Saturday, December 27, 2008

3 Points At Home, Finally

Liverpool 3 Bolton 0
Riera 26, Keane 52, 58



Boxing day matches always proved to be crucial over the years and it's nice to see Liverpool getting the win at Anfield which they have been working on for the last few weeks. 5 draws in the last few meetings have frustrates the Anfield faithfuls. 2 goals from under-fire Robbie Keane and Spanish winger Albert Riera.

All of us were wondering whether Fernando Torres and of course, our manager, Rafa Benitez will be back for this game. Their absence has been sorely missed by all and it just pleased me seeing both up in the stands at Anfield. This shows that both are getting fit and will be back to where they should be.

Fernando Torres


Here's Rafa in all smiles!


Back to the game, like for all matches, we have to breakdown the Great Wall built by opposition who comes to Anfield. Failing to score will naturally lead to a loss or a 2 points dropped. That's why we have been drawing too much home games, we just couldn't break down the defence. Fortunately, Liverpool patience passing and width across the pitch paid dividends.



Albert Riera was the first to the ball from a Steven Gerrard's corner and toe-poked into the net. Third goal for his first season and what a signing he has been. He was menacing on the left wing, gave Bolton defenders hell of a time with his twists and turns.

Once deadlock was broken, somehow there was relief around, knowing that Bolton would have to attack, the game would open up and the home side will have more space and attack. On the 52th minute, a brilliant through pass by Stevie was well finished by Robbie Kean with his left foot. You could see the difference of Robbie after his stunner at the Emirates.



6 minutes later, this goal just proved that we do can play counter-attacking football. A corner for Bolton was well caught by Pepe Reina. A quick throw to Xabi Alonso and you could see the whole red sea was going forward. Right to Benayoun who unselfishly squared to Robbie Keane finished his second goal of the evening.

3 goals, 3 points. Top of the league. With Chelsea and Manchester United both winning, we have to make sure we remains on top. Better performance, better attacking styles, better football. We got to keep it going, St James' Park up next.

You'll Never Walk Alone..

Monday, December 22, 2008

Points Shared At Emirates

Arsenal 1 Liverpool 1
VanPersie 24 - Keane 43



Normally, a point at the Emirates is a good result. However, looking at last night's circumstances and performance, I do feel disappointed that we didn't take maximum points at Arsene Wenger's backyard. With Sammy Lee standing in for Rafa, somehow, I could feel that something is missing. Rafa's presence is very important and even more especially in such a close and competitive match.

Still, the match has to go on and in just 24 minutes in the game, Robin VanPersie, had a moment of brilliance. Chested down the ball and struck an unstoppable shot past Pepe Reina. Bullet as it seemed, it was breathtaking.

Credit to Liverpool, we kept cool and maintained the shape of the team. We continued to press on and just before half time, a high ball by Daniel Agger met beautifully onto Keane's path, who didn't make any mistake with a half volley into the net. Brilliant strike! Somehow, we managed to get the equaliser which shocked the home team a while. We almost get the second just before half time, with Stevie missing a glorious chance.

I thought we could go on and get the second goal. But unfortunately, despite Arsenal having a man down, we didn't attack. Or I should say, our attacks were slow. No penetration and predictable in our plays. Was frustrated watching the players playing so cautiously instead of attacking, making use of the numerical advantage. I do not know why, is it because of Rafa's absence? Or the players were satisfied with a point?

Looking at this result, we have dropped so many points. Manchester United and Chelsea will be smiling seeing both Liverpool and Arsenal drawing. Just on our performance, you could see that we are not there yet, sadly so. It's just matter of time we would lose our leadership and end up chasing the rest.

Looks like we fans have to wait a little longer..

You'll Never Walk Alone..

Tuesday, December 16, 2008

2 Points Dropped... Again!

Liverpool 2 Hull City 2
Gerrard 24, 32 - McShane 12, Carragher (og)22



Once again, a disappointing draw at Anfield. What else can I say? Frustrated and many are scratching their heads, thinking whether Liverpool are title challengers material. 3rd or 4th draw at home? I don't know, I lost count. All I know all these draws are points being dropped dearly, which I pray hard, do not come back haunting right at the end.

