Match report by David Douglas (dedlfc)
With our inspirational captain left behind in Liverpool due to illness and in preparation for Sunday's league game vs West Ham.
The onus turned to some the peripheral midfielders to take heed of Rodgers request last week to step up to the plate and provide goals for the team.
The game started with a worrying mid-air collision with Skrtel thankfully recovering well and being able to play the whole game.
Another collision caused a bloody nose to Sahin after 8 mins which he eventually came off for Shelvey after 11 mins.
Poor concentration by Allen gave Udinese an early chance to counter attack which fortunately came to nothing.
The first real chance fell to Udinese from a cross which the Udinese striker Ranegie headed just wide with Reina struggling to get there.
Udinese talented Fabrini lunged dangerously at Shelvey and was lucky to stay on the pitch picking up the match's first yellow card.
Perrera"s produced a classy chip which Reina confidently touched over.
The big moment of the match ocurred when a corner was laid back by Suso to be drilled home by Henderson. Suso's awareness throughout the game was excellent.
The confidence they had nearly generated a second decisive goal with a very intricate move which led to a disallowed goal for Glen Johnson after 26 minutes.
The first half in general was controlled very well by a midfield of Allen and Henderson dovetailing well together.
Suso then had a great chance to make it 2-0 when he failed to convert a headed chance. The ultra talented Spaniard then played in Suarez who smashed his shot wildly wide when he had an opportunity to find a better placed team mate, but that is the unpredictability of Suarez.
We again nearly sealed the game with an overhead kick by Suarez which was tipped over by our former keeper Padelli on the stroke of half-time. Suarez & Padelli had to be kept apart from one another after a dispute when leaving the field for half-time.
Early in the second half Suarez set-up another golden chance for Suso to wrap up the game but cut across his shot with his weaker foot.
Shortly afterwards Enrique's cross was volleyed by Henderson and in turn tipped over by Padelli - the dazzling feet of Suarez then contrived to make a chance for himself which was again tipped over by Padelli who was having a great game against his former employers.
Suso was then taken off for Sterling after 70 mins greeted with a rapturous round of applause.
The only thing missing from Suso's game is the confidence that a goal will bring as he had another very encouraging game constantly being an attacking threat and extremely comfortable on the ball.
Shortly after coming on Sterling completed a smart turn which tricked defender Pasquale into fouling him causing the Udinese defender to receive a second yellow card.
Udinese's dangerman Di Natale was brought on with 5 mins left to try and snatch a late equaliser which would knock us out of Europe for the rest of the season
Luckily for us his first touch happened to be the last kick of the game and he uncharacteristically hit the ball over.
That moment was when the football gods looked down on us and transpired to give us a defining moment of our season and put us through to the next round.
Man of the match - Jordan Henderson
The much maligned player for a change showed the Anfield faithful the potential that he could like Lucas before him prove everyone wrong and become a vital player - with selfless running and an excellent work rate, pushing on and beyond Suarez to provide an option.
Negatives - As always the chances not being taken such as the couple of chances that Suso didn't convert which on another day could have conspired to knocked us out of Europe.
Positives - Defensively we now have 4 clean sheets out of the last 6 games which has shown a return to the stability and assurance with Carragher and Skrtel particularly impressing in this game with their defensive awareness and positioning.
We are through and won another game without Suarez being the match winner, as stated by Rodgers other players need to step up and its good to see the manager's request has been answered positively - lets hope it continues against West Ham on Sunday with Suarez suspended for the game.
Team - Reina, Johnson, Enrique, Carragher, Skrtel, Henderson, Sahin, Allen, Suso, Downing, Suarez
Subs - Jones, Cole, Coates, Sterling, Shelvey, Assaidi, Wisdom
Team selection is going to be tricky today. It’s not going to happen but I’d play Sterling through the Middle. Something like this –
ReplyDeleteReina
Wisdom Skrtl Agger Johnson
Lucas Gerrard Shelvey
Suso Sterling Enrique
I’d play Shelvey ahead of Allen because of his goal threat and Allen has played too many games this season and in my opinion he’d really benefit from a bit of a rest. However I think Rodgers will go with this:
Barry
ReplyDeleteI like the look of the first team, its got to be a win!
Enrique is shown and improved going f/wood and getting into the box, and he likes to take on players and run passed them.
Downing - the ball just be bouncing off him....
Yeah, we all realise that Downing is weak individually but I think that Rodgers likes the way Downing and Enrique can interchange up the left wing so I wouldn’t be surprised if we see more of Downing in the next few months, not due to his own merits but more for the way he can temporarily cover left back and allow Jose to get into the box every so often.
DeleteI agree that Sterling should probably play in a more central role as he has been a striker in the youth team and perhaps Shelvey will have to pop up around top too, so that he can add a bit of muscular strength. Adam Morgan must be on the bench. How we have found ourselves in a position like this without at least two more strikers is unbelievable – come back Dirk, all is forgiven.
DeleteYep it is pretty farcical alright...a club the size of liverpool with one striker! Reckon it will be a pretty tough game and a win would be a massive result given their impressive home form this season...
DeleteReckon the team will be the one barry predicts as opposed to one he would pick himself and I'd be happy with it to be honest as long as gerrard and sterling both try to get into central areas and interchange with with shelvey. Think he'll prob play enrique in the more advanced role as he has been responsible for creating a lot of our chances since his recent resurgence and he offers a good phyiscal presence...
By my reckoning, it may be a good thing that Suarez is not playing. He is a great player but there are times when a pass to a team mate would end up with the ball may be in the back of the net but he try to score himself.
DeleteAnyway, lets hope for a win today.
Mo
Btw, wanted to say happy we are through to the knock out stage. Only saw the last 20 miniatures of the game, what I saw was some positive and good play. But it was a good test to see us holding possession and not give the ball away and not conceding a goal with the lack of concentration and errors, we nearly did near the end.
ReplyDeleteJust need to be more clinical at front of the goal, hopefully we can now build on this.
Main thing is we are still in the competition, well done Henderson scoring a critical goal.