Fernando Torres scored his 50th Anfield goal in all competitions to earn Liverpool their 2000th League victory and, more importantly, a vital 1-0 win over Roberto Di Matteo's stubborn West Brom outfit.
Liverpool struggled to break down the visitor's defence for long periods of the match, however Torres popped up with a winner just past the hour mark to secure our first three points of the season.
Torres, Gerrard, Jovanovic, Skrtel and Agger all returned to the starting line-up after missing Thursday's Europa League trip to Turkey, as Hodgson decided to play his best side in an attempt to impress the capacity crowd and ensure that Liverpool entered the international break with confidence levels high.
New signing Raul Meireles was unveiled on the Anfield turf before the match and received a warm welcome from the Kop, whilst Fulham left back Paul Konchesky, who is expected to sing imminently, was also in the Main Stand watching his new side labour to a hard-fought victory over the Midlanders.
Torres and Gerrard linked up early on, raising expectations that the pair could destroy the away side's defence, however that was not the case as their back line remained firm for large spells.
Our Spanish striker exchanged passes with captain Steven Gerrard before attempting a shot from an audacious angle. He did well to get it on target, and former Liverpool keeper Scott Carson was forced to make a save to deny the World Cup winner an early goal.
Liverpool may have created the first opportunity of the match, however it was the visitors who dominated the early stages, controlling the pace of the match and restricting Hodgson's side. On 23 minutes a low shot from the well-placed Fortune required a good stop from the alert Pepe Reina.
West Brom were looking comfortable in possession, however they failed to seriously test our goal despite their control of the match. The first real opening fell to Liverpool though, as Lucas' deflected effort inadvertently put Kuyt through on goal, but the Dutchman got his feet tangled up and the best chance of the match was squandered.
Minutes before the break James Morrison shot wide on the half volley from range, meaning that the teams went in level at the break, and with the home side desperately needing a spark of inspiration from somewhere to break the deadlock and claim a win they were expected to comfortably obtain.
The start of the second half continued the pattern of slow, sluggish football that had permeated the first half, however Liverpool improved after Maxi replaced the ineffective Jovanovic on the left wing.
On the hour mark a goalmouth scramble ensued after a corner kick had been launched into the area. The scramble for the ball ended when Slovakian centre back Martin Skrtel shaved the cross bar with his awesome volley, which went inches over the top left hand corner.
Liverpool were now finally starting to create chances, even if we still hadn't hit anywhere near top gear. With 25 minutes still to play Liverpool counter-attacked down the left hand side after Reina twice denied Jara an opening goal.
Kuyt and Torres exchanged passes before the Dutchman superbly clipped the ball back to the edge of the area, where Torres met the ball with a fantastic first time finish which left Carson with no chance.
Liverpool searched for a second, and it nearly arrived soon after as a sublime cross from Steven Gerrard by-passed the Albion defence to find Torres at the back post. Unfortunately Carson made an excellent save to deny Torres, and Liverpool, their second of the afternoon.
The Reds should have had a penalty with seven minutes left as Torres' shot was blatantly blocked by the arm of Jara, however referee Lee Probert made an awful decision as he refused to award the spot kick.
That penalty would have made the last few minutes much more comfortable had it been converted, however James Morrison was sent off with two minutes remaining after a poor challenge on Fernando Torres had grounded the Spaniard.
Despite the red card the away side still applied pressure in the closing moments of the encounter, but the well-drilled Liverpool defence remained firm to close out a 1-0 victory.
Whilst the performance was nowhere near good enough, and must be improved if we are to pick up points at St Andrews and Old Trafford after the international break, the main positive to take from the game is that we managed to grind out a win when we probably would have been forced to settle for only a point in past seasons.
It is a mark of champions to win when you are not playing well, and whilst I still don't think we have the squad to be able to compete with the likes of Chelsea and United, a win and defeats for both Manchester City and Tottenham Hotspur means that we can be happy with our weekend's Premier League football.
YNWA
No comments:
Post a Comment