Match Report: Liverpool 5-0 Norwich

After a dreaded defeat to arch-rivals Manchester United, Liverpool are hungry to get back to winning ways. They take on Norwich City at Anfield with Sturridge making his first home Premier League debut. This is another perfect opportunity to show if Sturridge and Luis Suarez can link up well.

Norwich only managed to hold Liverpool for twenty six minutes before the onslaught began. Glen Johnson, who played at left-back, latched onto a sumptuous ball from captain Steven Gerrard before crossing to Suarez. Suarez, who has been in effervescent form lately, squirms away from three Norwich defenders. However he got dispossessed. Still, fortune favoured Liverpool as the ball trickled outside the box, to Henderson, who slams a magnificent half-volley into the back of the net. 1-0 Liverpool.

After that goal, Henderson was feeling the groove and he took another chance with an audacious long shot which this time, Mark Bunn, the Norwich keeper, was equal to.

Luis Suarez, the controversial yet magical Uruguayan forward got on the scoresheet again. It was Gerrard the provider yet again. A long grounded pass which Sturridge dummied, to the surprise of Norwich defenders, found Suarez, who runs a bit of distance, then finishing clinically with his left boot. This was his twentieth goal in all competitions this season and he looks set for plenty more.

Norwich had a slight share of opportunities at the Kop end, one through a Grant Holt volley which Liverpool teenager, Andre Wisdom, headed clear to safety.

The firsst yellow card of the game came in the forty first minute when Glen Johnson cynically brought down Snodgrass with a mistimed tackle. The former received a yellow card, while the latter was being treated at the sidelines.

If there were any doubts of the Suarez-Sturridge partnership not working out, it should be shunned after this game. The combination took effect again as Suarez sets up Sturridge who shoots at a tight angle. To Norwich’s relief, Mark Bunn made a decent save to deny Sturridge.

Liverpool were playing liquid football and were also piling on pressure against their opponents. They certainly didn’t fail to keep up their good work in the second half.

The third goal arrived fourteen minutes into the second half. A pass from Henderson, a pass from Downing and Sturridge was there to finish the job. Talk about being at the right place at the right time! By now, Liverpool obtained total control over the game and had no worries of a Norwich comeback. They could freely attack now.

And attack they did. In the sixty fifth minute, Johnson drove in from the left to the middle and gives the ball to Stevie G who has been the engine of the Liverpool attack throughout the entire game. The audience at Anfield were then blown away by a trademark screamer from the Liverpool skipper yards outside the penalty area. It has been such a joy watching Gerrard bang in plenty of goals from such distances. Even the commentator said: “They should make a DVD compiling all of Stevie G’s long range goals.”.

The first scrappy goal of the evening, which also is the last goal of the game, came from an unfortunate own goal by Ryan Bennett. Another Gerrard pass, which Johnson manages to keep the ball in play, fell to the sixty eighth minute substitute, Sterling, who places a shot past Bunn. It was, however, Bennett who got the final touch.

Norwich’s frustration soon showed. Robert Snodgrass lunged into Sterling in the seventy ninth minute and received a yellow. He was soon subbed out for Anthony Pilkington.

Another rousing victory for Liverpool means another three points in the bag. Maybe it’s Liverpool’s time to shine in the second half of the season? Maybe they could make it back to the top four? We sure do have an exciting finish to the Premier League.

Match Report: Arsenal 0-2 Manchester City

For the other Premier League clash, we have Manchester City travelling to the Emirates to take on North London rivals Arsenal. City have not won at the Gunners’ home ground since 1975. Thus, they look to end this barren run and gain some ground against Premier League leaders and dreaded rivals, Manchester United. City made a few changes from their previous match with Javi Garcia taking over Yaya Toure’s place, who is on national duty for the African Cup Of Nations. Matia Nastasic preferred over Lescott, Milner taking over the suspended Samir Nasri and Dzeko replacing the injured Aguero. Arsenal made only one change and that is Abou Diaby, returning from injury, in place of the injured Mikel Arteta. City threatened in the opening minutes with Silva’s shot from just outside the penalty area, being blocked by the incoming Vermaelan. The resulting corner, soon built up to a chance for Edin Dzeko who was hauled down by Laurent Koscielny in the penalty area. No one really contested for anything except Pablo Zabaleta who threw his hands up in the air and shouted to the referee for a penalty. But referee Mike Dean flashed a red card at the guilty Frenchman.

Arsenal were down to ten men in ten minutes.

Up stepped the victim of the challenge, Dzeko. To Arsenal’s luck, the Bosnian’s shot was saved by Szczesny and the ball rebounded off the post and back into the Polish keeper’s safe hands. City’s first goal came from a quick free kick which Milner finished off with menace following Tevez’s through ball. The shot flew in with such pace that Szczesny stood no chance at all. Without Koscielny, Arsenal were especially sloppy at the back. Diaby gave the ball away to Silva with his careless pass. The Spaniard then chased to Tevez who blasted his shot straight at Szczesny.

The second goal came not long after Zabaleta stood his ground and won a 50-50 challenge with Kieran Gibbs and passes to Milner who squares the ball to Tevez. The nippy Argentinian slid in and caused the ball to head towards goal. Szczesny saves but Dzeko rebounds it in. Things went from bad to worse for Arsenal with an hour left to play. Joe Hart did have something to do later when Podolski forced a save out of the England . Javi Garcia could have extended the lead until Wilshere leapt to head the ball away from the goal line. Arsene Wenger rung in the changes at half time with Giroud coming on for Podolski and Diaby going off for Aaron Ramsey.

