Pre-Match: There was one change from the team that started in Copenhagen, with Nigel de Jong replacing the suspended Shaun Wright-Phillips. The other changes from the last league outing, at Fratton Park last Saturday, saw Richards back for Logan and Richard Dunne in for Elano, the skipper starting a Barclays Premier League game for the first time since the win over Wigan.
The Match
The hosts, under pressure to stay in touch with the top of the table, went on the attack early, with Richards doing well to put former team mate Albert Riera off when Kuyt crossed in the second minute. Micah needed treatment after Dossena caught him late five minutes later, but he was up and about after a bit of attention. The Liverpool man got away with no booking for a poor challenge.
Torres, as dangerous as ever, wasted a good chance within 60 seconds, miskicking a volley yards wide after Carragher & Benayoun had combined to find him free in the area. We were able to keep several attacks at bay for the next period, with Dossena’s cross that flashed across the box but just avoided everybody on 16 minutes the closest the hosts came to scoring. Ireland’s pass through towards Bellamy seconds later was just too far ahead of the striker,
Shortly afterwards Torres won a free kick in a dangerous area despite there being minimal contact when Dunne had challenged him. Thankfully Benayoun’s free kick went straight at the wall.
The half’s midpoint brought several goalmouth scrambles in our area in quick succession. Firstly, Bridge’s deflection from Mascherano’s cross from the right took the ball dangerously close to Torres and Kuyt, but Richards was able to clear it momentarily before another cross from the left brought a corner. Liverpool’s front two both got touches as a bout of pinball ensued, but resolute defending kept the score at 0-0.
City had had no clear-cut chances, but on the half hour Stephen Ireland spurned a golden opportunity in front of the Kop. The midfielder started a sweeping move with a long pass across the pitch to Robinho, who delayed a return just long enough to find Stephen in acres of space in the box, but after running in on Reina he drove the ball straight at the keeper, and then put the rebound into the side-netting.
Dossena’s low shot from long range forced Given to save on 33, even though the ball was probably going wide, but Albert Riera seemed determined to put one over on us and his shot three minutes later skimmed just wide of Given’s left post.
It had all been pretty subdued around the ground until Micah Richards needed more treatment on 39 minutes. The defender had spun right over and landed on his neck after a challenge with Skrtel on the edge of Liverpool’s area, but the home fans thought he was milking it and gave him a hostile reception when he returned to play.
Benayoun wasted another chance on 41, spooning the ball over after electing to shoot with Torres waiting in the middle of the area.
No changes at half time, and just after the restart Vincent Kompany volleyed a shot at Reina that the Liverpool keeper collected easily. But we did not have to wait too long for the deadlock to be broken, and the Belgian was at the heart of our first goal at Anfield since August 2004! Robinho fed Kompany inside the box, and he looked up to roll it to Craig Bellamy, who took aim and saw his deflected shot loop wide of Reina and into the net. The newswires were flashing it up as an own-goal to Arbeloa, but who would like the job of telling Bellamy it had been taken away from him?
Kuyt headed over from a corner on 58, and seconds later a quick City break gave Ireland a shooting chance from the edge of the box, but his curled effort had too much height on it and went a long way up into the Anfield Road end.
Dunne cut out an El Zhar cross to concede a corner on 66, but City broke downfield straight away and had the ball in the net when Ireland connected to a cross from Richards – but it was rightly flagged as offside. Carragher downed Robinho right on the edge of the box with 21 minutes left, but the Brazilian’s low attempt at the resulting free kick was deflected wide. Two City corners in quick succession came to nothing.
The home fans had been restless since City’s goal, and they finally had something to cheer on 78 minutes when they equalised. Benayoun’s cross from the left was meant for Torres, but his miskicked shot fell luckily for Dirk Kuyt, who tapped the ball home from close range.
It was all Liverpool now, and Shay Given kept the scores level on 82, punching away Kuyt’s long range effort that swerved in the air. The keeper repeated the trick two minutes later, parrying a fierce Benayoun shot from inside the area.
It was not all one-way traffic, with Nedum Onuoha shooting straight at Reina, and then Robinho kept the ball too long in the Liverpool area when Bellamy & Ireland were calling for it. The hosts went close with three minutes left, Torres pulling his shot across the face of goal and wide of Given’s right post.
Three minutes were added on, and Liverpool could not make the most of a fine run & cross down the left by Torres which the City defence cut out, Skrtel shooting a long way over to the disgust of his home support.
We hung on for the rest of injury time, and came away with a creditable point. It could have been more, but we remained in ninth place after a determined and gritty performance.
