Swansea surprise for poor Reds

Liverpool succumbed to their fourth home draw of the season, and second at the hands of promoted clubs, yesterday as Brendan Rodgers’ Swansea City side took a hard-earned and wholly deserved point with them back to Wales. A poor Liverpool performance lacked the attacking verve of previous matches, with Andy Carroll’s glaring miss early on and Dirk Kuyt’s disallowed goal in the dying stages the Reds’ best two chances. Swansea, meanwhile, more than held their own and, after parking the proverbial bus during the first 45 minutes, threatened during the second period and arguably looked more likely to nick all three points.

The last meeting between these two teams came in January 1990 when Liverpool ran out comprehensive 8-0 winners in an FA Cup third round replay at Anfield. Unfortunately, a similar result wasn’t forthcoming this weekend, as the Merseysiders struggled to break down the stubborn Swansea back line.

After almost 30 years outside of the top flight, the Welsh side have taken to the Premier League like Swans to water, sitting comfortably in mid-table having conceded only once at the Liberty Stadium. However, they have struggled on the road, registering a single point from the 15 available from their five away fixtures prior to their trip to Anfield, although, to be fair, many teams will struggle to take anything away from the Etihad Stadium, the Emirates and Stamford Bridge.

As a result, the visitors understandably adopted a cautious approach at Anfield, getting men behind the ball and trying to frustrate their hosts. The whole pattern of the contest could have been changed seven minutes in though had Andy Carroll converted a gilt-edged chance. A neat one-two between Downing and Adam released the former Villa winger in space down the left wing. His low cross reached Carroll at the back post, who somehow contrived to hit the bar when it was easier to score.


It was a shocking miss from the tall Geordie, which revealed that, despite the improvement in his form over recent weeks, he is hardly the finished article yet. Nevertheless, a similarly embarrassing miss from Fernando Torres against Blackburn Rovers for Chelsea soothed the pain for hurting Reds. Conversely, strike partner Luis Suarez seems to be getting better and better with every passing week. Mid-way through the half his snapshot was deflected wide before he forced Swansea stopper Vorm into a stretched save.

In between those two opportunities Reina had to pull off a reflex save to deny Danny Graham, before an underwhelming first half culminated in promising 21-year old Joe Allen zipping a shot just wide of the Spaniard's far post from the edge of the box. Kenny Dalglish replaced the ineffective and below par Jordan Henderson with Dirk Kuyt at half time, however the Dutchman failed to inspire an improved display from the Reds, with the visitors increasingly controlling possession and posing a real threat to the home side's defence.

Eight minutes after the interval a timely intervention from Agger was required to prevent Routledge, before an error from Pepe Reina on the hour mark almost proved incredibly costly. He mis-controlled a square back pass and Graham almost nipped in to tap home but the number 25 survived the scare and just about managed to clear the danger in time. The off-form Reina then fumbled Dyer's shot into the path of Graham but recovered to smother the rebound. Swansea saved the best chance for the 84th minute though, when Graham knocked down Dyer's cross into the path of Allen, who had a clear sight of goal unchallenged from six yards out. Fortunately for the Reds he lacked the necessary composure and blasted well over when he should have at least tested Reina.

It was a near escape for Dalglish's troops, who responded by placing their Welsh opponents under pressure for the last few minutes. First, Suarez hit a free kick wide of target. Then, Johnson played the ball into the area where Agger headed through to Kuyt, who found the net with a diving header.


Frustratingly, female official Sian Massey, who was subject to senseless sexism from former Sky commentators Andy Gray and Richard Keys prior to our 3-0 victory at Molineux last season, flagged Kuyt offside. It was a close but correct call. Swansea keeper Michel Vorm, who hadn't been troubled for large portions of the contest, made two sensational saves late on to retain parity. Suarez's shot was well stopped before Johnson's excellent acrobatic effort was expertly tipped over the bar by the 28-year old Dutch stopper.

Their late resistance meant they held out for a point and, such was the quality of their performance, Rodgers' men received a round of applause from the Anfield faithful. It was a case of too little, too late for Liverpool though. For once, not only was their performance lacking goals, it also lacked the plethora of goalscoring chances that have come to characterise the Reds' recent displays. Moreover, control of the game often eluded the hosts, with Swansea claiming 55% of possession and looking comfortable on the ball throughout. Considering our opponents' abysmal away record, the performance and result were simply not acceptable.

In 2008/2009 Liverpool just missed out on clinching the title, mainly due to drawing seven matches at home, a total surpassed by only Middlesbrough and Aston Villa, who finished 16th and 10th respectively. Worryingly, we are already more than half way to matching that unwanted figure and, unless Dalglish quickly rectifies our home form, in 2011/2012 the Reds could miss out on Champions League qualification as a result of dropping silly points at Anfield.

YNWA