The lunchtime kick off in the Premier League on Saturday saw Sunderland host Liverpool. Liverpool needed to win this game to keep their push for the top four in alive and Sunderland needed to win to put some space between themselves and the bottom three.
The past week all of the news in the media has surrounded Steven Gerrard and his move to LA Galaxy, but could this just be an extra distraction for the Liverpool man? Also, Raheem Sterling, Liverpool's key player this season, was on holiday in Jamaica taking his mid-season break. All of this looked like it could be in favour of Sunderland, but it didn't quite turn out that way.
The past week all of the news in the media has surrounded Steven Gerrard and his move to LA Galaxy, but could this just be an extra distraction for the Liverpool man? Also, Raheem Sterling, Liverpool's key player this season, was on holiday in Jamaica taking his mid-season break. All of this looked like it could be in favour of Sunderland, but it didn't quite turn out that way.
Liverpool started the game brightly and within the first 3 minutes, they had a penalty claim waved away when Wes Brown brought down Lazar Markovic in the penalty box. The Liverpool players weren't very happy, with good reason, but Brown looked extremely relieved when the referee waved play on.
However, just a few minutes later, Gerrard passed the ball to Fabio Borini, who was fouled just outside the box. Instead of waiting for the free kick to be given, Markovic took full advantage, taking the ball from the feet of Borini and riding two challenges before calmly slotting the ball into the back of the net for his first Premier League goal.
Instead of feeling sorry for themselves, Sunderland became brighter after the goal for a small spell and started moving forward with more pace and looked likely to punish Liverpool. The passes made into the Sunderland forwards just weren't good enough to create anything close to a goal scoring opportunity though and this prompted Liverpool to wake up again and take the game to Sunderland once again.
Markovic had an excellent chance; his scissor kick shot bouncing off the underside of the bar and hitting a lucky Costel Pantilimon before going out for a corner. Jordan Henderson also had a good opportunity, but his shot rebounded off the post, but was quickly pulled back because a hand ball decision was given against him.
Liverpool could easily have gone in at half time 3-0 or 4-0 up. The amount of chances they had but didn't take could have come back to haunt them in the second half. Sunderland weren't playing very well at all though. The first half looked like it would be repeating itself in the second.
The second half began with Gerrard being substituted with the worry of an injury. This also looked like it could have been going in Sunderland's favour. However, on 49 minutes, Liam Bridcutt brought down Emre Can and received his second booking. The first one was a soft yellow card after he accidentally caught the back of Gerrard's heel as he was running past him. Sunderland were now down to 10 men which made it seem like they would have a mountain to climb if they wanted a result from the game.
Liverpool seemed to drop off completely and lose their discipline a little after the red card. To the audience watching, it seemed like they thought the points were definitely theirs after what had just happened. It proved to be the opposite though. Sunderland started to push forward more positively this time, but the end product still seemed to be just out of their grasp. Adam Johnson became very lively and looked like the player most likely to score. His 25 yard rocket of a shot rattled the bottom of the cross bar and bounced back into play where Martin Skrtel cleared the second ball away, much to Simon Mignolet's relief.
Mignolet did look very nervous in his goal, but Sunderland couldn't produce enough clear cut chances to take advantage of this. After a 25 minute spell where Sunderland seemed to be controlling the game, Liverpool fell back into their rhythm and ended the game on a high. Mario Balotelli came onto the pitch and had a couple of half chances that didn't really test Pantilimon in the end.
Overall, Liverpool had a bright performance which pushed them closer towards the top four. The result did leave Sunderland dangerously close to the bottom three of the table and a performance that didn't look to give them much confidence in the end. The 1-0 score line may look like Liverpool struggled in the game, but it was the complete opposite. Liverpool seemed to be in control of the game throughout, even during the short Sunderland spells where they kept hold of the ball. It was performance that Brendan Rodgers and Liverpool can be proud of at the end of the day.
However, just a few minutes later, Gerrard passed the ball to Fabio Borini, who was fouled just outside the box. Instead of waiting for the free kick to be given, Markovic took full advantage, taking the ball from the feet of Borini and riding two challenges before calmly slotting the ball into the back of the net for his first Premier League goal.
Instead of feeling sorry for themselves, Sunderland became brighter after the goal for a small spell and started moving forward with more pace and looked likely to punish Liverpool. The passes made into the Sunderland forwards just weren't good enough to create anything close to a goal scoring opportunity though and this prompted Liverpool to wake up again and take the game to Sunderland once again.
Markovic had an excellent chance; his scissor kick shot bouncing off the underside of the bar and hitting a lucky Costel Pantilimon before going out for a corner. Jordan Henderson also had a good opportunity, but his shot rebounded off the post, but was quickly pulled back because a hand ball decision was given against him.
Liverpool could easily have gone in at half time 3-0 or 4-0 up. The amount of chances they had but didn't take could have come back to haunt them in the second half. Sunderland weren't playing very well at all though. The first half looked like it would be repeating itself in the second.
The second half began with Gerrard being substituted with the worry of an injury. This also looked like it could have been going in Sunderland's favour. However, on 49 minutes, Liam Bridcutt brought down Emre Can and received his second booking. The first one was a soft yellow card after he accidentally caught the back of Gerrard's heel as he was running past him. Sunderland were now down to 10 men which made it seem like they would have a mountain to climb if they wanted a result from the game.
Liverpool seemed to drop off completely and lose their discipline a little after the red card. To the audience watching, it seemed like they thought the points were definitely theirs after what had just happened. It proved to be the opposite though. Sunderland started to push forward more positively this time, but the end product still seemed to be just out of their grasp. Adam Johnson became very lively and looked like the player most likely to score. His 25 yard rocket of a shot rattled the bottom of the cross bar and bounced back into play where Martin Skrtel cleared the second ball away, much to Simon Mignolet's relief.
Mignolet did look very nervous in his goal, but Sunderland couldn't produce enough clear cut chances to take advantage of this. After a 25 minute spell where Sunderland seemed to be controlling the game, Liverpool fell back into their rhythm and ended the game on a high. Mario Balotelli came onto the pitch and had a couple of half chances that didn't really test Pantilimon in the end.
Overall, Liverpool had a bright performance which pushed them closer towards the top four. The result did leave Sunderland dangerously close to the bottom three of the table and a performance that didn't look to give them much confidence in the end. The 1-0 score line may look like Liverpool struggled in the game, but it was the complete opposite. Liverpool seemed to be in control of the game throughout, even during the short Sunderland spells where they kept hold of the ball. It was performance that Brendan Rodgers and Liverpool can be proud of at the end of the day.
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