bolton keeper in the ten minutes that followed. Benayoun came on to replace Riera on the left wing but the home side, again sending a high ball into the box, then had a weak penalty appeal turned down as Kyrgiakos challenged Davies.

As the game began to become more stretched, though, a curling shot from Gerrard then went a yard wide of the mark and soon after a good pass from Kuyt into the ‘corridor of uncertainty’ found no-one in the middle to slot home. Gerrard again went close after his initial effort rebounded off Taylor’s arm. Liverpool were now again dominating both possession and territorially, without the required breakthrough. Gerrard slid the ball through to Kuyt whose shot skewed off the outside of his boot and went well wide, and soon after Mascherano was replaced by Voronin in an attacking change from Benitez. It was now one-way traffic and a right foot shot from Johnson was well saved by Jaskelainen, moments before an overhead kick from Kyrgiakos again found the Bolton keeper steadfast. With the clock ticking into the last ten minutes of the game, the Liverpool fans were wondering if their team was to be frustrated by a resolute Bolton side, but a familiar saviour was to ensure all three points would come back to Anfield.

A cross from Johnson rebounded off Torres to Gerrard, who again found himself without a marker on the edge of the box. The reds talisman unleashed an unstoppable right foot shot which was past Jaskelainen before he could react, sending the travelling support into delirium in the stand. Benayoun should have extended the lead further shortly after with a volley, but sent his shot several yards wide. Bolton had sent Taylor up the pitch in an attempt to regain equality in the scoreline, but this only served to award Liverpool more open space in attack in which to work. Torres then thought he had scored, but it was ruled not to have crossed the line as Jaskelainen smuggled it away. Dossena replaced Kuyt for the final couple of minutes, with Rafa no doubt looking to shore up the defence to prevent an unlikely Bolton equaliser.

Liverpool negotiated the four minutes of injury time without mishap, though, and the side left the pitch having improved dramatically from the defeat to Aston Villa. In truth, the win was a deserved one, although again the problems in defending set-pieces could easily have left us without the just rewards from the game. This seeming inability to deal with the dead ball situation could well be our undoing this season if the problems are not resolved quickly. We can take positives from the game, however. The response to going behind twice could have been to retreat into self-pity, but instead the reds refused at any point to stop attacking even when chances came and went. Star performers on the day included Glen Johnson again, the full-back producing another strong display to further justify the decision to sign him in the summer. The sending off of Sean Davis undoubtedly changed the game with Gerrard able to find more space once Muamba was forced to undertake different duties to man-marking the Liverpool captain, but in truth Liverpool were in control for much of the first hour when the numbers were equal. Overall, then, a far more positive display and a quick return to winning ways which is always important after a defeat. In addition, it is always vital to go into an international break on a high note, as when the players representing their countries return, a positive mindset ensues. Let’s hope that there are no injury worries prior to the next game at home to Burnley on the 12th.

Match time and date: KO 15:00. 29 August 2009
Goals: Davies 33, Johnson 41, Cohen 47, Torres 56, Gerrard 83
Yellow cards: Bolton Cahill, Davis, Muamba; Liverpool Gerrard.
Red Cards: Davis (54)
Referee: A Wiley (Staffordshire).
Attendance: 23,284.

Bolton Wanderers (4-4-2): Jaaskelainen; Knight, Cahill, Samuel, Ricketts; Davis, Cohen (Steinsson, 79), Muamba (Riga, 89), Taylor; K Davies, Elmander (Basham, 56). Substitutes not used: Al Habsi (gk), A O'Brien, Robinson, Lee.

Liverpool (4-3-2-1): Reina; Johnson, Kyrgiakos, Carragher, Insua; Gerrard, Mascherano (Voronin, 74), Lucas; Riera (Benayoun, 63), Torres; Kuyt (Dossena, 89). Substitutes not used: Gulacsi (gk) Skrtel, Plessis, Kelly.

