Liverpool 2 – 0 Manchester United

:O :O

That is the best expression I could come up with, after seeing a match which Liverpool dominated for the best part of 90 minutes, creating chances aplenty and running out deserved winners in the end. It is astonishing how the Reds can conjure up such a performance when they have their backs to the wall. Rafa Benitez is know to be the master of come backs. I am sure every Red remembers the grandiose comeback in Istanbul that night of 2005.

Anyway, coming back to this encounter. The stage was set for another exhilarating encounter and the atmosphere at Anfield was electric. There was a march by the ‘Spirit of Shankly’ supporters against the American owners prior to the match. There were beach balls thrown out onto the field from the Man Utd section of the crowd (mocking the Sunderland fiasco) and the stewards had to clean the ground before the match could begin. The first 20 minutes were dominated by the home team and they created a couple of good opportunities, but could not score. From there on, United started getting back into the game, but they never really looked threatening. The best chance of the half came to Dirk Kuyt courtesy a good through ball from Lucas, but Kuyt took one touch too many and could only slice the ball across the face of the goal. Another chance fell to Fabio Aurelio from a corner, but he headed the ball straight into the palms of the United keeper, Edwin Van Der Sar.

Both teams went into half time not highly pleased with themselves, but hoping to score in the upcoming 45 minutes. The second half again was full of chances for both teams.  It seemed that Kuyt had lost confidence in himself after the earlier miss, when, he received the ball in the same  spot as earlier, but he decided to pass back to Benayoun instead of firing the shot himself at an open goal with only Van Der Sar to beat. The first goal however, came again from an individual mistake. The last time these two teams met, Nemanja Vidic was at fault; this time it was Rio Ferdinand. Yossi Benayoun passed brilliantly to Torres and El Nino made sure he kept Ferdinand at bay while slotting past Edwin Van Der Sar. This seemed to awaken Manchested United out of their slumber and they created the best chance of the evening for themselves with Antonio Valencia hitting the post within the next 10 minutes.

No one can predict what outcome the match would have had, if that ball from Valencia had gone in. Liverpool, however, will survive to fight out another season. The last 10 minutes saw the sending off of Vidic and Mascherano,  reducing both teams to 10 men. Vidic was sent off for the third straight time against the Reds in 3 matches; both matches last season and this, the first game of this season between the clubs. Ngog was brought in for a not yet fit Torres in the 80th minute.

United kept mounting attack after attack which allowed Liverpool to break in the 95th minute. With Lucas, Kuyt and Ngog ahead and Lucas holding the ball a wee bit more than normal, he passed to Ngog who finished the game, putting the ball past Van Der Sar into the United net. The significance of the win can only be described by the scene when Pepe Reina ran all the way from the Liverpool goal to celebrate with Ngog.

It does surprise me to see a team which performed miserably against Chelsea,  Sunderland and Lyon come up with the goods against Man Utd. I will personally remember this match for one thing; Lucas giving the best performance of his short stint in the Premier League. I have never seen such a versatile Lucas in all the matches that he has played. Cricket aficionados  will cite the example of Marvan Atapattu from Sri Lanka who came good after scoring seven consecutive 0’s (ducks) in his first seven innings. It seems Rafa Benitez is showing the same patience with Lucas. To be truthful, he has at long last looked like a player who had been chosen as the Brazilian footballer of the year.

He combined very well with Benayoun and threaded some really good passes to Torres and Kuyt. Kuyt though, was a shadow of his former self. The midfield in this game functioned like a well oiled machine. I have been the biggest critic of Rafa this season and I would like to commend him on getting the team together once again.

However, it is too early in the season to become optimistic about title chances. I will for now refrain from speaking about our title chances. It looks as though Liverpool have taken one small step to bringing their season back on track. The next few games will tell where they will land at the end of this season.

Nani vs Babel

I remember having this discussion with my friend Munish (check out his blog here). We were debating about who was worse, Nani or Babel. First of its kind debate? You tell me. This debate started about 7 weeks back, at the start of the new Premier League season. For the first couple of weeks, I was able to make my point considering the performances going around, but; about four weeks into the season and I am dead beat. How? Read on….

Ryan Babel, the Dutch striker/winger started the season in the most horrific of fashions. He was given his first start in the first game of the season for Liverpool; and he made his first worthless appearance there. Too many “firsts” there, isn’t it. Well, to be truthful I have not followed Nani’s progress (or decline as my friend likes to state it) as closely as Babel, but I have seen glimpses of him. I make it clear in no uncertain terms, that being a Red for life I hate ManUtd as hell, but I do respect their attitude towards the game and their fighting spirit.

This prompted me to watch a couple of games of ManU and also Nani’s performance. The latest game I watched was the one today against Bolton at Old Trafford. Now, OT is the hunting ground for the current Champions. However, their performance never made it look like it is their home ground. I was keeping an eye out for Nani in particular, and he was disappointing to say the least. One wonders, how a manager as experienced as Sir Alex is still holding him in his squad. And, come to think of it, Nani had spoken out to the media saying that he will replace CR7 (now CR9).

Babel has not done much better either. He has not been given the opportunities Nani has been given (in terms of minutes on the field), but he has been playing 20+ minutes in almost all his substitute appearances. Add to the fact that he has 2 goals to show (although one of them was freaky), both against Hull. Ryan Babel did show flashes of brilliance with his control and speed, but these were really far and few in between the chances he has wasted.

The time’s ripe for both Nani and Babel to show where they stand. One can only hope that both of them starting paying back the trust and monetary investments made by their respective managers. I will reserve my judgement on who will make it through this season for now. But, as I understand it; for either team to win this season of the Barclay’s Premier League, these two players will be quite critical in their battle plans.