Suarez Seals Win Against Sunderland

Liverpool went in to today's game on the back of going out of the Europa League during the week but in the Premier League Liverpool where one of the top teams on recent form following their win against Man Utd. In terms of the line up Liverpool welcomed back Suarez who was cup tied for the Europa League and he started up front for the first time with Andy Carroll. Liverpool where still without the injured Gerrard, Kelly, Aurelio and Shelvey but Agger made his return after 4 week out. Sunderland had been having recent injury problems themselves but they had nearly a full squad to choose from as a number of players made returns to the squad after a period out.
Sunderland were the livelier of the teams in the opening 20 minutes, they were first to the second ball on many occasions as Liverpool took their time to get going but while they failed to conjure a threat in open play, Kenny Dalglish's men looked dangerous on set-pieces, especially with £35m giant striker Andy Carroll present up front. Liverpool had the best chances to take the lead with the former Newcastle man involved in a move with Suarez that resulted in a corner. Raul Meireles pinged the corner to the back post which the tall forward nodded back into the six-yard area for Dirk Kuyt. The Dutchman's shot was then well saved point-blank by Mignolet.
Sunderland then had to make two forced changes due to injuries and their luck got worse when Mensah's poor chest control allowed Spearing to steal before the Sunderland player brought him down. The referee pointed for a free-kick before changing his mind on the advice of his assistant on the touchline, much to the fury of Sunderland boss Steve Bruce. While the tackle started outside the box there was contact while Spearing was inside the area so it was clear to see what the linesman thought. Even with numerous replays in slow motion on the TV there was still debate about the decision but the officials only had one chance to see it and the decision had been made. Dirk Kuyt stepped up to place the ball to the left of Mignolet and give Liverpool the lead. Kuyt celebrated with Lucas who had another reason to celebrate this week due to the birth of his first son Pedro Lucas. The goal seemed to lift Liverpool and the reds came close to adding another when Luis Suarez's low half volley had to be palmed away by the Sunderland keeper.


Suarez celebrates his goal which sealed the game.

 The Uruguayan had better luck after the break, although his strike owed more to audacity than fortune. The midfielder was picked out by Kuyt's throw-in and after a one two with the Dutchman he then drove down the right and cut in along the goal line, bypassing a couple of defenders before thrashing the ball past the head of a crouching Mignolet from the tightest of angles for his second goal for Liverpool which no one can deny, had been coming. Sunderland had failed to trouble keeper Pepe Reina all game and Liverpool looked comfortable, but things got worse for Sunderland. They then lost Welbeck because of another injury and with the eight minutes of the match remaining, Sunderland's miserable day was compounded with the sending off of Mensah for pulling back Suarez who was through on goal. Liverpool have a slight worry as Suarez went off in the last few minutes holding his groin but with a break for internationals he should have time to recover.
Liverpool deserved the win and it lifts them to within 4 points of Spurs who are in the only Europa League place that will be available this year. While Liverpool can't be ruled out of grabbing that 5th spot I find myself thinking that it wouldn't necessarily be a bad thing if the reds didn't get in to Europe his season. While the prospect of playing in Europe is a great thing the amount of extra games and the interruption of the pre-season for qualifying games it brings with it have a negative effect on the league performance. I think a good rest over the summer a proper pre-season, less mid-week games and maybe a few new signings will allow Liverpool to really challenge for the league title next season.

Dirk Hatrick Defeats Mancs

Liverpool started the game as outsiders for even a point in the eyes of the bookies after a woeful defeat to West Ham last week but Manchester United also went in to the game after a defeat following their midweek loss to Chelsea. Kenny Dalglish made 2 changes to his team, both down the left, with Aurelio and Maxi coming in for Wilson and Kelly.
Liverpool Started the game the brighter as Kuyt and Suarez linked up well to create the first chance of the game after just 2 minutes and this seemed to set the tone for the rest of the game. Kuyt and Suarez formed a great partnership up front and this was helped by the excellent delivery from Gerrard, Lucas and Meireles in the midfield. United had their first chance as a shot from Berbatov found the outside of the post but that was it as far as they were concerned in the first half. Suarez then showed his class again as his easily got past Evra and ran down the right before a perfect cross to Meireles was headed towards Kuyt and the Dutchman was inches away from beating Van Der Sar in the United goal. Liverpool's movement and quick passing kept United on the back foot but when they did attack they couldn't find any way past Liverpool's back four. After only 23 minutes however, the very injury prone Fabio Aurelio was forced off with a hamstring injury and Liverpool had to rearrange their whole defence as Kyrgiakos came on Carragher moved to right back and Johnson went to the position he has been playing a lot recently at left back. It was no doubt a set back for Liverpool but they dealt extremely well with the change and managed to still keep the creativity going forwards.

