AFTER what probably could not have been a worse start for Liverpool on the opening day of the season, the assumption from much of the press was that we couldn’t have asked for a worse game to follow defeat to West Brom.
How wrong they were. While the result may not have been quite what we’d have hoped for, the performance and application from the players was superb, with youth shining and ‘tiki-taka’ being the stand out points to take from the day.
With youngster Raheem Sterling starting in place of Stewart Downing and Seb Coates getting the nod ahead of Jamie Carragher the Reds young looking side started well, with captain Steven Gerrard driving two typical long-range efforts at goal in the opening few minutes.
However, things took a slightly negative turn after just 4 minutes when midfield lynch-pin, Lucas Leiva, was taken off with an injury that appears to have the club quite anxious. With a limited warm up, Jonjo Shelvey replaced the injured Lucas and, after such a poor performance and result the previous weekend, fans must have begun to fear for the worst, with the clubs’ key midfielder leaving a great void in the middle of the park.
After a short period of dominance early on for Man City though, those fears went unfounded, as Liverpool kicked on, with Shelvey settling in the middle and started Liverpool to assert their influence over the Premier League champions.
With Liverpool in the ascendancy, new signing Fabio Borini should’ve given Liverpool the lead after a fabulous pin-point cross from Raheem Sterling was side-footed just wide of the City goal. After the opportunities missed against West Brom, the fears of Liverpool’s profligacy of last season re-joining them in the new season began to arise.
On 34 minutes though, Martin Skrtel stepped up with a Sami Hyypia-esque bullet header, after charging across the City area to hammer home from Steven Gerrard’s corner. Following a period of intense, sustained pressure from Liverpool, it was the least the Reds deserved, with Luis Suarez going close to making it 2 with minutes of the first half remaining.
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The half-time ovation from the home crowd was in stark contrast to the previous week and the home side continued in more-or-less the same vein in the second half. The first 15 minutes of which saw Liverpool push City further and further back, with Joe Allen and Raheem Sterling, in particular, standing out and it seemed only a matter of time before the lead was increased.
Unfortunately for the home side though, fate had other ideas, and a helping of that bad luck that plagued Liverpool on many an occasion last season returning, with a mix up in the Liverpool defence seeing Yaya Toure pounce to level the scores.
Such was Liverpool – and the home fans’ – buoyancy though, that City’s reprieve was short-lived, as Liverpool went straight back down City’s end and earned a dangerous looking free-kick within minutes of the restart. With the Reds’ two star men sizing up the shot, City let their concentration slip slightly and via a combination of a sloppy wall – and his own audacity – Luis Suarez slipped a sumptuous free-kick around the wall.
Following retaking the lead, the home side looked to push on again, probing City patiently, always looking likely to create chances. And just when it seemed that Manchester City’s occasional counter-attacks were going to continue proving fruitless, Liverpool’s defence again let them down, with last seasons’ club player of the year not putting enough weight on a back pass to Pepe Reina, allowing Carlos Tevez to chase the ball down. As he bore down on the Spanish ‘keeper there was only ever going to be one outcome and the Argentine put the ball away for his 100th goal since arriving in this country.
To their credit, Liverpool’s players again shrugged off a blow that could’ve seen them wilt, and following the goal continued to push the champions, always looking for a winner. In a frantic final ten minutes, City themselves went close a few times, with Eden Dzeko adding more focus to City’s infrequent forays forward. And after introducing Andy Carroll, Liverpool themselves decided to go more direct and in doing so, showed why allowing him to leave without an adequate replacement in place would be a mistake, as Carroll’s height and physique caused City’s already shaky defence problems from set pieces.
Sadly, it just wasn’t to be, and both sides had to come away with just a point. There can be no doubt at all, though, that the richest club in the land came away by far the happier.
As for Liverpool – and the home fans – the result was hardly representative of a very fruitful day, when indications of progress were there for all to see. Roll on the Arsenal!
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L4L Man of the Match
Joe Allen. No change here then, other than he wasn’t just the stand out performer in a poor side. In what was the best performance by a Liverpool team in some time, Allen stood out for a mature and considered display. A few more like this and few Reds fans will be questioning the £15 million we handed over to Swansea for him. A few more like this and we may well start asking whether we’ve – at long last – found our replacement for Xabi Alonso.
