7 Points Adrift

Liverpool 1 Manchester City 1
Kuyt 78 - Bellamy 48

A Craig Bellamy's goal spoilt Liverpool hopes of chasing Manchester United in the Premier League. Every match is a must win and looking at Ferguson's men form, it's hard for them to drop a single point. With Rafa's future in doubt, I really wonder what's holding for Liverpool Football Club in the subsequent months and the future.

We have been coming from behind and made like 7 comebacks this season. Dirk Kuyt equaliser somehow gave the fans some hope we might snatch a late winner, but somehow, we can't always depend on comebacks to win.

We have to be consistent in producing results, week in week out. We have to be more penetrating in our attacks, converting chances. No matter what happen in the future, let the feet do the talking and after which, any sort of full control, contract terms can come later. I really hope that we don't have to start all over again.

7 points is a big gap. But in football, things may change and you will never know until the end. "With hope in your heart.. " as the Liverpool fans have always sing.

You'll Never Walk Alone..

Liverpool 1 PSV 0

Team of the day..
Reina, Riise, Hyypia (captain), Agger, Arbeloa, Zenden, Sissoko, Alonso, Pennant, Crouch, Bellamy.
Subs - Dudek, Gerrard MBE, Paletta, Mascherano, Gonzalez, Fowler, Carragher

Match Highlights..

Liverpool V PSV Match report
Uploaded by redhalfofmerseyside

Louis' Comments..

With a 3-0 lead, Liverpool was as I expected, didn't went out firing, instead, kept possession of the ball and making sure that PSV don't have chance of comebacks. Rafa put up a less-strong team with Steven Gerrard, Jamie Carragher, Steve Finnan rested.

When I switch on the TV, I saw Sami Hyypia being the captain. It's been sometime we seen the big Finn wearing the armband for us.

The match wasn't a spectacular as Liverpool was just trying to keep the ball and protect their 3 goals lead. However, PSV had a chance early with Farfan header being tipped over by Reina. If that would have gone in, things might have different.



No teams were willing to put up the gear and Liverpool had some chances though. We managed to score a goal through Peter Crouch after we had some space due to the sent off to PSV. Riise put a low cross from the left and was deflected the goal. Gomes made a great save, however, Fowler was there to cross the ball back to Crouch to put in this 18th goal of the season.



Xabi Alonso was playing well in the middle and I believe he's such an important player for us. Whenever he's around, he stabilizes the midfield and give rooms for the rest to roam and attack. Last night, he was just doing his job in front of the back four and I really thought he did it really well. His control and tackling was spot on and Liverpool really need him around to achieve more. Well done Xabi!



Another player who did improve last night is Momo Sissoko. Yes, we just know how bad his passing and control is. However, he played last night's match pretty well. His control was much better and passing was not as bad as before. His runs and tackling made a presence in the middle. You may argue that it's just a match performance, but I guess any improvement is always good and I really hope that Momo can play better from now.



Craig Bellamy was stretchered early in the first half and it didn't look good as he tackled the ball while defending for us. I hope that he's okay and ready to play for us. He can provide Liverpool another type of approach and it's good to have more options up front. I pray hard it's not too serious.



Most importantly, we had done our job and enter the Champions League Semi-final. With a 4-0 aggregate, I believe that our job was already done at The Philips Stadium.
No doubts, we were the better team over the 2 legs and at this moment, we might go all the way.

Chelsea is the next stop and history may repeat itself. You'll just never know..

You'll Never Walk Alone..

LIVERPOOL 0 MANCHESTER UNITED 1

Team of the day..
Reina, Riise, Agger, Carragher, Finnan, Gonzalez, Sissoko, Alonso, Gerrard MBE (captain), Bellamy, Kuyt.
Subs - Hyypia, Aurelio, Pennant, Crouch, Dudek

Louis' Comments..

A match which I was devastated after watching the game. I was away on a chalet hence, watching the game outside with my friends at a nearby restaurant aka pub. A game which I was really looking forward to and I was wearing our jersey while watching.

I guess we started as underdogs as Man Utd is the on form team and just look at the standings of the league, you could see the difference. Liverpool started playing not too bad and were passing fluently. However, there isn't much penetration during attacks and although we have lots of shots and corners, we didn't much chances.

Bellamy was good at his runs behind defenders and we had a open goal chance created by him, but unfortunately, Kuyt was slow in tapping the ball into the goal. It's a crucial chance as at that moment, we really needed to score and put pressure on them.

John Arne Riise had a freekick just outside the penalty area and the ball was just wide of Van der saar's right hand post. I was almost off the seat when I saw his shot heading towards to the goal.

It's a tight game and Manchester United was dangerous on their counter attacks. Ronaldo had quick feet and whenever he's on the run, you could sense danger to the Liverpoool's defence and goal. Credit to our defenders, we didn't give much chances to them and were fast closing down on them.

Peter Crouch was brought in and he had a great chance right at the end. Kuyt managed to cross a ball from the right and Crouch was quick in chesting it down and make a shot. Van der saar was in full stretch and make a magnificent save. Awesome goalkeeping. I was already off my seat and had my hands on my head.

