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| Manchester City 0 - 1 Liverpool | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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REDS
JOY AS RIISE STRIKES Liverpool have continued their excellent recent form after a 60th minute John Arne Riise goal gave them a second away win of the season against Manchester City at the City of Manchester Stadium today. The win stretches Liverpool's unbeaten run to six games and they will leap frog City in a Premiership table that is beginning to make happy reading for the Anfield faithful. And Rafa's men will now travel to Sunderland on Wednesday night with the Champions League places firmly in their sights. This was the first of three games in eight days for the Reds and while they came here in good form, they will have expected a tough task against a City side that has lost only once at home this season. And it wasn't just Pearce's side's home form that they had to overcome because they had yet to win at the City of Manchester Stadium in the short time it has been City's home. It was City who would start the game better and they came close to scoring in the 13th minute when Vassell headed wide when well placed. But Liverpool soon managed to wrestle control of the game and they would finish the first half in the ascendancy. The first half wasn't really one for the purists though because both sides failed to create much in the way of goal mouth action. Rafa had to shuffle his pack before the game after hearing that Zenden would miss the next three or four weeks with a knee injury, but he still had his inspirational Captain Steven Gerrard to call on and it was he who came closest to scoring for the Reds before the break. It was a chance all of Gerrard's own making as he cut in from the left and unleashed a great shot that brushed the outside of the post with David James beaten. Rafa made a tactical change at the start of the second half when he brought Harry Kewell on to replace Djibril Cisse. And it was a move that appeared to bring instant results as his side began to pose a greater threat to James' goal. Whether it was Kewell's introduction or Rafa's half time instructions, Liverpool were now firmly in control and they took a deserved lead in the 60th minute when Riise finished a fine move with a low shot beyond James and in to the net. The Reds might have had the lead, but as I've said, City have a good record at home and they weren't about to give the game up without a fight and adopted a more direct style. But as City began to sweep forward in search of an equalizer Liverpool looked like they might exploit the gaps left and Rafa replaced goalscorer Riise with Garcia in the 76th minute. We would see no further goals, but who's complaining? Rafa's men have proved today that they're not just coming up the hill, they're running up it. Teams Manchester City (4-4-2): James, Jordan, Distin, Dunne, Mills, Musampa, Barton, Ireland, Croft, Cole, Vassell. Subs - Jihai, Onuoha, Sibierski, Sinclair, Wright-Phillips. Liverpool (4-4-2): Reina, Warnock, Carragher, Hyypia, Finnan, Riise, Hamann, Sissoko, Gerrard, Cisse, Crouch. Subs - Dudek, Garcia, Kewell, Morientes, Potter. Referee: Alan Wiley Conditions: Attendance: 47,105 Liverpoolfc.tv Man-of-the-Match: Steven Gerrard Breakdown 15:06 GMT : Match Starts 1 min : City kick-off attacking the end behind which the Liverpool fans are seated 5 mins : Croft skips past Warnock and crosses from the right but Liverpool have enough defenders back to clear the danger 12 mins : A well-struck shot from Gerrard is blocked by the legs of Distin 13 mins : Vassell spurns a glorious opportunity for City when he heads wide from close-range following a cross by Musampa 19 mins : Another long-range Gerrard shot is blocked by a City defender, this time Dunne 26 mins : Cole over-hits a forward pass to Vassell and Reina is quick off his line to collect 27 mins : Liverpool's first corner of the game is floated into the City danger-zone by Gerrard but headed clear by Distin 28 mins : Hyypia gets up high to direct a header towards goal from another corner and Musampa heads the ball away in the six-yard box 34 mins : Ireland whips in a teasing free-kick from the left and it takes Reina two attempts before he finally gets a solid grip on Distin's headed effort 35 mins : Cisse wastes Liverpool's best chance so far when he shoots straight at James from close-range 42 mins : Gerrard curls a delightful shot narrowly wide of the far post after cutting in from the left 43 mins : Carragher does well to get a tackle in on Vassell as the City forwarded threatened to waltz through the Reds defence 45 mins : Booking: Djibril Cisse: for a show of dissent following a foul on Ireland 16:00 GMT : Half Time Reached 16:06 GMT : Second Half Begins 46 mins : Finnan is forced to head behind for a corner as City mount an early second half attack 50 mins : Substitution: Harry Kewell for Djibril Cisse: 56 mins : Gerrard fails to fully connect with a loose ball on the edge of the City area and is scuffed effort is comfortably gathered by James 59 mins : A shot from Vassell forces Reina to make a low save at his near post 60 mins : GOAL! John Arne Riise: bursts the back of the net with a terrific left-foot strike following a one-two with Gerrard 65 mins : Booking: Peter Crouch: for a foul on Barton 62 mins : Substitution: Trevor Sinclair for Kiki Musampa: 69 mins : Reina punches clear as Barton launches a high ball into the box from a free-kick in a wide right position 75 mins : Substitution: Sun Jihai for Stephen Jordan: 76 mins : Substitution: Luis Garcia for John Arne Riise: 80 mins : Substitution: Fernando Morientes for Peter Crouch: 82 mins : Gerrard almost doubles Liverpool's advantage after capitalising on some slack play by keeper James 83 mins : Substitution: Bradley Wright-Phillips for Danny Mills: 86 mins : The towering presence of Hyypia clears the danger as Barton hoists another free-kick deep into the heart of the Reds box 90 mins : The fourth official indicates that three minutes of added time will be played 16:54 GMT : Match Over Copyright of Official Site Liverpool FC |
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