Liverpool 3 Everton 1 - Prem (Mar 25 2006)

[TLW]

LIVERPOOL 3 Everton 1

Report by Dave Usher at Anfield

Scorer(s) - Phil Neville O.G. Luis Garcia, Harry Kewell Half Time - 1-0 Venue - Anfield Date - Sat 25 Mar 2006 Star Man - Xabi Alonso

 

 

 

 

For the second year in a row, ten man Liverpool dug in and showed their battling qualities to overcome the blues in a pulsating derby game at Anfield. Last year Rafa Benitez lost three players to injury during the game, had another one hobbling for the entire second half and following a red card to Milan Baros we were left hanging on to record a narrow 2-1 victory when the gulf in class should have yielded a much greater margin.

The reds played some great stuff that day, but it was the courage and determination to hang onto the result despite so many setbacks that was the most pleasing aspect of the performance. This year those same fighting qualities were on show as Rafa’s reds overcame the early setback of Steven Gerrard’s red card to record a superb 3-1 win over ‘in form’ Everton.

The blues had been doing a lot of talking in the build up to this one, but I was quite happy for them to go into this game fancying their chances. I’d much rather they come and have a go than sit back in their own half and kick lumps out of us. If they wanted to come here and try to outplay us, they’d lose. Simple as that. They were dealt a blow when Arteta – who is better than Alonso apparently – was ruled out through injury. The Spanish midfielder is a very good player who is playing well, and they don’t have anyone remotely as good to take his place, so it was a serious problem for Moyes.

Rafa on the other hand had problems of a different kind. Just which of his ‘in form’ strikers would he leave out! I was very surprised Fowler didn’t start alongside Crouch, and if it wasn’t Robbie then I thought it would be Morientes. I didn’t expect it to be Luis that’s for sure, but given how the game went it was certainly a good choice by Rafa.

The game started pretty quietly, which was surprising. Usually it’d be fast and furious, but the opening 15 minutes of this game were pretty low key. The most notable incident had seen Cahill yellow carded for a bad challenge on Gerrard. We’d had a couple of set pieces which led to nothing, whilst Cahill twice had decent openings as Liverpool’s defence struggled to settle. Beattie was trying to use his physical presence to unsettle Sami and Carra, but he wasn’t causing too much of a problem. Everton were getting some joy down our left side however where Riise had a dreadful opening half hour.

He was missing tackles, fluffing clearances and generally just looking edgy as fuck. He’s usually cool and unflappable under pressure, but today he really had problems early on and Osman got a fair bit of joy against him.

Riise’s edginess wasn’t Liverpool’s biggest concern though. Steven Gerrard’s minute of madness was. I honestly don’t know what the hell was going through his head. On one hand, I have to say the referee was overly picky with the first yellow. Did he kick the ball away? Well yes, obviously he did. But was it done to time waste? No. Was it done out of petulance due to disagreeing with the decision? No, I didn’t think so. Did he do it to stop them taking a quick free kick? Again, no he didn’t. The ball came to him and he just kicked it. Unnecessary, but hardly a hanging offence.

By the letter of the law he kicked the ball away, but what’s the difference between him kicking the ball across the pitch as he did, or stepping over it so someone else had to retrieve it? It doesn’t waste anyt more time. It’s just stupid, and I thought the yellow card was ridiculous.

Phil Dowd will no doubt say he was only doing what he has been told to do. That would be fair enough, except I can name at least two occasions during the game where Everton players did the exact same thing but weren’t punished. Beattie played on and put the ball in the net after the whistle had well gone, and Osman crossed the ball after the whistle had gone for offside. Neither of those where booked, and nor should they have been in my opinion. But then that’s Dowd for you, he was a fucking joke. His first half performance is as bad a refereeing display as I’ve ever seen.

That said, what Gerrard did seconds later cannot be excused. He claimed to have played the ball, but he didn’t. And even if he had gotten the slightest of touches, the way he flew in like that was irresponsible and asking for trouble.

I could be wrong, but from how I saw it at the time I’m sure Dowd wasn’t initially going to send him off. He gave the free kick, Gerrard protested his innocence and Dowd tried to back away from the situation. The next thing, Weir runs 50 yards to protest (déjà vu there, remember the slow arl twat doing the same to get Milan sent off last season) a few others throw in their twopenneth worth and suddenly Dowd reaches for his card. Maybe he was going to send him off anyway, and just wanted to wait a couple of seconds to think about it, but either way Weir raced halfway across the pitch to moan about it.