Liverpool celebrate Kuyt's first goal.

On the 32nd minute Liverpool won a free kick which was deflected wide for a corner but from the resulting corner being cleared Lucas then Kuyt both won good headers and Kyrgiakos played a good ball into Suarez who once again showed his skill by turning past Rafael easily beating Carrick dribbling past Brown before putting the ball through Van Der Sar's legs and past Evra for Kuyt to tap in on the line to give Liverpool a very deserved lead. While Kuyt got the goal it was Suarez who made it with one of the best runs you will see and he made the United defence look like armatures. It wasn't long before Liverpool had doubled their lead as Kuyt got his second. Suarez was involved again as his cross towards Gerrard was met by Nani who headed it back across goal and into the danger area much to the delight of Kuyt who put a good header past his fellow countryman from just 5 yards out.
The next involvement for Nani was also one the Portuguese international will want to forget as a high tackle by Carragher caught him on the shin but in a style we have come to expect from Nani he rolled round a bit then jumped up to complain about it and hopped round after the ref, sparking a number of players to surround the ref, before another period of rolling round and complaining as he was then carried off on a stretcher. Rafael then went in high on Lucas who managed to jump over the tackle and another period of pushing and shoving from all players resulted in 2 more yellow cards and an unsavoury end to an otherwise great half of football.
In the second half it was Liverpool again who started the brighter as Gerrard had a shot blocked and a Suarez flick on allowed Meireles to nearly find his captain just a yard out but Van Der Sar intercepted the cross. Liverpool continued the good work and Kuyt won yet another header before then chasing the second ball winning it back and earning his side a free kick. Suarez kept up his involvement in all of the goals by taking the free kick and it was Kuyt's hard work and constant running that meant he was first to the ball once Van Der Sar spilled it and he got a very deserved hatrick. While it wasn't the most glamorous of hatricks and the total distance of all his goals wasn't much more than 7 yards I can't think of a more deserving player to get it. His constant work rate, desire and effort can't be faulted by anyone but he has come under a lot of criticism recently about his first touch and lack of skill. As a great admirer of Dirk I took great pleasure in reminding those few who had slated him of their comments and not surprisingly most had decided to keep quiet but for me his hatrick epitomised every part of his game. The hard work needed to get the goals was there again, the simplistic style of all the goals and the no nonsense finishing, all with his previously criticised first touch, was great to see.
The Liverpool fans then found time to sing a belated Happy Birthday to manager Kenny Dalglish who had turned 60 earlier in the week and the Liverpool manager couldn't have wished for a better present from his team. Another great positive for the Liverpool fans was that their most expensive player got the opportunity to make his debut coming on for the last 20 minutes. He nearly got on the score sheet with his first touch but it was a great game for him to get his first experience of playing in a Liverpool shirt.

Kuyt was the hero with a hatrick against Man Utd.

It was a much improved Liverpool performance and the sort that frustrates the Liverpool fans who know that their team can play like this but it's just the inconsistency against the smaller teams that frustrates them. United did manage to get a goal back to remove some of the gloss from an otherwise perfect day for Liverpool but it shows how much it affected the Liverpool fans by the fact that they didn't even drop a note in their singing when Hernandez scored in the 92nd minute. All in all it was a great day for Kuyt for Dalglish and for Liverpool. Suarez and Lucas deserve commendable mentions in fact the rest of the team also played brilliantly but there can only be one man of the match and that has to be Kuyt.