Liverpool Goal: Luis Suárez (67)
Newcastle Goal: Yohan Cabaye (43)
Talk of frustration, missed opportunities and a lack of a cutting edge. Just another day at Anfield. Given all that had been made of Newcastle not winning here for so long and on the back of a miserable performance against Swansea in the cup, I have to admit I was fearing the worst. In that sense, things unfolding in the way they did - that typical manner of having all the play but being unable to capitalize - wasn't the worst that could have happened. At the very least we've not lost two in a row and the setback in confidence that would have given us with a really tough couple of games in the next seven days, I can be thankful for small mercies.
Before the game, it was a chance to honour Steven Gerrard who was making a landmark 600th appearance for the club. He's probably the best player I'll ever see play for Liverpool - it would be very interesting if anyone could get close - and I have nothing but love and respect for all he does for the football club, even if I don't always see eye to eye with him on certain aspects of his game. When we did kick off - following a particularly rousing rendition of You'll Never Walk Alone - there were no signs of the same kind of sluggishness which began the game in midweek and festered right throughout. Newcastle looked a little cautious and allowed us early possession, while Gerrard and particularly Sterling were getting on the front foot immediately. We did a good job of pressing them and keeping the ball high up the pitch without over committing and the first real chance came just minutes in when Sahin and Sterling linked up to play in Suarez. The ball was cut out by Coloccini for a corner which prevented an almost certain goal.All the early play came from those in a red shirt. Jose Enrique was getting forward often and combined with Gerrard effectively to create some pressure in their half of the field. Just ahead of him Raheem Sterling looked perhaps the most likely player to create something and having laid it into Luis Suarez the Uruguayan could maybe have had the case for a penalty. Coloccini did catch him with his trailing leg and it would have been harsh given that Suarez went one way and the ball the other, but I've seen them given. What was particularly effective about our domination of the early exchanges was how the midfield played into it. There was a lot of grass in between their midfield and defence and that we had a man extra it allowed us the comfort of always being able to find that space. Nuri Sahin was supporting the attack well and passing the ball around very effectively while Gerrard and Allen really put themselves onto the Newcastle players and in turn forced mistakes.
A lot of our play this year has seemed to focus on one side of the pitch. We're very lop sided when Glen Johnson plays and today were very much the same with Jose Enrique going and Wisdom staying. Similarly Newcastle purposely overloaded on their left hand side in an attempt to get Cisse into the game, knowing that there would be space in front of his fullback to receive the ball but also it was a lot easier for them to bypass Suso also. In trying to get a foot on the ball, they really congested that part of the pitch and were successful in calming things down somewhat, purely by their strength in numbers. One of the things they weren't doing however was coming onto the ball. When receiving the ball from Brad Jones in goal, Joe Allen was allowed to turn with it and see the play in front of him whereas most teams like to put pressure on this outlet. What that did was play into our hands and allow us a fair degree of control. Unfortunately as Newcastle were growing into it we weren't as good on the ball and began to give it away, which in turn only helped them find their feet even more.
It took some time in coming but they did put our defence under pressure. Santon was released by Cisee out on the left hand side but his cross wasn't great and we were able to clear even after they'd collected it up on the other side. The warning was there - as if we needed reminding - that we'd been playing some decent football, this was a side who only needed one or two chances to make us pay. In that sense there was something of a stalemate with Newcastle happy to let us come on to them and our inability to use that and overwhelm them completely. Everything was a little more open now with both teams fairly settled, both Suarez and Ben Arfa shooting at goal within moments of each other but neither with any real quality to give either goalkeeper cause for concern.
With the game becoming more of a contest, Newcastle for the first time were suddenly caught with numbers high up the pitch. It was the only time we really got in behind them when Sahin set Suarez away but Steven Taylor did just about enough to make things difficult, forcing him wider than he would have wanted and also preventing the pass away to Sterling. The eventual shot was forced away but it wasn't before long that Suarez was involved again. Always causing problems for Coloccini just by being around, this time the ball simply wouldn't drop for anyone with Joe Allen coming onto it but unable to make any clear contact and it going wide. An injury to James Perch stopped the game for a few minutes to allow Newcastle a bit of a breather and after the change it was Daniel Agger and Martin Skrtel who were running with the ball out of defence, trying to get us to pick it up again after the delay.