At that moment, I had a wierd feeling as we started to miss chances like this. In football, if you miss chances, especially crucial ones in crucial moments, it will cost you. Sadly, ManUtd managed to score one in the 91st minute despite having Paul Scholes sent off. A freekick from the left and John O Shea managed to whack into the goal after some pinball in the penalty box.

KO! The game is over. ManUtd is so lucky in this game and I truly thought that we deserved at least a point. It seems like ManUtd always have the edge over us and for this time, it was no exception. Frustrated and pissed, but this is football. It's not the first time we had to suffer such bitter disappointments.

Credit to Manchester United, they have luck on their side and they took their chance. One great chance, and they punished us. A sucker punch and Liverpool have to learn from this. As what Sir Alex Ferguson, you need such luck to win the championship. Liverpool, unfortunately, is lacking of this and we have to improve much more.

It's a disappointing game and it's just don't feel good losing and especially to our arch rivals. They were lucky and we have to forget this game and move on from here. There isn't much matches to play for Liverpool and we have Barcelona coming up, a very important match for us.

Walk on..

You'll Never Walk Alone..

BARCELONA 1 LIVERPOOL 2

Scorers: Bellamy 43min, John Arne Riise 74min

Team of the day..
Reina, Riise, Agger, Carragher, Arbeloa, Bellamy, Alonso, Gerrard MBE (c), Sissoko, Finnan, Kuyt.
Subs - Crouch, Dudek, Gonzalez, Hyypia, Mascherano, Pennant, Zenden

Match Highlights..


Louis' Comments..
A match all Liverpool fans will remember and be proud of. It's an great achievement to be able to win away against the mighty Barcelona at the Nou Camp.

The match was predicted to be a great game and it didn't failed to be. I was fully concentrated on the game even 4am in the morning. A surprising line-up which gave Alvaro Arbeloa was given his full debut, while Craig Bellamy and Dirk Kuyt was up front instead of the expected Peter Crouch.

We had a good start however, somehow, Barcelona seems to have settled down earlier and they were controlling the game. They managed to score a goal through a Deco's header in the early 14th minute and to be frank, I was starting to worry. We should have keep the ball tight and make sure that Barca won't be able to score. Still, we were 1-0 down in the 14th minute.

Barcelona grew confidence and started spraying balls across the fields. They almost added another to the tally but Pepe Reina was there to block Deco's shot. I was hoping the Liverpool defence were able to hold on.

As the half time approaches, Craig Bellamy was there to score an vital away goal with a header. At the first moment, I thought the goalkeeper had saved it. But, on the second look, the ball went in and I was smiling. The away goal was so important and I knew, we stood a chance of winning.

In the second half, I thought we played really well. We were stable and Barcelona players just can't do much to break down Liverpool's defence. They had possession, lots of them but couldn't have the chance to have a go at Reina's net.

We had a indirect freekick in the penalty box and Gerrard didn't have the cleanest of shots but Valdes had to save with his legs. The rebounded ball was cross beautifully by Alonso but so unfortunately, Dirk Kuyt couldn't convert his best chance of the game. He should have head it in. He was too wasteful during the match, I was afraid that these missed chances would cost us dearly. Yes, Dirk worked his socks off for the team, however, being a striker, he has to be more clinical in his finish. We don't get much chances against the likes of Barcelona.



Fortunately, Riise was there to give us our winning goal. A great ball from Craig Bellamy and Riise scored the goal with his RIGHT foot. It seems to me that Riise scores with his RIGHT foot for the first time. A excellent finish and we were 2-1 up. I was already off my seat.

Leading 2-1 up with 16 minutes to go was unbelievable. I didn't expect us to score 2 goals, let alone win the game. We managed to hang on despite Deco's freework was against the woodwork. The team worked very hard and I believe it's a great result to bring back to Anfield.


Craig Bellamy and John Arne Riise. The 2 players who were in the headlines of the past week for the wrong reasons, proved their worth and showed the world that they still can work together. Both players played well and their goals were very important for us. Craig worked hard and the Barca defence had a hard time tracking his runs all night. John Arne Riise always seems to score crucial goals and this time, it's something special with his RIGHT foot.




Momo Sissoko was my Match of the Match. He's an essential player and he played an important role in last night's win. His hard tackling and presence gave the Barcelona players no time and his interceptions in the midfield was just awesome. He worked real hard for the team and although, he may not be the most skilled player in the team, I believe this young lad has lots to offer for the club and his performance was one of the best against the elites.

Rafa Benitez. Our gaffer had done a great job. His tactics were spot-on and knew Barcelona inside out. Without any doubt, he's one of the best managers in the world and he proved that last night. Barcelona was neutralised by our tactics. Ronaldinho, Lionel Messi, Saviola, Xavi were not given much space and that's probably the key to our win.

Of course, it's just only half-time. There's one more match to go. The advantage is with us and we have to make sure we get hold on this. Barcelona, without a doubt, is one the best teams around, however, I believe we can hold them and make sure they can't do much at Anfield. Having faced them once before, the players should be able to know what they are playing for and they themselves know this is a great opportunity to knock the champions out.

It's not the best performance by Liverpool, still, it's the best result.

You'll Never Walk Alone..