Apparently Stubbs had a whinge after the game (déjà vu once more) that Garcia was trying to get their players sent off. Funny how he fails to mention his defensive colleague’s antics. Fuckin parrot faced twat.

Gerrard was given a standing ovation from most as he left the field. I just sat there bewildered by it all. I was furious with Dowd, not to mention Weir, but I was also angry at Gerrard for being stupid enough to give Dowd the opportunity to send him off. More to the point, I thought we were screwed and couldn’t see us winning the game. I wasn’t applauding him off when he could have cost us the game. However, Steven has been fantastic this season, both as a player and as a captain. He’s allowed the odd mistake.

Dowd was completely out of his depth, and angered the home crowd further by booking Alonso and Kewell. Harry’s booking was one of the worst decisions you’ll ever see. I was watching the incident involving Kewell and Stubbs, and I’ve since seen it on tv and the only thing Harry did was stand still and try to hold his position. Stubbs was trying to jostle him out of the way, and Harry wouldn’t move. Dowd’s verdict? Yellow cards for both players. Fuckin jamook.

The rest of the first half was pretty poor. Garcia saw a lovely turn and shot go inches over, but on the whole we were mainly concerned with not giving anything away and surviving until half time when Rafa could make the necessary adjustments. Despite that, we still looked the most likely to break the deadlock, with Alonso’s set piece delivery the most obvious source.

Xabi was simply outstanding all game, and his dead ball delivery caused the blues all kinds of bother. The only problem was many of his wonderful crosses weren’t attacked by any of our players. Thankfully, Phil Neville stepped in on our behalf so it didn’t matter. Bet brother Gary loved that one, I know I did.

I’d have happily gone in at 0-0, but the goal was just a huge bonus. The crowd had been great anyway following Gerrard’s red card, but the goal lifted everyone. I hadn’t been overly impressed with the first half display. Defensively we looked a bit edgy, especially Riise as I said, and Garcia and Kewell hadn’t contributed that much offensively.

Harry was up against Hibbert, and he really should be destroying someone like that. He just couldn’t get involved in attacking areas in the first half however, although in fairness that may have been because he tucked in more to make a midfield three with Alonso and Momo.

The second half began with Kromkamp warming up minus tracky bottoms and seemingly ready to come on. The guy next to me said: “I’d bring him on and get Garcia off”. “No way, Garcia has to stay on as he could pop up with a goal at any time” The words had barely left my lips when suddenly Luis was in on goal. A deft little lob over Wright and Anfield went nuts. The guy next to me threw his arms around me as I deliriously screamed “I told ye!! I told ye!!” I love it when a plan comes together.

Luis was mobbed by all his team-mates as well as the subs who were warming up on that side. Pepe even made an impressive sprint from his own box to join in the party. Mind you, he’d played a part in it with a good clearance which Crouch flicked into Luis’ path.

Liverpool’s start to the 2nd half was simply brilliant. The blues couldn’t get hold of the ball, and they couldn’t get out of their own half. There were several reasons for this. Firstly, the centre backs weren’t letting Beattie win anything. Then in midfield, Xabi and Momo were working so hard to close them down and win back possession, as well as using it well themselves. And finally, Crouch was doing a wonderful job of holding up the ball, winning free-kicks and throw ins and just generally doing what you need a lone striker to do in this situation.

He was helped greatly by the fact that Garcia and Kewell were always close to him so he was never isolated, and the result was that Everton struggled to deal with us. We looked like the side who had the extra man, not them. That was the most remarkable thing about this performance, we still managed to ‘control the game’ even though we were a man light. Not just any man, but our best player. One man team eh?

The other main difference from the first half was that Phil Dowd actually opened his eyes. Whereas the first period saw Stubbs and Weir allowed to climb all over Crouch without punishment, suddenly he started awarding free-kicks in our favour and even though we were a man down it was more of a level playing field than we’d had in the first half, as it was now 10 v 11 as opposed to 10 v12. Garcia could have had a second but couldn’t keep his shot down.

The Kop was loving it now, and taunted Ferguson as he warmed up. That ‘Tampon’ song cracks me up no matter how many times I hear it. Definitely one of the best put down songs in history that one. There was also an amusing rendition of “Out of Europe twice in a month – Moyesie is a genius” and an “Allez Allez James McFadden’s gay” was thrown in just for good measure.

Moyes prepared to make a triple substitution, but before he could get them on the field Cahill scored with a header after a dangerously whipped in corner. I’m told we didn’t have anyone on the post, which is strange as usually we do. Maybe being down to ten men meant someone had to leave the post to cover Gerrard’s spot, I don’t know.

