Royal Screw-Up At Palace

Contrary to what the article heading may suggest, this is not a piece for OK! magazine about Prince Harry’s latest escapades. In fact, it is in reference to the frankly shocking capitulation that we witnessed yesterday evening at Selhurst Park. I’m over-using humour in this first paragraph because to seriously stop and think about it is frankly too much- we lost nearly all hope of the title yesterday.

We didn’t throw away our already rather slim chances in the way that many predicted- failure to break down a packed, resolute Palace defence. The breaching of what the Palace fans dubbed ‘Fortress Selhurst’ was actually rather easy; Liverpool fired 3 past them, and should have had a lot more. 3 goals to the good with 12 minutes to play- it looked a certainty that Liverpool had overcome their last remaining big hurdle, and kept the pressure right up on Manchester City. Our defence has been unreliable all season, but surely even this motley crew wouldn’t concede 3 in the space of 9 minutes to a side who has struggled to score many all season? Alas, that’s exactly what we did.

Was it the pressure getting to us? Was it the fact that Palace had nothing to lose whatsoever, and so put their all into that last 10 minutes? Was it simply that our defence is not good enough? It was most likely a combination of the three, with the emphasis on the 3^rd. The first goal, the one that let Palace back into the game, was a freak deflection. Damien Delaney’s well-hit but ultimately speculative effort struck Glen Johnson and flew right into the top corner. Any usual title contenders would at this point have stopped pushing to increase the goal difference, and shut up shop. But we are no ‘usual’ contenders. We neither have the ability nor the inclination to go defensive, and here that cost us oh so dear.

Of all people to shatter Liverpool’s remaining title dreams, it was Dwight Gayle. He was talked about a lot at the start of the season- the club’s record signing who had just months before been in the Conference! I even considered him for my Fantasy Football team (though seeing as I currently lie in 150,573^rd place that’s no high accolade). However, he has barely featured all season, and only came on for Crystal Palace as a late substitute. It was he who scored the two goals that sent us from cruising to crying in a frighteningly short space of time.

Speaking of unlikely players, there is no doubt that the ball fell to the wrong person in the 94^th minute. Rodgers had taken off Sturridge for Moses at 3-2, and it was the Nigerian who had the chance to re-ignite Liverpool’s title dreams deep into stoppage time. After a scramble, the goal lay almost empty- did Moses manage to even make proper contact with the ball? What do you think…

It was an almost comical moment, at least it would have been had the ramifications not been so severe.

But just how severe are said ramifications? Are we now out of the title race which we did so staggeringly well to even get to in the first place? There is no doubting that Manchester City are now unbelievably strong favourites; they would have to either draw to both Villa and West Ham or lose to 1 of them to open the door again for Liverpool. This, however, is not impossible- Liverpool have to make sure they are ready to capitalise on any shock slip-up. If City did lose to West Ham or Villa, and we failed to win our game against Newcastle on the last day, it would be too much to bear. Liverpool just need to keep focused on their game, and maybe footballing fate will smile upon them by turning up just one last shock in this staggering season of Premier League football.

-James Martin

Follow me on Twitter @JamesMartin013  

Everton 3-3 Liverpool: Post-Match Analysis

I’m still in shock. Yesterday (Saturday 23^rd November), Liverpool and Everton played out one of the best, most dramatic Merseyside derbies to date. Many predicted it would be a good game, with both sides having good seasons, but nobody could have foreseen that it would turn into a six goal thriller, filled with all the ingredients to make a great game of football- controversy, exceptional play, drama and action right to the final whistle.

In their usual fashion, Liverpool started quickly. They won a corner inside 4 minutes, and subsequently scored from it- Coutinho smashing the ball emphatically into the net after Suarez had his shot blocked. Everton would have been disappointed to concede in such a manner- the marking was questionable, and James McCarthy, who was meant to be on the line to clear the ball, was standing in the goal! Consequently, his attempted clearance was ineffective, and Liverpool took the lead. However, it didn’t last long. 8 minutes into the game Leighton Baines delivered a very nice free kick, which, after a bit of a scramble, was turned home skilfully by Kevin Mirallas.