This time, it's Hull City. Phil Brown's side came with confidence, knowing the fact that they have beaten Arsenal and Tottenham at their backyards. To become title contenders, we don't care who comes to visit us, we just have to grab maximum points. Strangely, our home form ain't that consistent as expected.

Hull got 2 goals early. Credit to Paul McShane's lopping header and our Jamie Carragher's own goal. It's ridiculous to see Carragher scoring an own goal again, under that kind of circumstances. With no one pressuring him, he just turned the cross into his own net. I simply don't understand what was going on with him. As far I'm concerned, this is definitely not the first time seeing him scoring such stupid own goals.

As always this season, we will never throw in the towel just yet. Credits to the players, they did continue to pressure and kept fighting. Captain Stevie, who else? Scoring both goals, bringing the game into equality within 10 minutes. I didn't celebrate for both goals which I normally will do. I'm probably still upset with the fact we conceded 2 early goals which made our life so difficult at the end. We seems to love to play the hard way.

Second half didn't give us any winners. We failed to score the third goal and we sorely missed Fernando Torres. There were chances created but were mostly failed at the final third or ball which I felt Torres would make a difference. Credits to Hull, they defended well and was resilent.

Another 2 points dropped, once again. Somehow, the other teams drew too. Lady luck is around the corner but I'm sure we will run out of it. We have to play better and get the right results. With just a point ahead, it is still everyone's game.

Up next, Emirates.

Goals



In other news..

As I'm typing this entry, the latest news have just shown that Paul Ince, our ex-Liverpool player has been sacked as manager of Blackburn Rovers. Sad to see him being sacked so early in his mangerial career. Yes, results are bad, but somehow, it's seems like a trend of sacking managers. Unfortunately, he was not given much time and patience ran out at Blackburn. All the best, Paul Ince!

You'll Never Walk Alone..

Saturday, December 13, 2008

Top of Group!

PSV 1 Liverpool 3
Lazovic 37 - Babel 45, Riera 69, Ngog 78



It was not telecast live over here in Singapore, therefore I could only watch the highlights over the internet. Good goals by Babel, Riera and Ngog were enough for us to secure the top spot and this would mean that second leg of the next knock out round will be at Anfield. This is very important especially in a 2-legged knockout phase.

It's nice to see us winning even we did not field the best team, able to rest some key players and this is a big squad should be all about. Squad depth is essential especially for a long seasons with so many matches to play for.

Let's look forward who we draw next. :)

Match Highlights

You'll Never Walk Alone..

Sunday, December 7, 2008

Critical Win At Ewood Park

Blackburn 1 Liverpool 3
SantaCruz 86 - Alonso 70, Benayoun 79, Gerrard 90
AR Match of the Match: Alonso



After 2 matches of home draws, Liverpool fans including myself are frustrated that we dropped 4 points in 2 games which we could have totally taken 6 instead. Leading on the top of table with just 1 point, it's very important for us to keep winning no matter what, as we know Manchester United, Chelsea and Arsenal would be just right behind us.

A line-up which saw Insua, Babel and Mascherano back. Dirk Kuyt was playing lone-striker, with Gerrard just playing behind. Blackburn was fast in closing down and they were fighting their lives out. Once a Liverpool player has the ball, they came flying in, without giving any chance of a second touch. The first half saw us with plenty of the ball but there were no width and penetration in our final third.

The second half was better and you could see Liverpool pressing really hard to get the most important goal of the game. Steven Gerrard was being man-marked all the time and credits to him, he managed to get rid of them, played really well in the middle. Left back, Insua had a decent game and it seemed that he could be another option for Rafa.



We got our rewards in the 70 minute. This time, Xabi Alonso scored with a brilliant pass into the goal. Placement as it seemed, you could see how intelligent Xabi is, giving Paul Robinson no chance at all.



