Suarez and Sterling strike as Reds defeat Bluebirds

Liverpool’s match against Cardiff on Saturday lunchtime was about so much more than just football.

Rodgers embraces Mackay

It was about solidarity between two teams that have suffered the same struggles, worries and fears. The Reds endured years of frustrating and seemingly endless quarrels between the former owners Tom Hicks and George Gillett and ex-manager Rafael Benitez, which ended with the sad but inevitable departure of a deeply loved manager who had delivered success and produced a squad of such quality that his successors have arguably failed to replicate up until now.

The Bluebirds- who now absurdly normally wear red due to a baffling decision by their owner- looked set to say goodbye to the manager who had similarly given them unparalleled success in propelling them into the Premier League and preparing a squad with a fighting chance of retaining their place in the most exciting, and lucrative, League in the world.

Malky Mackay may have been handed a stay of execution by Vincent Tan, but the frosty relationship at the core of their club doesn’t appear to be thawing anytime soon and the saga will, in all likelihood, drag on into the New Year.

Foreign owners who know nothing about what football means to real fans will continue to cause internal chaos, and those supporters suffering under such owners will forever receive the sympathies and support of Liverpool fans who, despite now finally appearing to have owners they can trust, understand entirely what Cardiff supporters are going through.

Perhaps just as remarkable as the boardroom transformation at Anfield, is the transformation of star striker Luis Suarez. In four months the Uruguayan has gone from hated traitor to adored hero. No longer arguing over the clauses in his contract in an attempt to manoeuvre a move away, Suarez has now put pen to paper on a new long-term contract and is scoring at a rate that justifies his status as the highest paid player in Liverpool’s history.

As we’ve come to expect, the magical number seven stole the show yet again against Cardiff at Anfield, scoring twice to become the first player in the Premier League era to hit double figures in a single month. And, with two more matches left in December, only a brave man would bet against Suarez adding to his impressive total of ten goals this month.

Perhaps more importantly, he showed significant signs of maturity. Not only was he unselfish in setting up Sterling for the Reds’ second goal when he could have easily scored himself, he also demonstrated humility and respect as he passed the captain’s armband on to Daniel Agger when he replaced Coutinho with seven minutes remaining. In the long term, that character development could be even more important than the short term impact of his goals.

It’s those goals, though, that attract the most attention and plaudits because they are spectacularly driving Liverpool’s run of good form. It may have taken Suarez an unusually long amount of time to register a shot on target on Saturday, but when he finally did 25 minutes in it was worth the wait. After good work from the scouse Cafu that is Jon Flanagan, Suarez dispatched Henderson’s cross past the keeper and into the net with a devastatingly lethal first time volley.

Suarez volleys home the opener

Cardiff had actually started the match fairly well up to that point, with Kirkby born Craig Noone testing Mignolet with a decent curled effort after a quarter of an hour. However, after Suarez opened the scoring Liverpool were utterly dominant and the visitors failed to cope with the hosts’ impressive attack.

Coutinho fired a shot against the base of the post, Skrtel headed over the bar and Flanagan’s strike was cleared off the line as Liverpool piled on the pressure before Raheem Sterling netted the second moments prior to the interval. Running clean through on goal parallel to Suarez after Henderson’s clever ball had set the number seven in, Sterling received a pass from the unselfish Suarez and completed the simplest tap-in to score possibly the easiest goal of his career.

Suarez’s spectacular curler into the bottom right hand corner on the stroke of half time put the game to death as a contest, and set up the prospect of a humiliating end to Malky Mackay’s reign as Cardiff City boss.

Suarez celebrates with his teammates

With Liverpool firing on all cylinders and Cardiff unable to resists the Reds’ relentless attacks, the Merseysiders could have gone on to fire six or seven past the Welsh side.

A combination of the hosts taking their foot off the accelerator and the away side stepping up their game prevented a cricket score, however, and made the result respectable for Mackay’s men, who even bagged a consolation on the hour mark, as shoddy defending at a set piece cost the Reds another clean sheet.

Sakho was left marking two men and one of them, namely Jordan Mutch, got his head to the centre and nodded home in front of the jubilant travelling supporters, which was deeply frustrating for Kopites hoping to see improvements in their team’s defending ahead of big matches against rivals Manchester City and Chelsea, who will both pose a greater attacking threat than Cardiff.

A second Cardiff goal at that point would have made things interesting, and a corner into the box with 20 minutes left on the clock did cause a worrying goalmouth scramble in the Liverpool penalty area. Thankfully, though, it never materialised and the game petered out, with Suarez being denied a hat-trick by the woodwork the only event of note in the closing stages.

On the final whistle, Rodgers embraced his counterpart Mackay, who then went on to applaud the tremendous travelling supporters before disappearing down the tunnel for what many believed would be the last time.

Mackay claps to the Cardiff fans

Thankfully, he has been given a temporary reprieve, but who knows whether the unpredictable Tan will change his mind and sack Mackay sooner or later? One thing’s certain, though, he will always receive the backing of the marvellous Cardiff fans, who in turn will be cheered on every step of the way by Kopites who can sympathise with them better than most sets of supporters.

YNWA