Liverpool 1 Aston Villa 3

Premiership Match report
Reporter: The Main (Stand) Man





I’ve held off writing this for a couple of days, in the hope that time might give me a little more perspective when reflecting on events at Anfield on Monday evening. It hasn’t. I’m still rattled by the outcome and more importantly the underperformance of the reds against a team that was beaten 5-0 here last season and who lost their talisman and captain in the summer. Whilst none of this is ever going to guarantee a victory, of course, Liverpool should have been heartened by their hammering of Stoke City a few days earlier and been right up for this one from the first whistle, but what the crowd actually got was a disjointed, submissive and uninspired 90 minutes of football from the home side. We were criticised last year for the seven home draws that ultimately cost us the league, and the hope was that this season would see us turn them into wins to give us that extra push up the league into top spot. On this showing it’ll go the other way and we’ll be lucky to get into the top four.

Benitez brought back Martin Skrtel to replace the impressive Daniel Ayala, who had made such a strong debut against Stoke. No other changes were necessary, with Riera and Babel being kept company on the bench by some of the youngsters on the fringe of the first team squad.

Surprisingly enough, Liverpool started the stronger of the two teams, going close after just thirty seconds. Torres cut in from the right and, looking up, he saw Benayoun making a run in behind the defence. He lobbed the ball up and the diminutive Israeli got to the ball in front of Brad Friedel but nodded it just wide of the post. Some of the issues began to show through soon after, however, when Villa were ludicrously awarded a corner despite Agbonlahor clearly pulling Skrtel’s shirt as he attempted to shepherd the ball out for a goalkick. As it came across, the reds crowd was amazed to see Fernando Torres virtually on his own goal-line to head clear. As the clearance came back across, there were three Villa players waiting to head the ball towards, but in the end Liverpool were lucky that Curtis Davies’ effort was directed straight at Reina.

Liverpool went up the other end, and promptly saw fit to deny Rafa’s insistence this week that we need to be more clinical in our finishing. Three reds players had a total of four chances within the space of five seconds to put the ball in the back of the net, with Torres, Benayoun and Gerrard (twice) being the culprits. The last, in all fairness was an excellent save from Friedel as he spread himself desperately in front of Gerrard to try and deflect it away from the goal. In general, though, the first 15 minutes served only to hide what was coming, with Liverpool marginally the better of the two sides going forward.

Villa soon began to put some passes together, and started to gain some momentum. In fact, it was Liverpool who were responsible in part for this as they began to give the ball away time and time again. Torres also went against Benitez’s advice as, sometimes justifiably, he started compaining to the referee about challenges from the Aston Villa defence rather than looking to play the ball. As the clock ticked round towards the half hour mark, the crowd were beginning to sense that all was not right in the Liverpool camp, with the away supporters beginning to be heard in their devoutly religious version of ‘Kum Ba Yah’ in which they seem to just recite a list of their players names.

On 32 minutes came the first goal of the game, and once again it was the reds who presented Villa with the means by which to score it. A run from Petrov towards the Liverpool box found him devoid of ideas and looking for a way to either release the ball or turn into space. As he slowed down, Lucas took the bait and challenged, with Petrov only too happy to hit the ground given his lack of options. From the freekick, it was the Brazilian who was made to pay for his error, as Ashley Young’s effort deflected off him and gave Pepe Reina no chance to save.

Liverpool, to their credit, did fashion their best chance of the half a few minutes later as they attempted to get back on terms. A (for once) good passing move saw the ball find its way out to the right flank with Benayoun, and he found the run of Glen Johnson with an intelligent backheel. When Johnson found Torres in the box, the Spaniard took one touch and fired towards goal, only to find Friedel perfectly positioned to parry the ball for a corner. With the last effort of the half, though, Villa double their lead.

When Sidwell took a potshot at goal, the ball went about 20 yards wide of the goal, and the Anfield crowd thought that a goalkick would be the final kick of the first half. When Sidwell appealed, however, the referee inexplicably saw fit to award a corner as he deemed that the ball had been deflected off Martin Skrtel. The ball was swung across and Curtis Davies found himself unmarked after no-one tracked his run to the near post, and he was able to glance the ball past Reina to leave Liverpool bemused.

