A Luis Suarez
brace gave Liverpool all three points as Wigan visited Anfield on Saturday afternoon.
A first Liverpool goal for Jose Enrique capped off a clinical performance by
the Reds.
Pepe Reina
returned to resume his post as Liverpool’s number one goalkeeper after an
injury had kept him out. Nuri Sahin and Jamie Carragher made way for Martin
Skrtel and Fernandez Suso.
Early on, Jose
Enrique won back possession in Wigan’s half, Suarez made a run in behind the
Wigan defence, but the Spaniard opted to shoot and just dragged his shot wide.
It was a bright start by the hosts, in contrast to last week’s 1-1 draw against
Chelsea.
The fast tempo had
been replaced as the 20st minute approached. The visitors had
settled and shared possession, pressed high and tightened up at the back.
Steven Gerrard
whipped in an inviting free kick that James McCarthy dangerously tipped over
his goal. It could’ve gone anywhere, thankfully for Wigan it was into the Kop.
After referee
Kevin Friend allowed advantage, Suso capitalised and drove towards goal. The
young Spaniard unleashed a stinging effort that Ali Al-Habsi could only parry
away from goal.
The midfielder was
presented with another chance minutes later. Steaming forward, Glen Johnson
swung in a cross for the 18-year-old, but he couldn’t direct his header towards
goal. A let off for Wigan.
Henderson entered
in place of Suso in the 35th minute. There weren’t any signs of
injury as the Spaniard jogged off.
On the brink of half-time Gerrard slipped in Suarez,
who in turn fizzed the ball across goal. Wigan ‘keeper Al Habsi managed to
smother the ball from Enrique to deny a tap in.
Following a promising start, the first half began to fizzle out as it progressed. Both teams cancelled each other out, the visitors pressed high, limiting the amount of time on the ball for the midfielders.
The Anfield
faithful looked for an early response in the second and they got exactly that.
Raheem Sterling
capitalised on a short back pass and sprinted into the box. Looking up, he
squared for Luis Suarez to rifle his effort into the top corner to give
Liverpool the lead.
Suarez’s goal
opened the game up. The tempo that disappeared earlier, surfaced in Liverpool’s
expansive play.
Soon after, it was
2-0.
Jose Enrique
slipped Suarez in behind the Wigan defence, leaving the Uruguayan one v one
against Al-Habsi. The Number 7 waited and poked his effort expertly past the
Omani international to double the host’s lead and extend his league tally to 10
goals.
The second goal
followed with the third.
Al-Habsi kept out
Sterling’s shot after a clever one two with Suarez, but Enrique followed up to
tap in for his first Liverpool goal.
It could’ve and
should’ve been 4-0 when Johnson drove towards goal. The Wigan defenders backed
off the full back, leaving him to hammer an effort at goal. However, it was
just the wrong side of the post as it smashed off the advertisement boards.
Luis Suarez was
sent through for his hat trick momentarily later, but snatched his effort wide
of the target with his weaker left foot.
3-0 up, the hosts
shut up shop in the closing minutes to take all three points.
The introduction
of Jordan Henderson proved to be the catalyst in Liverpool’s victory. The young
midfielder has been subject to heavy criticism since his £20 million move from
Sunderland in the summer of 2011, but today his presence spurred Liverpool to
victory. Breaking up play, distributing the ball, the 22-year-old did it all.
Sikander Najib
4 comments:
Hai...nice article...very informative post...i enjoyed reading this blog..thanks for sharing with us.
Hai...good article...nice tips and useful for all. thank you
nice posts....thank u....
nice information....
Post a Comment