On Sunday 23rd September, Liverpool lost 2-1 to Manchester United. Unlike some of our other defeats this season, this game certainly brings fans many valid reasons to complain. Things just never seem to slot into place for Liverpool at the moment, and the question that has to be asked (to mis-quote Mario Balotelli) is why always us?
Firstly, it has to be said that Liverpool were clearly the better side in the match. They played brilliantly, and Manchester United were underwhelming. So how did United come away from Anfield with all three points? I know people say this after every game, but this time I think it is fair to say we have a valid reason to blame the referee. LFC were totally dominant in the first half, with Manchester United seeing very little of possession. The passing style of Brendan Rodgers was working well, and United were not getting a look in. However, very near the end of the first half, referee Mark Halsey showed Jonjo Shelvey a red card. How Halsey reached the decision that Jonjo deserved red I shall never know, seeing as all he did was go in for a 50/50 ball. Both Shelvey and United defender Jonny Evans went in two-footed, and both got something of the ball. The only difference was that Evans started writhing about on the floor, whereas Shelvey got up and chased the ball, committed as ever to the cause.
Once Liverpool had been reduced to 10 men, they could hardly be expected to play fluid, passing football. With United’s one man advantage, it would have been almost impossible for LFC to maintain possession for long stretches at a time. However, I was hugely impressed with how Liverpool responded. They kept up the pressure until the end of the first half, and then came out just as attacking at the start of the second. Despite United having a man more than Liverpool, the majority of the meaningful attacks were still being mounted by LFC. Sure enough, this pressure paid off just minutes into the second half, with a great goal from Steven Gerrard. In a huge fixture such as this, it seems Liverpool can always rely on Steven Gerrard, who certainly gave all his doubters something to think about. It seemed Liverpool may triumph, despite the poor refereeing decision that had gone against them.
Unfortunately though, the captain’s goal seemed to kick-start United into action. They finally seemed to be able to make the most of their one man advantage, and began to see a lot more of possession. In fact, they hit back at Liverpool in just 3 minutes, through a lovely strike from defender Rafael. In all fairness to Man U, their build-up play was good and it was a very sweet finish. However, this did not seem to put out Liverpool’s fire, and Suarez twice came close in the coming minutes.
With Liverpool playing so well and United nowhere near their best, it seemed Liverpool were certain to get at last a point out of the game if not more, even though they had a man less than the visitors. However, Halsey once again intervened. Liverpool were trying to push forward again, when a wayward pass from youngster Suso allowed Valencia to sprint 40 yards up the pitch. In my opinion, Glen Johnson did absolutely brilliantly. He sprinted down the pitch and managed to get back at Valencia, throwing himself into a tackle to try and win the ball back. However, he didn’t get the ball, and neither did he touch Valencia. He slid to the side of both man and ball. However Valencia still went down (somewhat predictably), and Halsey, who seems to simply enjoy seeing Liverpool suffer, awarded a penalty. This was grossly unjust. It almost seemed that justice would be done when Reina made a brilliant attempt to save the Van Persie penalty, but in the end it was just too well placed. The fact that this penalty was given was made even more of a sore point given the fact that LFC had already had two or three legitimate penalty shouts turned down.
In conclusion, the fact that Liverpool got nothing out of this match was massively unfair, and almost entirely down to the referee. Firstly he put Liverpool at a massive disadvantage by sending off Shelvey, and then practically gifted United a goal by giving them a penalty. LFC can be extremely encouraged by their performance, and on any other day with any other ref (except perhaps Howard Webb!) they would certainly have taken all three points.
No comments:
Post a Comment