No changes at half time, and Liverpool kicked off the second half heading towards the Kop end, with no-one under any illusions as to what was required. In truth, the second half would prove to be better with regard to the number of chances created, but still the inability to keep possession was evident for all to see.

Within the first couple of minutes, Johnson again went surging forward and found a clever through ball to Gerrard, but the skipper’s shot was at a good height for Friedel to pull off a smart reaction save. Mascherano’s long range follow up shot went straight into the keeper’s arms. Friedel then denied Kuyt from a Liverpool corner, tipping the ball over the bar when the Dutchman met the ball with the centre of his forehead. From the second corner, Kuyt hit the post as he stooped to head the flick on from Benayoun towards goal, and the ball ran for a throw in to the visitors.

With 25 minutes left, Liverpool had a decent shout for a penalty turned down, when Johnson slid the ball through for Torres inside the box. Facing away from goal, Reo-Coker came in seemingly from behind Torres, but the referee waved away the shouts of Liverpool players and fans. Voronin replaced Lucas soon afterwards, with Rafa looking to apply more pressure in the final third than the Brazilian had shown during the game. Gerrard stung the palms of Friedel shortly afterwards with a rasping shot from 25 yards out, and just a couple of minutes later Liverpool got the goal that brought them back into contention for the available points.

Some slick interpassing from Benayoun and Kuyt just outside the area left the ball running directly into the path of an excellent forward run from Insua. The young Argentinian found himself on the edge of the six yard box, and he had the presence of mind to play the ball across the face of the goal. Fortunately for Liverpool, Torres was standing just five yards out with no Villa player in his vicinity, and he rifled the ball into the roof of the net to give hope to the home crowd. Unfortunately, however, the game’s resurrection did not last five minutes before a moment of madness put the game beyond the reach of the reds.

Playing the ball across the field, Villa created some space outside Liverpool’s 18 yard area into which Reo-Coker made a clever run. Having effectively lost control of the ball with his touch, Gerrard came flying in with a lunge from yards away, which upended the Villa man and left the referee with no option but to point immediately towards the spot. The response from Benitez was to bring Ryan Babel on for Benayoun.

Villa were now content to sit back and let the Liverpool shirts come forward at them, a ploy which with some better finishing could have been disastrous for them. As the final ten minutes began, Torres went close from an Insua cross and then Kuyt was unable to convert a decent chance from a Babel cross. A flying run down the wing from Jamie Carragher then almost found a breakthrough, he slid the ball across the goal and Ryan Babel slotted home unchallenged, but the defender had been flagged offside after being unable to check his run for long enough. Torres again went close with his head, but found Friedel in exactly the right place again, and then a piledriver from Glen Johnson was again beaten away by the ex-Liverpool keeper.

Despite the chances, however, most Liverpool fans understood that the team from Birmingham had been far more clever in their approach to the game, and that tactically Martin O’Neill had outwitted Rafa. Again the problem with defending set-pieces was highlighted for all to see, with the zonal marking system obviously coming under heavy fire. The state of the substitute’s bench also showed the weakness in the strength of the overall squad, and if Liverpool fans expect to win the league then we need more inspiration to come off the bench. The two changes that Benitez made in the game saw Voronin and Babel come on. The Ukrainian in particular is clearly not of the required standard to play in a Liverpool shirt, and he never looks like producing a moment which can change a game. My thoughts on Babel are well documented by those who know me, but a player unwilling to challenge for the ball or even jump for a header has no place on the Anfield turf and should be sold for as much as we can get for him. Even the forward runs he undertakes seem to resemble the headless chicken more than the headstrong youngster, and after so long to develop since Benitez saw whatever he saw and signed him, it is time to admit defeat in our efforts to develop him into a top class player.

There were positives, however, to take from the game. The performance of the two full backs, Insua and in particular Johnson, was notable. Both were willing to get forward and support the attacking efforts without sacrificing their positional responsibilities in defence. Aurelio may well have a fight on his hands to retake the left back role from Insua. Another positive should be taken from the second half performance, which, whilst lacking the quality and penetration, at least displayed some drive and determination in the efforts to get back into the match.

