What a great lunchtime treat today from Rafa, the two Stevies and ESPN2. The game started in slow motion and when I checked the game clock after about 11 minutes I thought I was trapped in some alternate universe where seconds are 2.23 times as long as our normal ones.
But no, it was just PSV Eindhoven coach Ronald Koeman having his side work for a nil-nil result. Jefferson Farfan as the lone man in the offensive end with everyone else packed in to stuff the Liverpool attack. The Reds responded in kind for the first 20 minutes or so, before deciding that their hot form warranted an aggressive strategy.
Steven Gerrard made it pay off with a smashing header off a Steve Finnan cross, jumping over a bent-over Dirk Kuyt. Liverpool kept up a bit of pressure but there were no more results in the half, with Peter Crouch having a tough time getting shots. As Tommy Smith pointed out, my boys are second only to Milan in number of shots in the Champions League, which you wouldn’t know from the first half. PSV, their hopes of 0-0 vanished, didn’t seem to have a plan B.
The second half was a different story and John Arne Riise got the second goal on a trademark left footed blast four minutes in. Tick tock, boys. Even Crouch got on the scoring sheet with a sweet header in the 63rd and though they had a few more chances, that was all there was. Fabio Aurelio was stretchered off after pulling up despite no one else being near him, with what appeared to be ruptured Achilles.
“We have no chance now,” PSV coach Ronald Koeman said. “If I can make my players believe we can still go through I don’t belong on this planet.” ROFL, eh? This is the coach who had been building a reputation as an England-killer after Benfica, where he coached last season, knocked out Manchester United and then Liverpool and dumping Arsenal in the round before this.
A couple of Liverpool Champions League club marks were set today: 3-0 was the biggest margin of victory in an away match, and Gerrard’s goal was his 15th, passing Ian Rush.
Return match is next Wednesday at Anfield but with three away goals and the quality of PSV play its hard to imagine that we won’t go through. Next round is against the winner of Chelsea-Valencia (a good Spanish team, which just happens to be the club previously managed by Liverpool’s current manager). Odds are still long but I can’t help wondering if the Reds will be raising the trophy in Athens in May!
BillSaysThis 