Liverpool squeeze past Seagulls

Liverpool secured a safe passage to the fourth round of the Carling Cup last night with a 2-1 victory over Championship outfit Brighton and Hove Albion at the recently built Amex Stadium. Goals close to the start and conclusion from Craig Bellamy and Dirk Kuyt sealed the win for the Reds, with Ashley Barnes' late spot kick proving little more than a consolation.

Following Sunday's crushing defeat at White Hart Lane, Dalglish picked a relatively strong starting line-up in order to quickly recover the form lost after consecutive losses. Youngsters Martin Kelly and Jack Robinson complemented an experienced core composed of Reina, Carragher, Lucas, Kuyt, Suarez and Bellamy. Meanwhile, club captain Steven Gerrard started on the substitutes' bench after six months on the treatment table, eventually completing 15 minutes at the end.

The visitors, who created numerous chances and threatened the hosts’ goal at regular intervals, dominated the early exchanges. Our bright start was in stark contrast to the apathetic beginning to our previous match, with Craig Bellamy coolly netting his tenth goal for the club seven minutes in to confirm our supremacy.
Kuyt's headed effort was then hacked clear off the line, before the Dutch striker superbly sent Suarez one-on-one with the keeper but the Uruguayan contrived to fire wide when ideally placed to double our lead. The front three of Kuyt, Suarez and Bellamy were combining effectively and encouragingly, with Suarez dropping a header agonisingly wide of the far post from Bellamy's free kick on the half hour mark and the Welsh striker smashing a sensational 40-yard set piece against the cross bar five minutes prior to the break.

The trio seemed to be on the same wavelength and were playing football pleasing to the eye which, although clearly good news for Kenny and co, leaves Carroll, who remained on the bench throughout, facing fierce competition for a forward position many expected him to make his own.

The Merseysiders could have easily been three or four ahead at the interval, however they frustratingly failed to add to their lead and the age-old adage that football is a 'game of two halves' rung true once again. A bright Brighton side, enjoying resurgence under the guidance of the likeable Gus Poyet, spent the majority of the second half placing their Premier League opponents under pressure.

On 48 minutes ex Red Alan Navarro smashed a strike against the bar following Coates' poor clearance, before good attacking play from the Seagulls culminated in Sparrow shooting straight at Reina. Scouser and childhood Liverpool fan Craig Noone, who previously worked on the roof of Steven Gerrard's house, particularly stood out for Brighton, looking lively and posing questions of our back four. Shortly after the hour mark he fired over, before former Valencia man Vicente arced a shot wide.

With an equaliser looking eminently possible Dalglish decided to introduce skipper Steven Gerrard, to the joy of Liverpool fans thankful to finally see their star performer back out on the park. Nerves were calmed further five minutes later when Bellamy and Maxi combined to set up Kuyt, who struck the ball low beyond Ankergen and into the far corner of the net.

At that point Brighton's valiant second half effort appeared to be in vain, however they were given a glimmer of hope in the last of the 90 minutes as an embarrassing, school-boy error from the out-of-sorts Spearing forced Carragher to make a hasty challenge. Instead, the 33-year old vice-captain tripped up Vicente and Barnes proceeded to dispatch the spot kick past Reina. Despite late pressure from the home side, Liverpool held out and will be in the hat for Saturday's fourth round draw.

The main positives to take from last night were our first half performance, which showed the attacking class clearly possessed within the squad, and the return of Steven Gerrard, who will surely play a huge part in helping the Reds return to the top four should he stay fit. Moreover, Bellamy's performance was encouraging and demonstrated the potential he undoubtedly has, however he was up against a Championship defence and I'll reserve judgement on him until he shows he can perform consistently well in the Premier League and not prove a destructive force in the dressing room in the process.

On the flip side, the Reds failed to capitalise on their first half dominance, were ran very close in the second half by a team who were plying their trade in League One only last season and conceded a silly penalty in the dying stages.

Whatever way you look at it, Liverpool are through and can now concentrate on picking up crucial points in the contest for Champions League qualification.

YNWA