A final word to the fans who saw fit to leave after the Aston Villa penalty, seventeen minutes from time. The sight of this kind of desertion provides a detriment to the club’s name. As we all know and have seen countless times over the years, magical things can happen on the field when Liverpool are playing, cast your mind back to Istanbul where three goals in six minutes won us the European Cup for the fifth time, the two goals scored in the last three minutes versus Charlton a few seasons back, and the similar effort in the home game against Middlesbrough at the start of last season. Next time, don’t bother spending your money on a ticket which could be happily filled by someone who understands the meaning of ‘You’ll Never Walk Alone’.

Match time and date: KO 20:00. 24 August 2009
Goals: Lucas 34(og), Davies 45, Torres 72, A Young 75(pen)
Yellow cards: Liverpool Reina, Torres, Skrtel; Aston Villa A Young, Reo-Coker
Referee: M Atkinson (Yorkshire).
Attendance: 43,667

Liverpool (4-2-3-1): Reina; Johnson, Carragher, Skrtel, Insua; Lucas (Voronin, 66), Mascherano; Kuyt, Gerrard, Benayoun (Babel, 75); Torres. Substitutes not used: Cavalieri (gk), Riera, Kelly, Dossena, Ayala.

Aston Villa (4-5-1): Friedel; Beye, Cuellar, Davies, Shorey; Milner, Reo-Coker, Petrov, Sidwell, A Young (Heskey, 80); Agbonlahor. Substitutes not used: Albrighton, Delfouneso, Delph, Guzan (gk), Gardner, Lowry.

Liverpool 4 - Stoke City 0

Premiership Match report

Reporter: The Main (Stand) Man






After the disappointment of both the result and performance at White Hart Lane on Sunday, it was critical that the first home game was exploited to the full by a Liverpool side who have, in all honesty, struggled for form throughout the pre-season period as well. Rafael Benitez made two changes to the starting line-up, the replacement of Skrtel by Daniel Ayala a forced one thanks to the head injury that the former picked up in the challenge with Carragher, with Yossi Benayoun also replacing Ryan Babel after his successful introduction against Spurs. The Anfield crowd seemed to respond to the defeat, being in full voice to give their encouragement to the team against a side they had failed twice to break down last season.

The volume had the desired effect as Liverpool began at a pace akin to that which had been evident at the beginning of the home leg versus Real Madrid in last seasons Champions League encounter at Anfield. A neat passing triangle soon found the ball to send Steven Gerrard running at the Stoke defense, but the skipper was unable to find the required final ball. When Gerrard again made a clever run round the side of the defense, his cross cannoned off Faye straight to Lucas on the edge of the penalty area. He made a clean contact with the ball but was unfortunate to drive it straight into the arms of Sorensen. Stoke had set themselves up to defend in two banks of four, almost inviting Liverpool to attack and break them down. This proved a flawed plan with just four minutes gone as Torres put Liverpool one-nil up.

Gerrard was again the instigator as he picked the ball up ten yards outside the area. He played a neat one-two with Lucas and, despite not hitting the ball across the box as cleanly as he may have liked, it proved not to matter as it fell into the path of the Spanish goal-machine who stroked home from around ten yards out past a helpless Sorensen.

This prompted Stoke to begin to show a little more adventure in their play, forcing a corner after a challenge by Ayala, who was showing no nerves on his debut start for the first team. The corner was easily dealt with, though, and again Liverpool came forward with a decent counter-attacking move. The first bad foul of the game came shortly after, with Dean Whitehead going in for a late challenge on Javier Mascherano which left the reds man lying on the turf in some distress, the Stoke player receiving a yellow card for his efforts.

As the Stoke supporters launched themselves into another irrelevant and inexplicable chorus of the Tom Jones classic ‘Delilah’, Liverpool again came forward with Kuyt finding Glen Johnson with a throughball as the full back made an overlapping run outside him. He took the ball into the penalty area and was looking for a slide rule pass across the goal to find the waiting Torres, but Sorensen was able to get down and smother the ball before to snuff out the danger. Soon, however, it was Liverpool who again went close from a counter attack of their own.

