SAS prove Solskjaer wrong as Reds defeat Cardiff

Ole Gunnar Solskjaer will be eating his words today.

The former Manchester United striker and current Cardiff City manager wrote Brendan Rodgers’ team talk for him when he claimed that Wayne Rooney and Robin Van Persie were a better strike partnership than Liverpool’s Luis Suarez and Daniel Sturridge during the build-up to yesterday’s match.

In response, the Reds’ unstoppable SAS set about destroying his team’s defence, and they completed the task with a consummate ease that evidenced their attacking prowess and underlined Liverpool’s title credentials.

Despite falling behind twice to goals from Jordan Mutch and Fraizer Campbell, the Merseysiders’ supreme confidence in their own ability never wavered, and Suarez’s hat-trick, Skrtel’s double and Sturridge’s solitary strike saw the visitors clinch three crucial points to put them only four points behind top of the table Chelsea, with a game in hand and the Blues still to travel to Anfield.

Fresh from last weekend’s demolition of Manchester United at Old Trafford, Liverpool entered this contest as overwhelming favourites. Surprisingly, though, it was the relegation threatened Welsh outfit that began the better and took the lead after only nine minutes. Former Swansea midfielder Joe Allen carelessly lost possession and Cardiff capitalised, Mutch drilling home after Campbell had laid the ball off to him.

Mignolet was frustrated at conceding a poor opening goal

The visitors responded in the best manner possible, scoring a superb team goal only seven minutes later. Patiently keeping possession in the Cardiff half, the Reds diligently worked at trying to find a way through the Bluebirds’ defence and were rewarded in due course. Henderson’s incisive pass sliced open Cardiff’s backline and found Johnson, who squared the ball for Suarez to tap in a leveller from close range.

Suarez scored to round off a wonderful team goal

As always, though, Liverpool’s defence seemed destined to undermine the team’s efforts and, thanks to yet more incompetence at the back, the Reds fell behind again on 25 minutes. Fraizer Campbell was given far too much space in the box and he duly took advantage, going past Agger like he wasn’t there and firing beyond Mignolet. It was a terrible goal to concede and simply nowhere near good enough from the back four.

Fraizer Campbell put the Bluebirds back in front

Encouragingly, however, Liverpool’s resilience and confidence in their own ability seems unshakeable thanks to the knowledge, built up over the course of the season, that they have the potential to score more goals than any opponents.

Martin Skrtel went some way to atoning for his defensive team-mates’ errors with two goals either side of the interval. First, four minutes before the break he prodded home the Reds’ second equaliser of the afternoon from Coutinho’s dangerous cross.

Skrtel scored to level things up

Then, the Slovakian went on to score his second to put Liverpool in the lead for the first time only eight minutes after the restart. The arguably game-changing goal came in controversial circumstances, though, as Cardiff were left to defend a right wing corner with only nine men on the pitch, as Kevin Theophile-Catherine and Jordan Mutch stood on the side-lines waiting to be granted permission to return to the fray after receiving treatment for injuries.

Liverpool took full advantage of the situation and then pressed on to cement their dominant position, putting the outcome of the contest beyond doubt with plenty of time left to spare.

After Skrtel sent a glancing header into the net from Coutinho’s corner kick, Sturridge and Suarez showed a telepathic understanding, the former amazingly back heeling the ball right into the path of the Uruguayan, who scored with a first time finish. It was an unbelievably good goal from a strike partnership that surely is the best in the world right now.

The SAS scream Skrtel's header into the net

Suarez celebrated his second

There was more to follow from the dynamic duo, too, after Flanagan had fired over the bar. Johnson’s raking ball forward was well-controlled by Suarez and, as Sturridge made a lung-bursting run forward; the number seven put the ball on a plate for the England striker, who tapped in simply to make it five for the prolific away side. Almost as pleasing as the goal itself, was the desire shown by Sturridge to add another to the score-sheet despite Liverpool’s already ascendant position.

Sturridge gives Suarez credit for setting up his goal

Mutch’s headed goal two minutes from time, which only amounted to a consolation in the end, proved a little discomforting for Liverpool when it was announced that the home side had five minutes of injury time to try and pull off an Istanbul-esque comeback. The discomfort came not so much from concern about Cardiff’s attack, but rather from worrying about the possibility of Liverpool’s defence making more costly blunders.

Travelling Kopites need not have worried, though, as Cardiff were unable to add to their total and Luis Suarez scored his third in the final seconds of injury time to claim the match-ball for himself and put a cherry on top of the cake for the Merseysiders.

Showing strength to barge Cala off the ball, Suarez went clean through on goal and could have squared to Sterling, as he had unselfishly done in the reverse fixture at Anfield earlier in the season, but instead chose to go it alone, teasing Cardiff goalkeeper Marshall before tapping into the net and celebrating in front of the ecstatic away section.

Job done! Rodgers congratulated his star striker after the final whistle

With Arsenal amusingly falling to a 6-0 defeat at Chelsea in Arsene Wenger’s 1000^th game in charge, the title race is now arguably between Liverpool, Chelsea and Manchester City. They may be the underdogs, but the Reds have every reason to believe they can go all the way and win their first ever Premier League title. Their defence may be vulnerable, but with the SAS at the other end anything is possible.

One thing is guaranteed, though; no opposition manager with any sense will repeat Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s comments ahead of a fixture against Brendan Rodgers’ mighty Reds!

YNWA