A counter-attack then saw Tevez through on a goal who decided to round Szczesny, but the latter made a brave intervention to keep his team’s hopes alive. It resulted in a rather furious reaction from Mancini who probably suggested that Tevez should have shot first.

Another controversial refereeing decision took place. One of England’s bright young talents, Jack Wilshere became a victim of a seemingly rash challenge from City skipper, Vincent Kompany. The referee abjudged that Kompany came in two-footed. Though, replays showed that he had his left foot on the ground as he slid in. In addition, immediately after the challenge, Wilshere looked up at the ref expecting himself to get sent off and not Kompany. This implied that Wilshere thought Kompany came in cleanly. Nevertheless, Kompany received his marching orders.

Roberto Mancini then made his tactical change, replacing a striker (Tevez) with a centre-back (Joleon Lescott). This proved to work out as an Arsenal attack came in, with Walcott shooting past Hart. But, Lescott made a last-minute clearance to keep the score, 2-0 City.

Arsenal have run out empty-handed here in terms of terms of points and goals. Man City, on the other hand, are still in the race for the title in 2nd position, behind leaders United.

Match Report: Manchester United 2-1 Liverpool

Today marks yet another highly-touted rivalry clash between Manchester United and Liverpool F.C. Before this match, held at the Red Devils’ home ground, Liverpool have won 74 of the 186 meetings and Manchester United, having their share of 62 wins with 51 draws between them. Liverpool look to build on that lead as they have Luis Suarez back on form. The Uruguayan having banged in 19 goals in all competition already this 2012/13 season.

However, it turned out to be a lackluster first-half for Liverpool as United relentlessly forged chance after chance. It wasn’t long before the first goal came, and it came in the from none other than, Robin van Persie. A swift United play saw former England under-21 midfielder, Tom Cleverley, pick out Patrice Evra on the left, who whipped in a low cross to van Persie. The Dutchman, the instinctively guided the ball past Pepe Reina to make it 1-0 to the Red Devils. Another glorious chance came from United. This time, it was Ashley Young who was the man behind the move. After receiving the ball from teammate Cleverley, the 27-year-old winger cut in from the right and laid out an inch-perfect pass to van Persie, whose shot sailed over the crossbar. Joe Allen, known for his clever passing, uncharacteristically set up Danny Welbeck, who looks set to score, until Liverpool’s center-half, Daniel Agger slid in to block the shot. It was a close shave for the Kop as United went hacking on. Good work down the right by Young, as he delivered a cross which Allen headed away, onto Cleverley’s path, who came so close to doubling United’s lead as he slammed a left-footed volley just wide of the post. Soon, United’s second came. It was through a van Persie free-kick which Evra got onto it and slightly deflected off Vidic into the goal.

In the 2nd half, Liverpool looked determined to force a comeback as there was a clear contrast in the way the played compared to the 1st. Their rewards were soon reaped. The ever-hardworking Stevie G, stole the ball off Carrick, played a one-two with Sterling and shot straight at De Gea who parries. Sturridge then pounced on the loose ball to reduce the deficit. 2-1.

The home side almost made it game over for their bitter rivals as Kagawa’s first-time curling shot was well diverted away by Pepe Reina. Liverpool tried and tried but couldn’t find the vital equalizer. Sturridge firing at the side netting and Fabio Borini, who came back from injury, volleyed well wide just minutes later. At the closing moments of the game, Suarez scrambled through United’s penalty box as the ball found its way to Sturridge. The former Chelsea man, however, blazed his shot over the goal and into the stands. Since taking over at Liverpool, this is Brendan Rodger’s 1st loss in his 1st game to Sir Alex Ferguson’s Manchester United, who extend their lead to 10 points at the top of the table.

Match Report: Viktoria Plzen 0-4 Barcelona

It all started with Marian Cisovsky getting sent off in the 16th minute, conceding a penalty. Down to 10 men, the Czech champions could not put up a fight against their superior Catalan opponents. Up steps Messi. With no memory of his penalty miss against Sevilla, The 3-time Ballon D’or winner slots the ball coolly into the bottom-left corner and is then mobbed by his teammates. For his 2nd goal of the night, the little Argentinian subtly weaved his way into the penalty area after being well set up by his Brazilian counterpart, Dani Alves. He then played a quick one-two with Adriano and finishes with ease. The third goal came after some good work from 20-year-old Spaniard, Isaac Cuenca, who beat his marker, and crossed to Fabregas who nodded home emphatically. With a hat-trick the previous game against Mallorca, Messi, repeated the same feat after Chilean, Alexis Sanchez passed to Pique, who backheeled towards the surging Argentinian. Messi just had to do the simple job of rounding the keeper and tapping the ball into the empty net to make it 4-0. Midway through the 1st half, Plzen goalkeeper, Roman Pavlik had to make a couple of stops and Thiago’s header got denied by the bar. The Czech side only created one scoring chance in the 2nd half but wasted it. This win sealed the cup holder’s’ passage through to the final 16 while their opposition stayed bottom of the group with only a point. This match also marks Victor Valdes’ record of 877 minutes without conceding a goal.