As a Stoke set-piece move from the training ground broke down, the ball fell to Dirk Kuyt on the edge of his own area. He moved forward at speed before finding Fernando Torres racing down the right flank. His cross almost found Kuyt in the box before it dropped to Insua at the far post, but the youngster was unable to control his effort as the ball skipped off the turf and it went just wide of the post. Reina was soon forced to make his first save of the game as a trademark long throw in from Rory Delap was glanced goalwards by Ayala. Fortunately for the youngster, it was directed straight into the waiting arms of the Liverpool keeper. Insua then went on another run down the left and he was found by a perfectly weighted ball from Mascherano. He controlled on his chest and burst into the box, striking a left foot shot that was fired at the Stoke keeper from a narrow angle.

The only real threat from Stoke was coming from the Delap ‘quarterback’ throw-ins which arrowed into the Liverpool area. The reds defence was coping well with the danger, however, with Reina, Carragher and the impressive Ayala dealing with the majority of these situations easily. A ridiculous dive from Faye conned the referee into awarding a freekick to Stoke, and from the resultant kick the ex-bluenose James Beattie was unmarked in the area. His free header went easily within reach of Reina though in a mimic of his form during his spell at Goodison.

Liverpool’s head wound curse struck again as the first half entered its last ten minutes. A cross from Carragher found Torres challenging Shawcross at the back post, and the Spaniard came off worst with a nasty gash above his eye. The ‘stitch tally’ was raised by ten more as Torres was forced off the pitch for treatment, to re-enter the fray several minutes later. After his re-appearance, and with just a minute to go until half time, Liverpool gained a two goal cushion to effectively put at end to any realistic hopes that Stoke may have had. Torres went on a jinking run into the box and his shot deflected off Faye for a corner to the reds. As Gerrard crossed into the area, the ball was put behind for a second corner, and the captain’s repeat ball found Kuyt unmarked in the middle. His header was parried on the line by Beattie, but the rebound went in the air and Glen Johnson, on his home debut, performed a scissor kick which left Sorensen no chance and almost burst the net.

The reds deserved their two goal lead at half time, having been easily superior to their visitors particularly in the attacking stakes. Stoke had relied on winning freekicks and throw-ins around the Liverpool area but defensively, the home side had shown far more composure than in the previous fixture. Benitez saw fit to leave the side unchanged for the start of the second half, even with Torres sporting a large bump where his earlier injury had been sustained.

It was Stoke who came out the better of the two sides, however, and when Ayala headed a corner only marginally over his own crossbar, the subsequent cross came in and was glanced out to Delap lurking near the penalty spot. His effort was goalbound until Pepe Reina pulled out a stunning save, getting down to his left with lightning reactions to deflect the effort away from danger. This was easily Stoke’s best chance of the game, and the disappointment at failing to peg Liverpool back seemed to again send them into their shells. From this point on, Liverpool began to re-establish their dominance with some crisp passing movements. A shot from Gerrard almost fell to Kuyt after Sorensen’s save, and Johnson began to get forward with more frequency than he had done previously. Liverpool were fully in control of the midfield, with Lucas and Mascherano looking comfortable on the ball and spraying the ball wide at every available opportunity. A great ball from Benayoun found another foray forward from Johnson, who cut inside the covering full back and squeezed a left footed shot off, leaving Sorensen to get down quickly to tip it round the post.

A chorus of boos greeted Beattie’s replacement by Ricardo Fuller, although it was unclear whether the reds fans were noisy just because he used to play for Everton or whether they wanted him to stay on the pitch, having had so little impact on the game. Liverpool were cutting through the massed ranks of Stoke with apparent ease at this point, and soon a cross from Dirk Kuyt glanced off the head off Shawcross and Sorensen was forced to tip over his own bar. The reds pushed and pushed for the next ten minutes without any clear cut chances being created, but on 78 minutes the Liverpool captain provided the highlight of the evening. After a lengthy spell of passing and movement outside the Stoke area, Javier Mascherano chipped the ball forward looking for Gerrard. In one movement, the skipper controlled and turned through 270 degrees in one move to leave his marker standing, and he slid across the goal for the waiting Kuyt to tap home. A standing ovation soon followed as Gerrard was replaced by Voronin, and Riera also came on for Kuyt.

