Vladimir Smicer takes Riise’s midfield spot and Heskey gets El Hadhi Diouf’s striker place in the starting 11 today but Abel Xavier kept his defensive spot. This was an aggressive game right from the start and Liverpool had the edge but were unable to net the ball in the first half despite many chances (a 10-2 lead in shots). Just prior to the half, Stephen Gerrard went down hard; at first his hurt looked like a dislocated shoulder but turned out to be just a mild ankle pain and he did not leave the game.
Hamann finally got the first score of the match in the 54th minute with a nice dispossession, a few dribbles and then a left leg blast. Newcastle manager Bobby Robson took a risk and used all three substitutions in the 63rd minute; his team was surely on the short end of the referee’s whistle this day, taking many more fouls than LFC. This paid off when Michael Owen put a penalty in the right side of the net after much frustration on his part for missing so many good opportunities. Heskey also had a poor showing after missing a couple of kicks but especially two close range headers that went out of bounds instead of in the net. Diouf took Smicer’s spot but was not able to get any offense going.
Late on, Gary Speed took a nice centering feed from Bellamy and put it in for a Newcastle tally. Gerrard went off for Cheyrou at four minutes later and I expect England coach Eriksson was relieved. But Liverpool got anxious about their narrowed lead and started playing very poorly, which paid off for the visitors who got an equalizer in the 89th minute from veteran Alan Shearer.
What a huge disappointment! The Reds had a 2-0 lead as late as the 80th minute and ended with a second consecutive draw when the three points were their’s for the taking. They would have had the top spot in the league table on goal difference over Tottenham but instead remain tied with Arsenal for second. I hope Houllier takes the long break to work with his defenders, especially Xavier, on remaining aware at game’s end; perhaps we can even look for the first defensive lineup change of the season.
BillSaysThis 