9 minutes later, we got our second goal of the game through Yossi Benayoun. The Israel captain was showing that he could feature in Rafa's plans with a nice dribble past former Liverpool player, Stephen Warnock and finished it off in style.

Blackburn gave a scare with a goal back by Santa Cruz. Poor defending and concentration showed by the defence and there was no wonder Pepe Reina was furious concededing the goal. Rafa's men managed to held on, kept the ball and Stevie G added one more at the end, killing off any hopes of comeback from Paul Ince's men.

With the rest of the Big 4 winning, we have to keep up the pace and concentrate on the staying on top. Consistency is the key if we wishes to challenge for the title. On the other note, I do hope Blackburn would give Paul Ince more time to prove himself. I do hope to see our ex Liverpool player doing well in his managerial career, but of course, not against us.

You'll Never Walk Alone..

Saturday, December 6, 2008

Fernando Torres vs Hank

Want to see our number 9 against the Hank? Take a look!



Looks like Torres is having fun!

You'll Never Walk Alone..

Friday, December 5, 2008

Quick Update of Last 2 Matches

Liverpool 0 West Ham 0

A disappointing result and we lost a great chance going 3 points clear on top of the table. Failure to score, take chances and hence, frustration builds in more while the West Ham defence gained confidence in defence. There was no penetration towards goal and it couldn't help but feeling the pain of losing the chance of able to pounce on the loss of Chelsea against Arsenal. Nevertheless, like our King Kenny has said, let's just enjoy being on top.

Liverpool 1 Marseille 0
Gerrard 23

A Steven Gerrard header was good enough to settle for 3 points which led Liverpool to qualify for the last 16. Not the best and convincing performance but the result was the most important. 3 points in the bag, with one more game to go. The last game will then determine who will lead the group.

Goal

You'll Never Walk Alone..

Tuesday, November 25, 2008

Gerrard Clay The Pigeon!

Saw this on Adidas. You gotta see how our Captain strikes the ball! Brilliant!



Play With More Power..

You'll Never Walk Alone..

Sunday, November 23, 2008

Fulham Frustrates Reds At Anfield

Liverpool 0 Fulham 0
AR Man of the Match: Torres




A must win game at home against highly determined Fulham turned out to be a disappointing and frustrating draw. With Captain Steven Gerrard out due to injury, Rafa has somehow decided to play Lucas with Mascherano in the middle, leaving Alonso on the bench. I'm sure many Liverpool fans like myself are wondering why is Xabi not playing.

With no play makers in the team, it's not surprising to see that Liverpool didn't dominate the game which they should have. Lucas and Mascherano are both defensive minded players while Fernando Torres was working very hard alone to get the goal which the home side needed desperately.

Robbie Keane had a glorious chance to give us the lead, but somehow, his finishing were questionable at times. I just felt that we couldn't afford to miss chances when there is one coming. That miss proved so crucial which saw Liverpool losing 2 points instead of gaining one.

The only positive thing we can think of from this result is probably both Chelsea and Manchester United were held to goalless draws too. This weekend results just remained as it is at the top. Level on points with Chelsea which everyone felt that we could have taken over the pole position should we got the 3 points.

Gutted of not able to take maximum points, we have to move on to the next match and this time, we need to do that.

Highlights

You'll Never Walk Alone..

Sunday, November 16, 2008

2 Headers Gave Reds Win

Bolton 0 Liverpool 2
Kuyt 28, Gerrard 73
AR Match of the Match: Alonso



Oh well, when there's a photo of Steven Gerrard and Fernando Torres celebrating together, I just couldn't help uploading. Oh yes, back to main topic. Away at the Reebok stadium, a 2-0 win is always good enough. 2 headers from Dirk Kuyt and Steven Gerrard gave the away side 3 points.

With Arbeloa suspended with 5 yellows cards, Carragher was switched to right back while Sami Hyypia was in the centre of defence with Daniel Agger. The centre back pairing had a horrendous performance in midweek's League Cup clash. Fortunately, for this game, they managed to keep a clean sheet.