Ngog replaced Torres soon after, with Liverpool completely in control of the match, and the Frenchman soon made his mark in injury time following some more excellent play from man-of-the-match contender Glen Johnson. The debutant’s cross was deflected towards goal and Sorensen was forced to scramble back having come off his line in anticipation of the centre. He was only able to palm the ball weakly back into the path of Ngog, who still almost managed to miss, heading against the underside of the crossbar and into the net with no challenge anywhere near him.

The final whistle went without further incident, leaving Liverpool to savour a good win. Following the result at Spurs, hopefully an anomalous one, this performance showed the capabilities of the reds side, and it is to be hoped that this signifies a more confident approach which should see us able to avoid repeats of some of the stupid draws at Anfield last season. If we take a ‘glass half full’ approach, it could be said that we are better off by two points than last season, having lost to Spurs away and only drawn at home to Stoke, although only the eternal optimists among us will imagine this to be indicative of our title chances. Credit where it’s due, though, this was a sound team performance which was fully deserving of the margin of victory, and we can proceed with confidence into the coming fixture against Aston Villa on Monday night. Performances from Ayala, Lucas, and in particular Johnson and Gerrard were outstanding, and may point to the team settling down and playing the type of football that Liverpool are capable of.

Match time and date: KO 20:00. 19 August 2009

Goals: Torres 5, Johnson 45, Kuyt 78, N'Gog 90

Yellow cards: Stoke Whitehead.

Referee: P Walton (Northants).

Attendance: 44,318.

Liverpool (4-2-3-1): Reina (7); Johnson (9), Carragher (7), Ayala (6), Insua (7); Mascherano (8), Lucas (7); Kuyt (7) (Riera (5), 82), Gerrard (8) (Voronin (5), 82), Benayoun (7); Torres (8) (Ngog (5), 85). Substitutes not used: Cavalieri (gk), Babel, Kelly, Dossena.

Stoke City (4-5-1): Sorensen (7); Wilkinson (6), Abdoulaye Faye (6), Shawcross (6), Higginbotham (5); Etherington (4), Delap (5), Whitehead (4) (Pugh (4), 70), Whelan (5), Cresswell (4) (Lawrence (4), 62); Beattie (5) (Fuller (4), 62). Substitutes not used: Simonsen (gk), Griffin, Cort, Kitson.

Tottenham Hotspur 2 - Liverpool 1

Premiership Match report

Reporter: The Main (Stand) Man




With all reds fans heartened by the drubbing handed down to our blue brethren a day earlier, Liverpool travelled to White Hart Lane to commence their Premier League campaign in the London sunshine. Several questions remained until shortly before kick off when the team was announced, not least who would form the central defensive partnership given the injuries to Carragher, Skrtel and Agger during the pre-season. In the end it was Carragher and Skrtel who made the line-up, joined by Insua and Johnson as the full backs. The midfield saw Kuyt, Mascherano, Gerrard, Babel and Lucas take to the field, and Torres was passed fit to play leaving Voronin and Ngog on the bench.

Spurs started the brighter of the two sides, forcing a corner within the first three minutes after some sloppy play by Liverpool near to their own corner flag. Liverpool soon began to show some promise, however, Torres looking eager to drive at the heart of the Tottenham defense and Babel unlucky not to go clean through after he failed to control a difficult long pass from Carragher. Johnson then linked up with Kuyt down the right to win a corner, but the resultant cross came to nothing, sailing as it did over all heads in the penalty area. The game settled down after these initial exchanges, with both teams finding space at a premium thanks to some hard work to close each other down.