We were guilty of it against Swansea and here they were doing themselves no favours whatsoever. Tim Krul's distribution seemed to be very off and his kicking was a little aimless. Newcastle do have some big players who were - on occasion - able to get it down and make something of it but on the whole all it did was give us the ball back and allow us the chance to start again. We probed without any real dynamism, Enrique on the left hand side before Gerrard on the right. On the occasions in which we had numbers in the box the quality of delivery was not of a great standard and whenever we did get in behind, there was nobody there to capitalize. After having been forced into the change, the new look midfield of theirs was also coming to grips with the game a lot better. Anita marshalled it very well as they were cutting balls out that were previously being played into Suarez's feet and the whole team had moved up a few yards. Suarez was being forced to come deeper to pick it up and when he did Coloccini wouldn't allow him to turn and also they were playing Cisse and Ben Arfa a little narrower, allowing the full backs to get beyond them but more importantly adding extra numbers into the middle so that Gerrard, Allen and Sahin wouldn't have quite the same influence over the play.
There was good and bad things happening all over the pitch, no more than a few seconds apart. Jose Enrique did really well to out muscle Ben Arfa - just brushed him aside with ease - and then ran up the pitch to give the ball away. Moments later Suso did something similar, taking it away from his man with a brilliant first touch only to play a poor pass intended for Suarez and allowing them to have the ball. All over there wasn't quite the same buzz about the team as there had been in the early stages and they were starting to win the second ball a lot better too. Suso wasn't having his best game and at times they certainly tried to exploit that side of the pitch but still he had one of the better chances, linking with Sterling and Gerrard on the one occasion we did manage to play the ball into that area just outside the box but despite shrugging aside a few players Suso could in the end only earn a corner.
To say it was a sucker punch would be an understatement. The kind of thing that you have to laugh about or you might want to cry, especially given that it all came from a foul throw. These are the kind of things that very rarely get given these days by officials, despite the fact that they happen all the time so in that sense just seeing one actually be called was something special. Then came the goal, which really was special. They switched it out wide to Ben Arfa who had Enrique for company and Sterling helping out but neither made a decisive challenge and then he drove into the box and over hit his cross. Cabaye took it with one touch, sorted himself out and pinged it beyond Brad Jones. Their first shot with about a minute to go until half time and it was the opening goal. Sickening, but all too familiar.
You could see in the aftermath of the goal that we were a little rattled. Gerrard gave it away almost instantly but put off Cabaye enough to make him rush the shot and sky it over. Suarez did try to create something out of nothing just like they had done and though his chest control was good, the turn and finish was off and in the end it just trickled wide. The last chance of the half did actually fall for Newcastle, a free kick for handball against Suso wasn't dealt with effectively by Gerrard or Allen and Steven Taylor tried to profit but his attempt at a finish went nowhere near Brad Jones' goal. As the players went off for half time it was that same old sense of having been completely in control of a game and being punished for not making it count.
Right from the start of the second half, there was a real sense of urgency. Within the first three minutes, Suarez had already created a couple of problems for them and both Sterling and Gerrard had won corners. Their clearances were always frantic and aimless, allowing us to continue applying the pressure at all times. Such was the eagerness with which we were playing, it very nearly got Raheem Sterling in trouble with the referee, after a challenge with Papiss Cisse left the Newcastle man in some pain. Steven Gerrard did come over and have a word, probably saving the youngster from a booking and it was good to see the captain being able to contain the situation.
Demba Ba was a player who had been an injury concern coming into the game and so when Newcastle were forced into making another enforced substitution, it just added to the continuing momentum that we were building. We were hunting them down without the ball now, Suso really working hard and forcing Krul into kicking it high and long; giving us some more possession. On the whole Tim Krul is a goalkeeper who has done very well and I think is very good but on this occasion - all game - he looked very unconvincing. Corners and free kicks whenever he tried to claim anything it never looked as though he was in command of the situation and was lucky to get away with one when Martin Skrtel jumped up with him and the ball found Daniel Agger but a foul had been given.