A few minutes later, Mirallas was involved again, but not in the right way. He tried to rob the ball from Suarez by sliding in, but his tackle was late and high, and his studs were up. It clearly should have been a red card (I may be biased, but I’m sure anyone would agree it was a horrendous challenge), but referee Phil Dowd only deemed it worthy of a yellow. This was not an isolated incident. The Everton game plan essentially seemed to be ‘try and get Suarez stretchered off the pitch’, and Mirallas in particular was guilty of multiple fouls. How he didn’t get sent off is beyond me.

Unfortunately for them, even dirty tactics could not contain the Uruguayan. 19 minutes in, he won a free kick in a promising position. Agger, Gerrard and Suarez all looked interested in taking it, but in the end it was Suarez who took on the responsibility. He certainly delivered- his glorious, curling effort got through the (admittedly somewhat scrappy) wall and past the outstretched glove of Tim Howard.  The game then died down a little, although both sides were still creating chances. Mignolet pulled off a couple of great saves to keep Liverpool in front going into the break.

After half time, it carried on in much the same way. With Baines off for Deulofeu, Everton became slightly more attacking, and Liverpool were forced into defending quite a lot. Mignolet made some astounding saves to retain the reds lead. With 30 minutes to go, Joe Allen was presented with a glorious chance to reward Mignolet’s hard work by all but sinking Everton. Suarez dances exceptionally through 3 Everton defenders, and the ball broke for the Welshman. He was clean through on Howard, with Suarez to his left. He opted to shoot, and understandably so, for it was a very easy chance. However, he somehow put the ball wide of the target, letting Everton off the hook. It was extremely frustrating; even if he wasn’t confident taking on the simple shooting chance, why not just square it to Suarez for a tap-in? Suarez seemed to be thinking along the same lines- he was visibly furious with Allen.

This was arguably the catalyst that Everton required. They redoubled their efforts, and with 20 minutes to go levelled the game through Romelu Lukaku. The chance came after Mignolet made yet another sublime stop (he made 9 in total throughout the game), but could not gather the ball. The Liverpool box was crowded with blue shirts, and when the ball got driven it and fell to Lukaku, the outcome was inevitable. At this point Rodgers took off Lucas for Sturridge, a real sign of intent. Unfortunately, it did not immediately pay off. Everton won a corner in the 82^nd minute, which Lukaku headed powerfully home for his 2^nd and Everton’s 3^rd, putting them in front for the first time. Sturridge was on the line, but could not prevent the ball sailing over his head and in.

Despite the fact that there was so little time left, it didn’t really feel like the scoring was over, and so proved. With just a minute left of the ninety, substitute Daniel Sturridge headed home after a great free kick from the captain, Steven Gerrard. This brought things level, but Liverpool were not done. They kept piling on the pressure deep into added time, resulting in what was very nearly the winning goal. Suarez was denied by a good save from Howard, and Sturridge actually put the ball into the net, but from an offside position. Eventually the final whistle blew, bringing the rollercoaster of a match to an end.

Mignolet gets my man of the match award, as without him we would have ended up with a result a lot worse than a draw. Jon Flanagan, who was filling in at left-back for Enrique and Cissokho, also deserves a mention. He made some good tackles, and though he didn’t provide much attacking impetus he was solid at the back. All in all, although it was disappointing not to win against our fierce rivals, a draw was probably a fair result. It was an excellent, hard-fought game of football, and a pleasure (albeit a stressful pleasure) to watch. It should be remembered that an away draw against e team sitting 6^th in the table is nothing to be ashamed of, and with three very winnable games coming up the overriding feeling at Anfield should be optimism.

-James Martin

Follow me on Twitter @JamesMartin013