Liverpool 2 Wigan 0 - Prem (Apr 21 2007)

[TLW]

LIVERPOOL 2 Wigan 0

Report by Dave Usher at Anfield

Scorer(s) - Dirk Kuyt (2) Half Time - 1-0 Venue - Anfield Date - Sat 21 Apr 2007 Star Man - Alvaro Arbeloa

 

 

 

 

 

Dirk Kuyt’s double strike saw off Wigan, and gave Rafa Benitez food for thought ahead of next weeks game at Stamford Bridge as the reds recorded another comfortable home win to secure a top four spot. The scoreline should have been more emphatic, but perhaps it’s a good thing that we didn’t score the shedload of goals that the performance warranted. We want to save some for next week.

As expected, Rafa made some changes and rested a few ahead of next week’s game, but not even Neil Warnock would have been able to complain about the line up chosen by Benitez. Gerrard and Mascherano may have been on the bench, but a midfield duo of Zenden and Alonso isn’t too bad and the rest of the side had a fairly familiar look to it.


It’s not been too often this season that we’ve seen Pennant and Gonzalez in tandem on the flanks, and on the occasions they have both been selected it hasn’t exactly been overwhelmingly successful. Pennant is in great form at the moment however, and maybe it’s just me, but Gonzalez seems to be slowly finding his feet and is making more of a contribution these days.

There are still some moments where he looks a bit out of his depth, but there are other little flashes here and there where he looks very promising. He had some bad moments in this game, but he also did some really good things and looked quite exciting. If we could combine Gonzalez’s goal threat with Pennant’s creativity we’d have one hell of a player.

We’ve been doing much better out wide of late, as the full backs and widemen have been getting some good service into the strikers. Kuyt opened the scoring from a lovely cross by Pennant, the Dutchman holding off a challenge by Jackson and glancing a header past a hopelessly out of position John Filan.

It was the highlight of a drab first half, in which the reds played some decent football but lacked a cutting edge. Until his goal Dirk wasn’t covering himself in glory, and Crouch was even less effective. Pennant was once again the liveliest, most creative player on the field, despite switching to the left wing for much of the 1st half. I’m not sure what the reason was behind switching Pennant and Gonzalez, maybe Rafa spotted something he wanted to exploit, or maybe he just wanted to have a look at how each of them coped on the other flank. I’d say Pennant coped with the switch better, but both looked much more effective on their more natural flank.

Wigan may be fighting for their lives, but they aren’t exactly blessed with quality. Kevin Kilbane is a regular in the side, which tells you all you need to know. Heskey was used as a lone frontman, but he had little support and got no change out of Sami and Carra. Pepe had very little to do, but the crosses that came his way he dealt with very well.


When we score first, it’s very rare we let the lead slip, especially at home. So Kuyt’s goal basically meant we could cruise. It wasn’t until the latter stages of the 2nd half, when Bellamy came on, we seemed to step up the pace a bit and look for more goals. Kuyt had been denied by Filan after a neat snapshot from 18 yards, and Arbeloa had a header easily saved. The Spanish full back was superb again, impressing equally in defence and attack. I noticed a few times in midweek against Boro that when he makes a forward run and the ball doesn’t come to him, he doesn’t stop his run, he often drifts into the middle and ends up in the centre forward position. He did it two or three times against Boro, and also again in this game. There’s an adventurous side to his game, and he looks like he’ll chip in with a few goals. He looks a real find.

Bellamy’s introduction was the queue for the action to start. Wigan’s centre backs are painfully slow, and they will have been happy facing Crouch. When they saw Bellamy coming on with a little under half an hour left, their hearts must have sank. He’d given them the runaround at the JJB, and he did so again.

He had a lot of joy working the inside left channel, and linked up well with Gonzalez in particular. Dirk’s second goal came after Gonzo slid a ball into space for Bellamy, who played a one two with Riise before he was stopped by a good challenge from Jackson. Kuyt collected the loose ball, and turned and shot into the bottom corner.

Gonzalez headed wide from a good position following a deep cross from Kuyt, and then had a shot well saved by Filan after Bellamy had got in down the left again and teed him up. Gonzalez had a difficult spell early in the 2nd half, and when he missed that header he must have felt a bit downhearted. Maybe he expected to be subbed, as it’s very rare he lasts the ninety minutes. He was left on though, and he grew in confidence as the half wore on and showed some nice touches.

His pace was there for all to see in this game too, as a few times he flew past the full back with a blistering change of pace. That hasn’t really been there much this season, but he seems to be getting stronger and quicker and hopefully we’ll see a different Mark Gonzalez next season.

He saved his best moment until the very end, collecting the ball on the edge of his own box and exchanging passes with Bellamy (who returned the ball to him with a lovely back heel). He carried the ball forward and then fed Bellamy again down the left, and the Welshman advanced to the byline before delivering a perfect cross to the unmarked Kuyt, but his header was awful and the hat-trick opportunity was wasted.

Overall, it was an enjoyable day, which would have been even more so had Agger been able to apply the finishing touch to a run that Lionel Messi would have been proud of. His finish was dreadful, the run was sensational. I really enjoyed this game in the end, and I wasn’t expecting to if I’m honest. I just wanted this out of the way so we can focus on Chelsea, but I did really enjoy this game, especially the final half hour or so.

Bellamy’s arrival made the game very entertaining, and the final twenty minutes or so was a bit of a party. Block 202 gave the new ‘Campione’ song a good airing and it took off much better than I think anyone could have expected. It’d be amazing to hear the entire stadium bouncing to it against Chelsea, and hopefully we will do. Credit to those who got that song going and kept it going, it made the day more enjoyable.

Like I said in the opening paragraph, 2-0 flattered Wigan somewhat, but I like Paul Jewell and as much as I’d love to have seen a goalfest, in a way I’m glad we didn’t get it because I wouldn’t want to see him humiliated. We can’t afford to be so wasteful in front of goal on Wednesday however, any chance that comes our way needs to be taken.


Kuyt will probably get the man of the match award in the papers, and I wouldn’t argue too strongly with that. He scored two good goals, was a constant threat and played pretty well. My star man however was someone who I doubt will ever get any kind of mention from the national press. Alvaro Arbeloa has been class since he came here. He’s really settled in well and has played well in every game. I thought he was the best player on the park against Wigan, edging out Kuyt and Pennant.

Picking a team for the Chelsea game won’t be easy, as a lot of players have staked a claim. Prior to this game I would have said Crouch was a certain starter, but Kuyt’s two goals give him a strong claim for a place, and Bellamy showed in his exciting cameo that he can bring a lot to the side when he’s on song (no Karaoke pun intended there). Pennant is playing so well it would be very harsh to leave him out, and just where do you play Gerrard?


It’s going to be very interesting to see what Rafa does on Wednesday that’s for sure.

For exclusive photo's from this game, click here

Team: Reina; Arbeloa, Carragher (Agger), Hyypia, Riise; Pennant, Alonso, Zenden (Gerrard), Gonzalez; Kuyt, Crouch (Bellamy):