After scoring 8 goals pass a hapless Besiktas earlier in the week and breaking the record for the biggest wining margin in the Champion's League, optimism was high that we will be able to win this game against Fulham. With most expecting another round of rotation, Rafa sprung a surprise by naming the exact same team that played in the record breaking match; only the second ever unchanged lineup in over 160 matches and 3 years. That brought a round of cheers from everyone that gathered at Sportsbook, Genting.The first half started with former Red - Danny Murphy testing Pepe with a fierce drive after just 14 seconds! It was down hill all the way for Fulham after that as Liverpool took hold of the game and possession. However, they were playing a very compact game and hounded our midfield every time we had the ball. That tactic was working well as we couldn't fine much space to work with and have to resort to quick passes that went no where - misplaced or ultimately go backwards towards our defense.
Hyypia and Carragher made a few runs up to the Fulham half as they are the only Liverpool player not man-marked by their deep lying defensive midfield formation. Those forays upfield from our central defensive partnership, culminated in a Hyypia forcing Niemi into a full stretch save with a great shot. The other notable chances from the half fell to Gerrard who flash his shot just high and Crouch who have the ball nicked of his feet just before he pulled the trigger by a Hughes last ditch tackle. We came closest to breaking the deadlock through Crouch's looping header that hit the post after Aurelio had put in a beautiful cross into the box.
The second half started out pretty much the same with us controlling most of the ball. Voronin had a few clear chances to score; only to be denied by an on-form Niemi and some poor finishing. Benayoun nearly added to his building tally of goals but his clever chip and lob was spectacularly saved by their keeper. It's beginning to look like another frustrating day at home for all of us Reds. The Fulham midfield was working hard to shut us down and wining the second balls. But all the running and hounding has already taken it's toll; they were beginning to tire. It was the perfect time to change our game plan and to bring more pace and width into our play. The largely ineffective Riise was subbed and replace by Babel and Voronin was replaced by our "Golden Boy" Torres. Lucas was brought it slightly later to replace a tiring Mascherano who did a lot of running to contain the Fulham counter-attacks.
After 11 minutes on the field, Torres received a clear ball from Pepe and managed to bamboozle past 2 Fulham defenders before wrong footing Niemi to score. It sent everyone in Sportsbook into a frenzy! 4 minutes later, the final nail came when Crouch was trip near the penalty area (looked just outside the peno box from replays) and Gerrard stepped up to score the resulting penalty kick. Job was completed and we maintained 5th position in the league table; still 6 points behind the front running Gunners.It's was a nail biting and frustrating game to watch as we had majority of the ball possession and couldn't take our chances to score. Some would say that this has been the story of our season as we do not seem to have that extra spark of creativity to break teams down. Voronin was doing all the dirty work and played a bit too deep to support Crouch. We needed runners down the channel to take advantage of his knock downs but support was kept busy by the very compact Fulham. We ended up playing too central and got smothered all over the place by their hardworking and sharp midfielder. Only concern from this game is the injury to Benayoun, who is out for 3 weeks with a torn abductor muscle.
Alonso was truly missed in this kind of game as we need his accurate diagonal passes to the flanks to open up defenses. Also, his ability to hold on to the ball and create space for himself to pass was sorely missed. We tend to play too narrow and not use our superior width without him in the squad against teams hell bend on parking their bus in front of goal. Lets hope we keep the wining streak and good away form going against the Toons in Tyneside, this Sat, 24th Nov at 8:45 PM. We'll be back in our home in M Bar for this game, so see everyone there!
Goals: Torres (81) 1-0; Gerrard (85, pen) 2-0.
Liverpool (4-4-2): Reina; Arbeloa, Carragher, Hyypia, Aurelio; Benayoun, Mascherano (Lucas, 81), Gerrard, Riise (Babel, 62); Crouch, Voronin (Torres, 70). Substitutes not used: Martin (gk), Finnan.
Fulham (4-4-2): Niemi; Baird, Stefanovic, Hughes, Bocanegra; Davies, Murphy, Davis, Dempsey (Kamara, 69); Healy (Bouazza, 60), Kuqi. Substitutes not used: Warner (gk), Leijer, Smertin.
Referee: S. Tanner (Somerset).
Booked: Fulham Murphy, Dempsey.
Man of the match: Torres.
Attendance: 43, 073.
Next Match: Newcastle at St. James' Park, Sat 24th Nov - 8:45 PMGoal Highlights for Liverpool V Fulham Game:
Liverpool Vs Fulham Fernando Torres Goal 81st Min
Liverpool Vs Fulham Steven Gerrard Goal 85th Min
No comments:
Post a Comment