As expected, Liverpool dominating the game with master midfielder Alonso spraying passes around. In 28th minute, once again, Flying Dutchman Dirk Kuyt scoring a brilliant header from Aurelio cross. A curling cross from the Brazilian left-back was well-executed by Kuyt's stunning head. He's been red hot form for Rafa and keeping the right midfield slot exclusively.

Chances came flooding with Robbie Keane missing the first. Somehow, it worried a little due to the fact that we couldn't score the second goal to kill off the game. Bolton came out attacking in the second half and gave Pepe Reina a few scares. Liverpool fans were reminded of the same situation not long ago against Spurs, in which we had a lead and we couldn't find the second goal. We lost the game in the end.



Torres came in and his pace upfront was threatening to Bolton's defenders. Without any doubt and luckily for us, his cross was headed in by Captain Steven Gerrard, scoring the second goal we desperately needed. We just love to see both of them celebrating isn't it? :)

With 2 goals cushion, it killed Bolton of any hopes in the game. We had many chances from Torres and Lucas to get the third, but luckily, at that time, we could afford to miss chances. 3 points in the bag.

Goals

You'll Never Walk Alone..

Friday, November 14, 2008

Awful Defending Ends Carling Cup Run

Tottenham 4 Liverpool 2
Pavlyuchenko 38, 53, Campbell 42, 45 - Plessis 49, Hyypia 63

Conceding 3 goals within 6 minutes? It's probably something we seldom see in Rafa Benitez's team. Defending was woeful which allowed Tottenham to end Liverpool's Carling Cup run early. Defenders which include Dossena, Degen, Hyypia and Agger, were terribly poor in almost everything. Marking, positioning and heading first ball upon crosses.

We didn't threaten the goal in the first 45 minutes at all and we were already 3 goals down at half-time. The first attack got us a goal right after half time with Plessis scoring a header from a Babel's corner. When there was a little hope of a comeback, our defence went AWOL again and conceded another.

Failing to defend properly and losing control in mifield were just sucide in any football matches. Liverpool were just a perfect example of it. Despite Hyypia adding another header to make the scores look less thrashing, it's just somehow tells me that it's a game for players to prove themselves and improve their fitness.

It's always feels bad to lose a game, but well, it's only Carling Cup! I remember Rafa saying this phrase few years back when he was criticised of losing out in this cup tournament too. "I didn't come to England to win the Carling Cup!"

Bolton up next!

You'll Never Walk Alone..

Wednesday, November 12, 2008

Summary of Last Week Matches

Just a quick summary on each of the games played last week. Starting from the latest.

8 Nov'08

Liverpool 3 WBA 0
Keane 34, 43 Arbeloa 90



A double from Robbie Keane and rare goal from Arbeloa gave Liverpool a comfortable win at Anfield. I did not managed to get to watch the match myself but watching the highlights showed that the home side controlled the match and it's a good to win after suffering its first defeat against Spurs last weekend.

Goals

4 Nov'08

Liverpool 1 Atletico Madrid 1
Gerrard 90 - Maxi Rodriguez 38



Liverpool had a late lucky penalty against the Spanish side. Steven Gerrard got the penalty practically on the last minute of the game while Atletico Madrid was denied a victory at Anfield. Liverpool didn't play that well, but nevertheless, it's an important point and Stevie is the one who scored the deciding penalty, once again.

Goals

1 Nov'08

Tottenham 2 Liverpool 1
Carragher (og) 68, Pavlyuchenko 90 - Kuyt 3



The first defeat in the league which I felt pretty unjust and left wondering on how earth we manage to lose after dominating. Dirk Kuyt's early strike was brilliant. For long periods of the game, we threatened the goal and hit the post twice. I guess we need some luck for that. We lost control of the game and somehow, Carragher's own goal changed the complex of the game. These things happen in football, Harry Redknapp's men got the late winner right at the end unfortunately.

Goals

You'll Never Walk Alone..

Friday, November 7, 2008

Busy Schedule!