A bizaare incident then threatened to leave the reds without any centre halves on the pitch at all. Carragher and Skrtel both went for the same high ball under no pressure from any Spurs players. The two collided with Carragher ‘heading’ the underside of Skrtel’s jaw, leaving both prostrated on the turf. Thankfully, Skrtel was able to continue and Carragher returned to the fray after a couple of minutes with a Terry Butcher style bandage round his head. Moments later a half chance for Tottenham saw Lennon and Keane getting in each others way with the former ready to pull the trigger.

Lennon was then booked for a late challenge on Skrtel, leaving his foot in after Skrtel had manoeuvred the ball round him. In all truth, moments like these were to prove the only interesting moments of the first 30 minutes, with no clear chances created by either side. Shortly after the half hour mark, Gerrard let fly with a 25 yard shot which went narrowly wide. Pepe Reina then proved the hero with a stunning save from Keane. A long cross found Modric at the far side of the Liverpool box, his control was good and he stabbed the ball back across the goal to find Keane in yards of space. With the goal at his mercy, Keane did as the textbooks say and directed his header downwards, but it went too close to Reina who showed good reactions to dive to his left and claw the ball clear. Mascherano was then ridiculously booked for not being able to get out of the way of Lennon as he made his way across the field in front of the Liverpool penalty area. Reina then made a second great save as Modric’s ball found Keane racing through. His attempted chip found Reina standing tall and he was able to parry the ball to safety.

Liverpool’s most promising move of the half resulted when Gerrard picked the ball up in midfield. A typical driving run towards the Spurs box allowed him to find Babel on the left but the Dutchman was unable to find Torres in the middle after the striker had made a good run in front of the defender. Assou-Ekotto then attempted to get Kuyt booked with a dive more deserving of an Oscar than a freekick, but thankfully Phil Dowd had the sense to award nothing more than. Unfortunately, the defender was then able to put Spurs ahead with an unstoppable shot.

Skrtel fouled Palacios on the edge of the area, and the subsequent shot from the set-piece rebounded off the wall to Assou-Ekotto. He unleashed a left foot shot which gave Reina no chance from all of 25 yards out right into the top corner of the net. Liverpool looked to respond immediately, with Skrtel’s long ball finding Kuyt just unable to control the ball for a one-on-one situation. All of a sudden the reds began to come forward with more purpose, looking to attack the Spurs defense at last. The referee, though, blew the half time whistle with all of the Liverpool players no doubt fearing some harsh words from Benitez in the dressing room. In truth, it had been an extremely disappointing 45 minutes, with poor passing, no penetration and, from some, a lack of desire seeming to show through.

Liverpool won an early corner following the restart, which Gerrard took and swung out to the edge of the area. The ball ended up close to the opposite corner, and Insua was dispossessed, with Lennon picking up the loose ball when played forward. The youngster went on a surging run, skipping past three Liverpool players before finally being robbed of the ball by Lucas on the edge of the reds area. Liverpool then went close themselves, with Kuyt finding Torres who laid off for Gerrard, but the skipper’s shot went inches wide of the upright.

It was beginning to look like more of a contest, although still Liverpool’s passing play was not good enough to provoke hopes of an equaliser anytime soon. It was Spurs who again went close on 53 minutes, with Defoe finding Palacios in acres of space just outside the Liverpool area. His rasping shot was just within reach for Reina, however, and his outstretched arm tipped the ball over the bar.

The reds were awarded a penalty moments later, though, after a jinking run from Johnson led him into the area. With Gomes rushing from his line to challenge, Johnson flicked the ball past him leaving the keeper with no chance of avoiding a collision. Gerrard stepped up and dispatched the penalty with aplomb, despite the taunts of the Spurs fans attempting to distract him.

The referee then put Jamie Carragher’s name in the book for a foul on Defoe, and from the freekick Spurs retook the lead. A floated ball into the box found Bassong’s head highest and his flicked effort went past the despairing dive of Reina. Benitez soon after decided to introduce Yossi Benayoun into the proceedings in an attempt to spice up Liverpool’s attacking play. Babel was sacrificed having failed again to make any kind of significant contribution to the game, although in his defense he was far from the only one. Peter Crouch also came on for Robbie Keane, the two ex-Liverpool players swapped in a tactical move from Harry Redknapp.

