Yet another early kick off after a two-week international break. It's understandable that Rafa reckons that there's an agenda against us in the fixtures department. This weekend, it was a difficult match away to Newcastle, who have been very good at home. Many would've taken a slim victory before the match. When news that Newcastle were fielding a depleted side filtered through, there was a spark of hope that we could just win. There was also the unsubstantiated report of Rafa’s spat with the owners. A potential banana skin? The 90 minutes would tell.
We lined up the usual 4 - 4 - 2 with Finnan back in the starting line up and Arbeloa on the left. It’s very likely that Arbeloa will soon be owning the left back spot his own. In the middle, to the horror of many, Momo started on the right with Stevie and Lucas in the middle while Kewell made his first start in a long long time. Up front, Kuyt partnered Torres to get us the goals.
The game started with Newcastle coming at us like any home team would, with the first shot coming from Martins who was blocked by Hypiia. As the game played on we grew in confidence and began to take control of the midfield. Gerrard, who was booed at every touch of the ball, was instrumental in midfield, surging forward and creating chances. Lucas did pretty well breaking up play and linking with Gerrard. Not bad for his first start. Momo, despite his criticism, is slowly exerting his influence on the game, and actually slowed the game down a bit when it looked as though it was going at 100mph at all times.
After a few shots testing Given, including a rare shot from Carra, who strolled upfield and had a pop at goal, we were awarded a free kick about 25 yards out on the left. Lucas touched the ball to Gerrard who unleashed a thunderbolt to open scoring. This was beauty was his sixth in seven games. Gerrard is slowly coming back to form and despite the boos and England heartache, he is showing what a good player he can be when paired with the right partner in the middle. Let's hope that he will put his frustration with England aside and lead us to glory come May.
After the goal, the expected onslaught from the Toons did not materialise, but spaces were opened up as the game go on. Liverpool were dominating at this stage, looking more like the home side. The Toons should have been playing with 10 men just before half time when Kuyt and Torres combined to take advantage of the misunderstanding in the Newcastle defence. Given came out of his box and blocked a shot with his arm. I have seen people sent off for lesser offences, but for some reason the referee did not see it. To add to our despair, the shot from Torres cannoned back off the base of the post.
At this stage, Torres was a constant menace to the Newcastle defence, beating players for fun and with ease. The way he wiggles past players is a sight to behold; not if you are the opposition, though.
The second half could not have started better when we won a corner within 10 seconds. Gerrard fired from the left, Hypiia jumped to flick the ball and it goes into the goal, after bouncing off Kuyt's knee. Newcastle started to buckle by now with hopes of a comeback fading.
Liverpool was really strutting their stuff by now. We could not help but believe that a goal would come with each attack. Newcastle on the other hand, looked out of sorts and out of ideas. To make things worse, Big Sam took out Emre, arguably their most creative player and replaced him with Joey Barton. We were gleefully anticipative of a victory. The only question was the number of goals we would score. Kewell left the field after an hour as Rafa is still easing him into the games. For the time he was on the pitch, Harry did pretty well, switching flanks and running at defenders.
Babel came on and was soon into the rhythm of the game, constantly running at defenders and taking people on.
The 3rd goal came after a beautiful, flowing 17-pass move that saw Babel releasing Gerrard and tucking away Gerrard's return ball brilliantly. It was a sight to behold - Liverpool's pass and move at its best. The Toons were clearly dumbfounded. By now M Bar was chanting "Goal fest! Goal fest!" led by the usually vocal monster aka BL in his England shirt to "celebrate" England's failure to qualify to Euro 2008.
By now, everyone was eager to get a shot in. Torres, despite being the thorn in the defence of Newcastle, could not find the back of the net. It was clearly not his day, he could easily have a hat-trick but for some bad luck and brilliant keeping. Let's hope that he saved the goals for Porto this Wednesday.
Goals: Gerrard (28) 0-1; Kuyt (46); Babel (66).
Newcastle United (3-5-2) Given; Beye, Rozehnal, Enrique (Carr, 78); Geremi, Butt, Emre (Barton, 51) Smith, N'Zogbia (Milner, 59); Martins, Viduka. Substitutes not used: Harper (gk), Edgar
Liverpool (4-4-2) Reina; Finnan, Carragher, Hyypia, Arbeloa; Sissoko, Lucas, Gerrard (Crouch, 80) Kewell (Babel, 58); Kuyt (Riise, 76), Torres. Substitutes not used: Itandje (gk), Mascherano
Referee: A Wiley (Staffordshire).
Booked: Newcastle Butt, Beye, Smith; Liverpool Sissoko.
Man of the match: Gerrard.
Attendance: 52,307.
It was a match that we enjoyed, moreso after we found out that the Mancs lost to Bolton. This is a performance to take heed from, the best way to shut Big "bung" Sam up with this performance that tore his charges apart.
With players to comeback from injuries and others slowly coming into form, it is an exciting time for Liverpool. With fixtures coming think and fast now, it is time we kick into gear and move forward towards that magical number 19!
We would also like to welcome those who were at M bar for the first time on Saturday. A big welcome to Cynthia, Bianca, Sunny and Nicholas, Joe and Queenie, and hope to see you guys more often.
See you next at the game at home Vs Bolton at 10:45 pm on SUN December 2, 2007 at Yippee Cup, SS2 (next to Coffee Bean).For the rest, don't forget to mark December 16 on your calendar, it should be a big big match with lots of events and prizes to be won.
Below are goal highlights for you:
Newcastle Vs Liverpool Steven Gerrard 1st Goal
Newcastle Vs Liverpool Dirk Kuyt 2nd Goal
Newcastle Vs Liverpool Ryan Babel 3rd Goal
1 comment:
Funny, those Newcastle fans. They were boo-ing everyone and everything alive. The England players, the Liverpool players, the Newcastle players, etc. Boo!!!
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