Sincere apologises for the lack of updates. I've been busy recently and will continue to be in the upcoming weeks or even months. I will update matches when opportunity arises.

Recent form dropped a little against Spurs and Athletico Madrid. But on the whole, results are pretty okay. We need to keep holding on and produce results week in week out. *Fingers crossed*
Come on Rafa and Co!

You'll Never Walk Alone..

Friday, October 31, 2008

Gerrard's Penalty Enough For 3 Points

Liverpool 1 Portsmouth 0
Gerrard pen 75



Match was not telecast over here in Singapore. A Steven Gerrard's penalty was good enough for Liverpool to get the 3 valuable points. Gotta keep getting results even if the team is not playing well. White Hart Lane is next.

Goals

You'll Never Walk Alone..

Tuesday, October 28, 2008

FanZone! It's Chelsea Vs Liverpool !

Here we go again! FanZone!



LOOK AT THE BADGE! ENJOY!

You'll Never Walk Alone..

86 Matches Unbeaten Record Broken!

Chelsea 0 Liverpool 1
Alonso 10
AR Man of the Match: Carragher



Fantastic result! 1-0 at Stamford Bridge while its formidable 86 matches unbeaten record was finally broken! By Rafa Benitez's men and it's his first league victory over the Blues away from home. It's been sometime since we've tasted victory over Chelsea, definitely, it felt really good. You could see it from the players' expressions after the final whistle was blown, how much this victory meant to them and the fans.

I have to admit, Chelsea do have world class individual players. Their attacks were fast and there's no time for the Liverpool defence to think twice or whatsoever as any slight hesitation, Lampard & Co will punish you. Scolari's has developed Chelsea into a attacking side, similiar to Brazil style of play.

Fortunately, Rafa's defensive and counter-attacking plan at Stamford Bridge worked brilliantly. Chelsea's flow of attacks were denied every now and then, with Jamie Carragher being the heart of defence, fighting his life out. Closing down on every occasion, Lampard and Deco was kept quiet by Mascherano. With Gerrard playing just behind Robbie Keane, Liverpool's counter-attacking was effective and gave John Terry's defence scares throughout the match.



Alonso was probably playing one of his best matches in his career, controlling the midfield and not to forget, he got the solitary and winning goal of the game. Tackling for every single ball in the midfield, not allowing the home side to play their fast football. On the other hand, we had our own passing rhythm. It's been so long I can see Liverpool playing one-touch passing so quickly and accurately. Kuyt, Keane, Gerrard, Riera, the 4-man attacking shape which Rafa has devised, were brilliant in their positions.

It's hard to find a Man of the Match, it seems like everyone deserved it as every player kept to his task and gave their all in this outstanding performance. 86 matches unbeaten home record is finally broken and it's by Liverpool.

It's time to calm down and concentrate on the next game in midweek. 3 points is what it matters where there's no room for mistakes or points dropped. The season is long marathon and we are just in the beginning. We need to work really hard in every game, taking maximum points. One game at a time.

Goals

You'll Never Walk Alone..

Thursday, October 23, 2008

Keane's Strike Not Enough For 3 points

Atletico Madrid 1 Liverpool 1
Simao 83 - Keane 14
AR Man of The Match: Alonso



The much highly anticipated game in Vicente Calderon Stadium, against Atletico Madrid. Unfortunately for Fernando Torres, he was not able to make it back to his hometown and the club where he started his career. Florent Sinama Pongolle and Luis Garcia, the 2 ex-Liverpool players were up against us last night while Rafa was determined to get 3 points back home.

It's nice to see Luis Garcia and Pongolle again. These 2 players were great servants to Liverpool during their time here and they were in the winning Champions League team in 2005. Well, friendships and memories were probably put aside once the match started.

The away side was able to control the game right from the start, managing the game's tempo and in the 14th minute, Rafa's men were up ahead. A through pass by Captain Stevie set for Robbie Keane to score his 2nd goal for the club, second consecutive goal in the Champions League. There were suspicion of offside and the linemen for the night were terrible in their decisions.