As the second half wore on, a strange paradox had began to evolve. Newcastle were sat so deep and inviting the pressure on, to the point where there was just too much time left to employ such a tactic while at the same time we were guilty of being a little slow and one dimensional with very little movement in the forward areas - Suarez aside. One thing that always does up the tempo is when one of our defenders makes the step up and fortunately both Skrtel and Agger are very good at this. There was a real sense of pressure now as Suarez had a shot just wide and then linked with Sahin who also couldn't quite find the target.
As a result of the way the game had been going, Newcastle were going to have to make the most of whetever they did manage to get on the break and very nearly did when Sammy Ameobi went around Martin Skrtel only for the defender to just about recover. They grew back into it a little with a series of free kicks and corners, relief from being encamped in their own half if nothing else. It was here that Brendan Rodgers made his first change and it was an interesting one. Given that Krul hadn't looked great with the floated ball and there wasn't that much space in the middle of the park, Assaidi or Downing might have been an option. Instead it was Jonjo Shelvey who came on for Suso and immediately following this, the goal came. Completely out of the blue. Absolute genius.
Jose Enrique was having a very frustrating game. Our attacks slowed down somewhat whenever he'd get involved and his passing left a lot to be desired. Still, there's no denying that the pass to Suarez was a really good one and what the Uruguayan did next, was out of this world. Controlling it on his shoulder while holding off Coloccini and then going around the goalkeeper to poke it home, it really was one of the best goals I've seen for some time and a true testament to the sheer amount of talent Suarez possesses. Naturally that gave us a massive boost. There was a real energy about the team and the way the game was going now. It had also opened the game up massively. Within moments of scoring, Suarez should have had an assist for a second goal. Having won the ball from Coloccini not once but twice, he laid it back across what was an open goal for Jonjo Shelvey, but he was off balance and couldn't make a connection other than have it go helplessly back to Krul in goal. It was turning into the Luis Suarez show.
The game had been set up and what time remained was all about whether or not we'd get the winner. Shelvey, Suarez and Sterling were all involved as the energy was visibly lifted all around Anfield. The one chance Newcastle had to relieve the pressure was when Nuri Sahin gave away a cheap free kick. I've never seen one player be penalized in one game for more questionable fouls than Sahin here. Pretty much every challenge seemed to be one where he'd win the ball but because you're not allowed to tackle these days he'd get pulled up for it. A few moments later and Sahin's work would be done for the day with Stewart Downing coming on in an attempt to bring some fresh legs on and try and win it. Suarez set through Raheem Sterling on the break and but for a Steven Taylor lunging block would have given Krul some major problems. It was the second really good chance we'd had since the goal and were we in front then Newcastle could have no complaints. As it was, time was on their side and running out for us.
Sammy Ameobi was perhaps the biggest threat we faced in the closing stages, forcing a save out of Brad Jones. On the whole we'd marshalled their attacking players very well, Skrtel and Agger having another very solid afternoon. What we have seen so far this year is that we can be our own worst enemy defensively. Andre Wisdom didn't get much purchase on his headed clearance and it came to Cisse who shot wide when he had a lot more time and space and Jose Enrique nearly pushed the self destruct button completely having given it away to set Newcastle on the break. The ball was played through to Ben Arfa on the right hand side of the penalty area and had he laid it back across Cisse would have scored. Fortunately he was a little more greedy and the extra time he took allowed us to get the block in.
Luis Suarez would be a worst nightmare for defender in this kind of mood. All game he was in their faces and full of activity in trying to make something happen. At one point it was taking three defenders to try and block him out, so no wonder Coloccini decided he'd had enough of him. As the ball was played down the side to him, the Argentine defender went for a stamp right down the back of his legs, and was promptly shown a straight red card for it. With the man advantage we looked to see if we could make full use of it. Gerrard played a magnificent cross field ball to Sterling who could only force a corner. After which another set piece from Gerrard gave Shelvey a chance at the back post but he fired straight at Krul. By the end of the game, Jonjo could quite easily have had a hat trick with another chance with his head this time with what was more or less the last kick of the game. As much as we tried to force another goal in, a combination of good defending and impetuousness on our party without that extra quality meant that we had to settle for a point. As for what we can take, we can take heart from the performance as a whole and rejoice in what was an absolute wonder goal from Suarez. We must also know despite that we can be better and we have to show more of a killer instinct if we are to really push on, but that's only something that will come in time. Now we take the very long trip all the way to Moscow. A real European adventure awaits.
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