Liverpool battled to a 1-1 draw against league leaders Manchester City during Sunday’s clash.
Vincent Kompany put Mancini’s men ahead before his defending partner, Joleon Lescott, drew the Reds level within minutes via an own goal.
Liverpool dominated possession and looked the more potent of the contenders for large parts of the encounter, but City held on to earn a draw.
Manchester City’s record at Liverpool going into this game made bleak reading; they hadn’t won in their last 8 visits to Anfield, a record that includes 6 defeats and 2 draws. However they were unbeaten in the league leading up to this eagerly anticipated fixture. Liverpool had also put a string of results together, The Reds unbeaten in 9 coming into this game.
Earlier before kick off, tragic news broke of the sudden death of Welsh legend Gary Speed and Kenny Dalglish took the decision to leave Craig Bellamy out of the squad, sending him home. Saying: "It was best for us to make the decision for Craig. He was very close to Gary, who was a mentor to him, and he admired and looked up to him." A minutes silenced was preserved within Anfield before kick off for both Speed and Brad Jones’ son Luca, who recently lost his battle to leukaemia.
There were two changes to the side that beat Chelsea on Liverpool’s last outing, Jordan Henderson and Stewart Downing came in for Maxi Rodriguez and Craig Bellamy. Record signing Andy Carroll found himself on the bench for the second week after his double heroics against the same opposition last season, opening the Englishman’s Liverpool account.
The visitors started brighter of the two, retaining possession and also threatening to take the lead through Yaya Toure. But his rash effort cleared the bar.
A weak back pass by Jose Enrique then nearly allowed Sergio Aguero to capitalise until Reina rushed off his line to clear the danger. The Spaniard’s title as a ‘sweeper keeper’ was clearly evident.
In the 30th minute came the breakthrough. Kompany glanced a pacey, whipped in corner from David Silva to give City somewhat a deserved lead. But within 2 minutes the lead was cancelled, a long range effort from Charlie Adam seemed to be angling wide, but for a touch from Joleon Lescott diverting the ball into the goal, leaving ‘keeper Joe Hart wrong footed and scrambling.
The goal gave Liverpool some much-needed impetus and nearly snatched a second within a matter of minutes of the restart. Luis Suarez put through Dirk Kuyt with a clever pass but the Dutchman never had the legs to get past Clichy, with the Frenchman sending him wide. But the chance had not passed, Kuyt cutely found Charlie Adam once again on the edge of the area, the Scotsman’s first time shot with his less favoured right foot was smartly stopped by the tip of Joe Hart’s foot.
Last week’s hero Glen Johnson then tried his luck with a curled shot that flew narrowly past the post. Half time followed shortly after.
Downing, much of a spectator for most of the first half delivered a great cross after the break, but Kuyt’s resulting header lacked accuracy and power.
The 65th minute saw the introduction of Italian Mario Balotelli for the ineffective Samir Nasri. Lucas along with the Liverpool back line had done his job in stopping the attacking flow of the two Man City maestros, Silva and Nasri.
The Reds went again in search of a winner; Downing’s shot rocketed into the ground and was looking to be looping over Joe Hart, but for a fantastic fingertip save. Yet Another excellent goalkeeping performance denying Liverpool at Anfield.
Kuyt then had another great opportunity on the goal line but the ball didn’t fall kindly for the striker, allowing the combination of Hart and Lescott to frantically clear.
Liverpool had then another chance to take the lead, but failed to take it. Lescott intercepted Martin Skrtel’s tamed effort inside the 6-yard box. City were rocked, not once this season had they been dominated for a length of this period.
Balotelli handed birthday boy Mancini a problem just after 20 minutes of coming on, with a second yellow for going into a challenge with Skrtel with his elbow, resulting in a deathly stare from the boss.
There were then two golden opportunities for the Reds to snatch a winner for the second successive game, Lucas linked up well with Suarez but the Uruguayan’s power shot was stopped by Joe Hart at his near post. On 92 minutes Andy Carroll could’ve continued his free scoring against City, his brilliant header was incredibly kept out once again by Hart, denying Liverpool the spoils and keeping City’s unbeaten record in tact.
MOTM: Lucas Leiva. His stats depicting why he is a crucial figure in this Liverpool line up. A pass accuracy of 92.2%, along with 7 successful tackles out of 7 (100%), 81% Ground Duels Won (13/16) and 100% Aerial Duels Won (4/4). A very impressive display from the Brazilian up against David Silva, arguably the best creative midfielder in the league.
4 comments:
If we don't get either Lucas or Gerrard back by the 3rd of Jan we may struggle against them away. It's fun beating Chelsea but not at this price..
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