Sergio Augero came in the second half for Luis Garcia, while Liverpool was able to hold on the lead for long minutes. Goalscorer Keane was replaced by Dirk Kuyt, Babel was on for Gerrard and Alonso was taken over by Lucas. These subsitutions showed that Rafa was thinking of the game in Stamford Bridge, and hoping to hold on to the lead. You could see that the Liverpool players were tired while the home side began to attack, finding a goal.

Simao, the player whom we almost signed a few years back, got the equalising goal in the 83th minute, spoiling Rafa's plan of holding on for 3 points. Jamie Carragher of all players, allowed the ball bounced in the area, letting Diego Forlan to pass to the unmarked Simao to finish it home. A mistake with 7 minutes to go was definitely disappointing.

Yes, a draw away from home was not a bad result. But leading for almost an hour and to concede right at the end was certainly to be 2 points lost. Joint top with Atletico Madrid with 7 points while we have 2 more home games to go. Not the worse result, I suppose.

It's time to concentrate back on the league, it's the big and important clash in London.

Goals

You'll Never Walk Alone..

Monday, October 20, 2008

Kuyt Led The Comeback Kings Once Again!

Liverpool 3 Wigan 2
Kuyt 37, 85, Riera 80 - Zaki 29, 45
AR Man of The Match: Alonso



Are we really the Comeback Kings? It's hard to believe at times but the recent matches truly showed that. The last match at the City of Manchester was tough for the heart to take, but once again, against Steve Bruce's Wigan, my heart was pounding at a faster rate than ever. It seems like it has become a habit for Liverpool to concede goal and make a comeback. Definitely, like what Rafa said, he prefer to be calmer on the bench.

A Daniel Agger's schoolboy mistake caused the home side to be behind. This mistake just showed us why Rafa refused to change the centre partnership of Martin Skrtel and Jamie Carragher till Skrtel got injured. Well, Agger did make up for it. His devastating run into the Wigan's defence, providing an assist to Dutchman Dirk Kuyt to finish it.

Amri Zaki scored a brilliant bicycle kick just before the half time, much to the fans' dismay, we were trailing at second half again. At half time, I was thinking, another comeback in the bag? This time around, we didnt' score that early in the second half. Wigan defended really well, and we went close on several occassions.

A bold move by Rafa, subsituting both full backs with wingers after Wigan's Valenica's sent off. He knew he had no other choices but to attack to the maximum. Sub El Zhar's cross plus a super dummy by Steven Gerrard gave the space to Albert Riera to score this first ever goal for his new club at the Kop-End!



With 10 more minutes to go, we knew we have to go for it. Attacking from all areas, Xabi Alonso was playing as though it was a cup final. Jermaine Pennant, who was a surprised inclusion, crossed a beauty which met Dirk Kuyt's scissors' kick into Chris Kirkland's net!



Brilliant! We've completed another comeback once again! I quickly messaged Drogballs who unfortunately was not able to watch the game, that we had scored 2 goals in the last 10 minutes. I could sense his excitement in his replies!

It's always good to come back from behind and get the 3 points. However, should we have defended better, life would be much easier for us. Of course, it's also better for the hearts of our fans. It's important for us to keep up the pace and not lag behind. With the rest of teams winning, we have to make sure we are up there.

Stamford Bridge, the next stop.

Match Goals

You'll Never Walk Alone..

Wednesday, October 15, 2008

Steven Gerrard 100 Goals Tribute

Captain Steven Gerrard has finally broken his 100th goal duck against PSV and became the 16th Liverpool player to reach the century mark. Let's look back and see some of his terrific and memorable moments he has scored in his career!

I managed to get some pictures and share his thunderbolts goals over the years.

I wouldn't forget this one! Thunderbolt over Fabien Barthez against Manchester United at Anfield. We won 2-0, with Robbie Fowler scoring the other.



Merseyside derby. How can I leave this out? Fantastic shot which left many breathless! Goodison Park was silenced!



League Cup Final. Against Alex Ferguson's men. Gerrard thunderbolt flew over Barthez again, with a little deflection from David Beckham's foot.