Torres then went close from a Glen Johnson cross following the best passage of play in the entire match from Liverpool. Some fluent passing went through much of the team before the chance was created, and this seemed to inspire the reds that they could actually get something from the game. Another good move ended with a shot from Gerrard’s left foot, and although he was able to draw a save from Gomes, the shot from his weaker side did not carry the required pace to seriously trouble the keeper.

Daniel Ayala then replaced Skrtel at the heart of the defence, the Croatian still troubled by the head injury received earlier in the game. Kuyt was replaced by Voronin soon after in an attacking move from Rafa, with Spurs just starting to sit back on their lead leaving a little more space in the middle of the park for Liverpool to work in. The home side had begun to look to floating balls up to Crouch to keep the ball in the Liverpool half, a move which would seem to provide hope that Liverpool could begin to pick up more possession. This proved to be the case, with Gerrard swinging in a ball towards Torres which King was lucky to deflect back into the arms of his keeper with his outstretched leg.

O’Hara replaced Modric for Tottenham, with the clock ticking ominously onwards towards the final whistle. A shout for another penalty soon followed, with a beautiful ball from Benayoun almost finding Voronin on the end of it. The forward was bundled over with no attempt by the Spurs defence to play the ball, but Phil Dowd shook his head and refused to grant the spotkick. When Assou-Ekotto was struck by the ball in his penalty area shortly after, again the Liverpool players were vocal in their appeal for handball which was again turned down. Sammy Lee was then dismissed from the bench for complaining about the decisions a little too vocally for the liking of the officials, which only served to waste more time. As the game went into time added on, Redknapp brought on Pavlyuchenko to waste a few seconds, and shortly afterwards Dowd blew the whistle to condemn the reds to their first opening day defeat for seven years.

All in all, Liverpool did not deserve to take three points from this game, taking too long to get into their stride and allowing Spurs far too many opportunities after surrendering possession too easily and standing off the attackers for too long as they surged forward. With a home game against Stoke to come on Wednesday night, Liverpool will need to kickstart their season immediately to prevent a gap opening up this early in the season, and to do this there must be a more concerted effort from all concerned. It was only the introduction of Benayoun which seemed to open the game up, with Torres hounded off the ball on many occasions and Gerrard unable to exert too much influence from his advanced midfield position. Whilst the nay-sayers will no doubt imagine their opinions surrounding the departure of Alonso to be reaffirmed by this result, in truth the Spaniard would have been unlikely to be able to provide inspiration for the entire team, and this collective lack of drive is the true reason that Liverpool lost today.

Match time and date: KO 16:00. 16 August 2009

Goals: Tottenham Hotspur: Assou-Ekotto 44, Bassong 59. Liverpool: Gerrard (pen) 56

Yellow cards: Gomes, Assou-Ekotto, Lennon, Mascherano, Skrtel, Carragher

Referee: Dowd

Attendance: 35,935

Tottenham Hotspur: 01 Gomes, 19 Bassong, 22 Corluka, 26 King, 32 Assou-Ekotto, 06 Huddlestone, 07 Lennon, 12 Palacios, 14 Modric (O'Hara 83), 10 Keane (Crouch 68), 18 Defoe (Pavlyuchenko 90+2)
Substitutes: 23 Cudicini, 02 Hutton, 16 Naughton, 05 Bentley, 24 O'Hara, 09 Pavlyuchenko, 15 Crouch

Liverpool: 25 Reina, 02 Johnson, 22 Insua, 23 Carragher, 37 Skrtel (Ayala 75), 08 Gerrard, 20 Mascherano, 21 Lucas, 09 Torres, 18 Kuyt (Voronin 79) 19 Babel (Benayoun 67)
Substitutes: 01 Cavalieri, 34 Kelly, 38 Dossena, 15 Benayoun, 26 Spearing, 40 Ayala, 10 Voronin