Potters Stoked by performance of 12th Man

Liverpool fell to their first defeat of the season yesterday after a combination of blatant refereeing errors, poor finishing and sheer bad luck saw opponents Stoke City emerge with an undeserved 1-0 win, ultimately sealed thanks to a highly dubious spot kick from Jonathan Walters.

Manager Kenny Dalglish stuck with the bulk of the side that secured such a comprehensive victory over Bolton Wanderers last time out, with Martin Skrtel replacing his injured namesake Kelly in the only change.

Surprisingly though, in a week in which Dalglish was forced to defend his £35 million purchase following unwarranted criticism of his fitness from England manager Fabio Capello, Andy Carroll was left on the bench. The number nine’s confidence cannot have been improved by missing out once again, particularly considering his height could have proven an invaluable resource both defensively and offensively against a typically physical and combative Stoke side, who handed a debut to ex-Red Peter Crouch up front.

The Reds’ last win at the Britannia Stadium came over a decade ago when an 8-0 annihilation saw Stoke unceremoniously dumped out of the Carling Cup at the fourth round stage. Since then, Stoke have done incredibly well to narrow the vast gulf in quality between the two sides and yesterday’s one-goal triumph came as a testament to the remarkable work done by Tony Pulis to establish the Potters as a recognised Premier League outfit.

However, they undoubtedly profited from many questionable refereeing decisions that went in their favour throughout the course of the 90 minutes. This was particularly true in the opening stages, as two crucial calls incorrectly went against the visitors, setting the pattern for what would be an infuriating afternoon.

First, Mark Clattenburg failed to point to the spot after Delap had blatantly blocked Kuyt’s header with his hand inside the box. Then, only moments later, the hosts were awarded a ridiculously soft penalty after Jonathan Walters went down under minimal pressure from a bewildered Jamie Carragher. The Irish international picked himself up to lash the spot kick confidently beyond Reina and into the net.
The opener had come against the run of play because, although they failed to seriously test Begovic during the early exchanges, Liverpool had been in the ascendancy and remained dominant for the rest of the contest. Frustratingly though the Reds lacked a killer instinct in front of goal, as demonstrated 10 minutes before the break when Skrtel blazed over the bar when well placed.

Suarez then turned Upson and tested the keeper with a low shot before Shawcross headed Etherington's cross over the bar, but the scoreline remained unchanged heading into the interval. Dalglish must have been disappointed to be trailing after controlling the first period and consequently sent his troops out with the express aim of equalising early on then capitalising on the momentum built up and putting Stoke to the sword.

Unfortunately though the start to the second half was scrappy and the Reds only began to build up a head of steam after a golden opportunity had been squandered on the hour mark. Enrique displayed vision and intelligence to split Stoke's defence with an incisive cross-field pass that sent Henderson bearing down on Begovic. A remarkable sequence of play followed, as Henderson was twice foiled by the keeper and once by a defender, before Adam's two attempts were also blocked as the hosts defended both heroically and desperately.

The introduction of new signing Craig Bellamy alongside Andy Carroll twenty minutes from time sparked a late onslaught from the visitors, who piled on the pressure in search of a crucial equaliser. The Welsh striker immediately showed his Jekyll and Hyde tendencies, encouragingly delivering a couple of enticing balls into the danger area but also arguing and squaring up to opponents unnecessarily.

With three minutes remaining the considerably shorter Bellamy almost benefited from being in the vicinity of his tall colleague Carroll, as Stoke defenders focused on the latter while Downing's deep cross travelled to the former at the back post. Disappointingly our new number 39 headed wide in time and space.

There was still time for another debatable refereeing decision and missed opportunity, with the ever-zealous Suarez inevitably involved in both incidents. First, Suarez was booked for screaming at the officials in protest after they had failed to spot Upson inadvertently handle Downing's cutback. However, to be fair to Clattenburg it was a 50-50 call as there is a credible argument that it was more a case of ball-to-hand then handball.

Then, deep into injury time miscommunication between Crouch and Begovic caused the ball to fall favourably for Suarez, who had the simple task of slotting the ball into an empty net from eight yards out. Agonisingly, the Uruguayan’s shot slid inches wide of the post as the Merseysiders' unbeaten record slipped from their grasp.

An unexpected away victory against similarly red and white clad opposition earlier in the season compensates for this loss, however frustration abounds as we dominated throughout yet failed to take our chances, which ultimately proved costly. Although Liverpool had eleven attempts on target to Stoke's one, the Potters were more clinical in front of goal and emerged with the three points, moving into fourth place, one above the Reds.

Nevertheless, should we replicate this performance in future weeks and receive more favourable treatment from officials then this defeat will be quickly forgotten.

YNWA

(Thanks to Katherine Morris from Red and Proud's Facebook page for providing the title to this piece.)