So after trying, and half-way succeeding, in committing all the measure words we've studied so far this term to memory, I decided I should write at least a bit on the match I watched yesterday.
My initial reaction: YEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHH REDS!
Ahem. I usually hate it when people write as if they're talking on their blogs, but I just had to. Because yesterday, Liverpool's comeback from 2-0 to win 3-2 away at Manchester City was absolutely amazing. Not a few people on the RAWK forum were comparing it to the 2005 Champions League comeback from 3-0 in Istanbul. Of course this game wasn't quite as important as that one, but the drive and determination it took for Liverpool to pull off the win was nothing short of inspiring, and massively encouraging, to us fans who thought it was a loss at halftime, and certainly to the players who scrapped the win out of nothing.
At the end of the first half, Liverpool were down 2-0, and they really deserved to be. They weren't playing well, about the only player who looked like he even cared about the game was Riera. Passes going astray, defensive disarray, and a massive gap between the defense and the midfield that City really exploited well. Going into the second half, I figured it'd be a miracle if Liverpool could pull a tie out of the deal.
Well, Rafa and/or Steven Gerrard must have said something right in the dressing room at the half, because Liverpool came out with a lot more life. Scrappy game, for sure, City played very physical, but Liverpool kept at it, and Torres, who wasn't having a particularly good game at all, slid one in after a clinical build up from Gerrard to Arbeloa. It was eerily similar to one Liverpool scored last season, I think it was against...Marseille? In any event, it was Gerrard to Finnan, who crossed it into the box for Torres. It was just straight out of the book of How To Score a Goal, and the one last night was very, very similar.
Then a header off a Gerrard corner to make it two for Torres. And then, in stoppage time, Benayoun gets free down the left side, beautiful cut back to Torres, who takes a shot, gets deflected, and falls for Dirk Kuyt, who doesn't miss. Unbelievable come back, and a lot of grit and heart by the Liverpool team as a whole.
Plenty of encouraging things. Obviously the fact that Liverpool came back from a two goal deficit and were able to do it with Torres and Gerrard not having the best of games is huge. But also, Alvaro Arbeloa and Fabio Aurelio looked very good at outside back. Xabi Alonso was getting a lot of touches, even though his passes in the first half weren't all that great, he was still doing what he does best, running the game from deep in the midfield. And he had some halfway decent chances on net. Hopefully he'll start converting some of those as the season progresses. And of course, the fact that Torres is still a bit off-form and scored two goals despite that can only be a good thing.
The one unhappy point, as most fans already know, is the injury to Martin Skrtel. Non-contact, looked like a bad knee injury, and they were giving him oxygen on the field, so you know it had to be bad. The "good" thing about it, if there can be anything good out of an injury like that, is that Daniel Agger is the one to fill in the blank, and that's hardly a step down. His fitness is the only question mark, but I think he'll be fine. A bit rusty of course, but he's young and eager to get back in the game, and I think he'll respond well.
Of course it's a little early to be speculating about anything, but this is a superb start by Liverpool in the league, and if they can continue to do this, pull off inspirational wins, as well as killing off the easier games, they will definitely be in the mixer come Christmas and beyond. I don't want to jinx anything and predict about the possibility of a league title.
But I definitely have my fingers crossed.
No comments:
Post a Comment