Still, that gave them hope when previously there was none. The hope didn’t last very long however. Kewell almost restored the two goal advantage with a great strike which was very well saved by Wright, and Garcia missed a glorious opportunity from close range after the ball landed at his feet unexpectedly. The chance came about after Crouch had brought the ball down on his chest out wide, and produced some great skill to get to the line and cut the ball back.

More chances came and went, as Crouch failed to direct a couple of headers, and Alonso hit the top of the bar with a powerful free-kick, and Dowd then evened up the numbers by sending off substitute Van Der Meyde for a blatant elbow on Alonso. For me it was a definite red card as he led with his arm into Xabi’s face, and it looked pre-meditated. You can’t get away with that kind of thing at the best of times, but when you have a referee looking to even things up then a red card is guaranteed.

Sami had a goal ruled out for offside against Crouch. Whether that was the right or wrong decision I have no idea as basically I don’t understand offside anymore. Why this goal was deemed any different to Ameobi’s last week I have no idea.

Ferguson then picked up his customary yellow card for perhaps the most braindead thing he’s done in a history of braindead antics. Alonso laid the ball off, and Drunken ran up behind him and gave him a needless shove with his elbow in the back. Referee and linesman both saw it, as did everyone in the Main Stand and Paddock. The funny thing is, we all saw it because we KNEW he was going to do something. Had that been any other player tracking Xabi, most of us would have missed the incident because we’d have followed the ball.

When you see ‘Big Dunk’ in that situation you’re expecting him to do something stupid, and he rarely disappoints. He got a yellow, but I’d have given him a red just for being so fucking thick. I mean what was he trying to achieve?

Once it was 10 v 10, there was no way they were getting anything out of the game as we were playing so well. Kewell wrapped up the win with a beautiful goal which capped an excellent second half from him. I don’t think he gave the ball away once after the break, his touch was assured, he was always there to support Crouch and he fully deserved his goal and the standing ovation he received when he was subbed shortly after.

Crouch was brought off in the final minute and was also given a standing ovation. Well deserved, as he did a fantastic job occupying their defence and helping us keep the play in their half. He may not have scored, but he made a mockery of the Evertonian complaints concerning his presence ahead of Beattie in the England squad.

There was time for Garcia to bring a save out of Wright with a very well struck volley from a difficult angle, before Dowd brought an end to proceedings to the delight of the Kop who seconds earlier had given us a blast from the past with a rendition of Emlyn’s favourite ditty: “Liverpool are magic, Everton are tragic”

This was a fantastic performance full of guts and skill. There were ten heroes out there for the reds, none more so than Alonso who produced a display so good I don’t have the words to do justice to it. When Gerrard went off, we needed someone to step up and take the game by the scruff of the neck. Alonso did it. As far as midfield general’s go, you won’t find anyone better than Xabi. He’s got balls the size of space hoppers.

Momo was fantastic as well, covering every blade of grass and even charging up the left wing in stoppage time with the game safe. He was the same the other night at Birmingham, when at 7-0 up and the game in stoppage time he was chasing people down trying to win back possession. The lad just never stops, and has been the find of the Premiership season for me. Xabi was the star man, but Momo wasn’t far behind.

At the final whistle Rafa came onto the field and made sure all the players applauded the fans. He then did it himself, and it was clear how much this win meant to him. Rafa got it wrong in his derby last season, and he was criticised for it. Maybe he didn’t know exactly what it meant that day, but he learned quickly and has won the three derby’s since that day, with each performance more convincing than the last.

The Spanish lads in the side know what it’s all about as well, and Luis and Xabi have really stood up to be counted in games against the blues. You only have to see Reina’s reaction to the second goal to see how much it meant to him. This was a team performance of the highest order, and the players should be very proud of themselves.

Gerrard’s recklessness could have proved very costly, but thankfully it didn’t and he owes his team-mates a debt of gratitude for bailing him out. Had we lost this game, he’d have been blamed. Still, he’s bailed them out plenty of times too, so they maybe they owed him this one!

All in all, a great day. We won, played well, and Gerrard got a bit of a rest and should be fit and raring to go next week. Considering the amount of games we’ve played, the players showed remarkable stamina and fitness. Pako’s sergeant major approach to training has obviously paid off, as the lads didn’t look remotely tired today.

The result keep the pressure on the mancs for second, but the ball is well and truly in their court. All we can do is keep winning, and if they don’t slip up well then so be it. At least we still have the FA Cup to look forward to.


Team: Reina; Finnan, Carragher, Hyypia, Riise; Gerrard, Alonso, Sissoko, Kewell (Warnock); Garcia, Crouch (Morientes):