Next, my favourite goal of all time. His crucial 3rd goal against Olympiakos which brought us to the next round and in the end, winning the cup! Andy Gray: "Awwww you beauty! WHAT A HIT, son! WHAT A HIT!"



Istanbul. Champions League Final. The header goal which brought us back to life! What else can I say?



A year later, FA Cup Final. 2 Brilliant Goals.





Champions League Quarter Final. Against Arsenal, a late penalty and up step, Captain Gerrard who finished it off!



And finally, his 100th goal!



Well done, Steven Gerrard!


Fantastic achievement and what a player he has been! I've been watching this man playing since his debut goal against Sheffield Wednesday, he has grown maturely, becoming one of the best players in the world.

What's lacking is just Steven Gerrard lifting the Premiership title. :)

You'll Never Walk Alone..

Monday, October 6, 2008

SIMPLY BRILLIANT!

Manchester City 2 Liverpool 3
Ireland 18, Garrido 42 - Torres 55, 73, Kuyt 90
AR Man of The Match: Torres




What else can I say? This is fucking fantastic! Coming back from 2-0 down at the City of Manchester and winning 3-2 at the end is SIMPLY BRILLIANT! What a game of football for both fans and also neutrals watching it.

It's away from home against the likes of Robinho, Jo, Elano and Shaun Wright-Philips. These players created riots in Liverpool defence in the first 45 minutes and Rafa's men just couldn't control the midfield which I thought was the reason why we've conceded. Mistakes were being made and unfortunately, we found ourselves 2-0 down at half time. I was rather disappointed at how we conceded the goals, pretty soft and we didn't play that badly in the first half.

At half time, I was thinking of how we gonna recover and how Rafa would change things around. As usual, Rafa sticks to his first 11, not making any changes in the second half. This time round, the midfield was in control of the ball, pressing and pressuring right from the start, not allowing Mark Hughes' men to play.

We needed to score fast so as to have a chance of coming back. A through ball by Gerrard to the overlapping Arbeloa whose cross was turned in by who else? Fernando Torres! Game on! The match was very much alive then.



I was pissed by ManCity's defenders. They were pretty rough and their tackles were simply unacceptable. The referee has to protect the players when defenders like Richard Dunne just whacking Torres down every time he touches the ball. Still, I was pleased to see Torres' determination to fight on despite all these dirty challenges.

Zabaleta was given a straight red card after a terrible tackle on Xabi Alonso. A 2-leg tackle with studs up. Definite sent-off. (Poor Xabi, 2 reckless red cards tackles on him for the past 2 matches) Given the extra man advantage, we continued to attack while Mark Hughes began substituting his star players out.

Liverpool's set pieces has been one of the weaker factor in the team over the years and recently, Rafa seemed to have get it right on it. A typical Steven Gerrard's corner was met by Torres once again and we were back in the game at 2-2. What a good double by the Liverpool number 9! In your face, RICHARD DUNNE!

Martin Skrtel fell awkwardly right at the end and everyone knew it was a bad fall. He somehow twisted his knee, remained on the ground after that. It's very sad to see a player falling, hurting himself in such a painful way. He's hell of a player, I'm sure we will miss his presence in defence. Get Well Soon, Martin!

With 6 minutes of injury time, you could see the hunger on the players. Determination to complete the comeback and get the 3 points. Supersub Benayoun crossed for Torres whose shot was blocked by defender Dunne, luckily, Kuyt was there to finished the loose ball! GOALLLLLL! I swear I shouted one of the loudest and ran around my house!



YESSS! 3-2! Totally breathtaking! Dirk Kuyt flew into into the Liverpool fans and the whole Red army ran in celebration! GET IN!

It was one of the best feelings ever this season and this 3 points was well earned. It's very important to keep up the pace, making sure we don't lose points. Second half performance was class and this is the message to the rest, the Red Half of Merseyside would be fighting all the way.

Goals
Source: Kop-tv

You'll Never Walk Alone..