This was a nastier than expected 10 day break for the Reds. Stephen Gerrard injured his hip and Emile Heskey had groin problems from their duties with the English national team and neither played today; both are questionable for the mid-week Champions League matchup against Moscow Spartak in Moscow. Defender Stephan Henchoz missed another game due to his injury in the last Premiership outing against Chelsea.
M. Houllier put a very different lineup on the field in response: Salif Diao took Gerrard’s place, Jimmy Traore took Henchoz’s defensive position, Bruno Cheyrou was on for Heskey, and, giving Michael Owen a rest after he played both England matches, El Hadji Diouf got his first playing time in a while on the forward line. Owen did come on in the 69th minute for the other striker, Milan Baros.
Rejoice, you LFC fans. Even though this was an away match at a hostile grounds against a very good Leeds United team, the Reds won out 1-0 on Diao’s 65th minute put-in via a tight cross from Senegal teammate Diouf. Keeper Jerzy Dudek, who signed a nice contract extension during the week, had yet another strong effort resulting in a clean sheet. Dieter Hamann, making up for Gerrard’s absence, controlled the midfield play.
A win is good news, continuing the club’s undefeated EPL march, but the cause for real cheer is the first loss in 30 EPL games dating back to last year by Arsenal; the Gunners went down 2-1 to Everton, the other club based in Liverpool. Which means that after 10 games the Reds are in first place, one point ahead of their archrivals.
On to Moscow!
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