Pre match news - There’s just one change to City’s starting XI from Thursday night, with Richard Dunne over his hamstring injury and back in for Tal Ben-Haim. There was a welcome return to the City of Manchester Stadium for Albert Riera, on loan here for six months in 2005/06 and now on Liverpool’s left wing.
The Match
Riera caused the first flutters of the game on two minutes, eluding his former Espanyol team mate Zabaleta to chip over a teasing ball that floated away from the lurking Dirk Kuyt. A minute later his volley forced Hart to concede the game’s first corner, as the visitors continued to have the better of the opening exchanges.
There were south American connections all over the pitch, and one brought City’s first moment of danger on nine minutes, Jo feeding Zabaleta, whose cross was cut out by Reina. A minute later Robinho’s volley forced the Liverpool keeper into more action.
There was action at either end around 16 minutes. Riera crossed for Kuyt, but the Dutchman, without a Premier League goal since last November, skied a good chance a long way over. Robinho then showed amazing balance on the bye line to keep the ball in before Reina could smother his low cross.
But after chasing the ball for most of the first 18 minutes, City hit back hard and took the lead. SWP broke into the box to feed Jo, who found Robinho who despite slipping. He was off his feet in a split-second, but the ball popped up nicely for Stephen Ireland to hammer it high past Reina and into the top of the net!
The goal livened up proceedings, with Liverpool continuing to have moe of the possession, and a series of corners without forcing Joe Hart into meaningful action. The crowd were on their feet when a full-blooded challenge by Carragher on Robinho went unpunished. Xabi Alonso’s long range shot was fired straight at an untroubled Hart on 37 minutes.
An absorbing passage of play, where City repelled minutes’ of Liverpool possession ended with the Blues doubling the lead from the most unlikely of sources on 42 minutes. Riera tripped up SWP to give away a free kick near the left hand corner of the box, and it was Javier Garrido who stepped up to curl the ball past Reina and into the top left hand corner of the net! It was the left-back’s first goal for City, and he’s clearly been picking up free kick tips from Elano, Robinho et al at Carrington.
So we went into the break two goals to the good despite playing without the ball for long passages. The strains of Journey’s AOR classic “Don’t stop believing” over the PA as the teams left were the perfect sentiment as City looked for their first win over Liverpool since April 2005.
Liverpool continued to have most possession after half time, and eventually they made it count when Fernando Torres struck 10 minutes in. Gerrard nutmegged Garrido on the right, Arbeloa crossed and the Spanish hitman got the right side of Dunne to poke it home from close range. Most definitely game on with 35 minutes still on the clock.
With tension mounting, City tried to get the lead back to two goals, and the crowd were on their feet when Ireland fed Robinho on the hour – but the Brazilian was rightly flagged offside. But on 64 the former Real man should have scored, putting the ball over the bar from inside the six-yard box after SWP finished a great run with a teasing cross. It looked harder to miss than to score.
But then controversy erupted on 66 minutes when City were reduced to 10 men. Pablo Zabaleta made a lunging challenge on Alonso and to his astonishment the Argentinean was shown a straight red card by referee Walton. The defender took the long walk while the Liverpool player was back on his feet quickly to the disgust of the home fans.
Sadly the 10 men of City could not hold out for too much longer, the visitors equalising on 73 minutes. Gerrard whipped in a corner from the right and it was Fernando Torres once again on the scoresheet, nodding home at the near post.
It should have been a hat trick with nine minutes left, but Torres contrived to get the ball nearer to the corner flag from just two yards in front of an open goal. Keane was just short seconds later, and with six minutes left the onrushing Hart forced Kuyt to put the ball wide. As it got more frantic, Skrtel denied Evans a chance as last defender on the edge of the box - and he copped a nasty-looking injury as his right leg went from underneath him. With all substitutes now on, it was 10 vs 10 for six minutes of stoppage time.
And in injury time’s first minute, Liverpool completed a dramatic comeback. Mascherano crossed to Torres in the box, his poked effort deflected either off Keane or Dunne into the path of Dirk Kuyt, who smacked it home from two yards out.
City could not force anything in the rest of the time added on, and a dramatic afternoon ended with Liverpool leaving with three points, something that had looked unlikely after the first 45 minutes.
