Newcaste United 2 Liverpool 2

Five minutes from the end of normal time Steven Gerrard found himself, as he so often does in the inside right channel.  He produced a devastating cross whipped in for Daniel Sturridge to send Liverpool three points clear in the league.  His fairy tale start to the season faltered with the England striker only partially connecting with his side foot volley.

It is too simplistic to say that the missed opportunity laid the blame at the feet of Sturridge.  We lacked intensity, drive and creativity from the start with Newcastle through Cabaye controlling the midfield, but with Ben Arfa starting in the central striking role and Remy wide our trio of centre backs barely had a worrying moment from open play in the final third with Newcastle resorting to long range attempts and dead ball situations to pose any sort of threat.

            
With no orthodox striker to defend against the need for three centre-backs was at the very least overkill and Rodgers failure to adopt a change until Newcastle went 2-1 up was disappointing, particularly with our lack lustre start and failure to get a grip in midfield.

Newcastle deservedly took the lead and the goal showed up the nature of Rodger’s shambolic formation with Cabaye sauntering through the midfield with very little pressure and the defence backing-off, the France International let fly with a dipping shot which zipped off the wet turf into the corner of the net from 30 yards.  It was no more than Newcastle deserved for controlling the game.

Interspersed between Cissokho heading wide, manufactured by a sublime touch and cross from Suarez, were long range efforts again from Cabaye and Moussa Sissoko’s shot which Mignolet did well to keep out.

Once again it was Sturridge and Suarez to the rescue.  Sturridge dropping off played an exquisite through ball through to his striker partner allowing Suarez’s first touch to position him in front of Mapou Yanga-Mbiwa only for the defender to haul him down for a penalty and being sent off as a consequence.  Steve Gerrard strode forward to score his 100^th Premier League goal for the club and put Liverpool seemingly on his way to regaining the top spot.

Even against ten men with the game at our mercy, Rodgers was caught in a tactical choke-hold, oblivious to the fact this team were losing ground and impetus. Poor defending saw Paul Dummett stride in between Cissokho and Sakho and strike home with a side-footed half volley from close range.  It was disappointing for a team with Champions League aspirations.

Surprisingly with the team in need of some inspiration, Luis Alberto was chosen as the man to change our fortunes, instead of Steven Gerrard, who proved for England in midweek that he still knows how to find the back of the net driving into the area.

Prompted by Gerrard, even in his deeper role, Liverpool began to move the ball around with more purpose.  A lovely piece of dexterity by Moses flicking the ball on, freed Suarez down the left who in turn produced a superb cross for Srurridge to finish with a diving header. 

Liverpool were now dominant and a Suarez drive flicked off the bar and then with the goal at his mercy Sturridge shot wide, but he was in there to miss it and that’s all that matters.

Man of the Match:  Luis Suarez – Not one of his best displays in a Liverpool shirt, but his majesty of touch and creativity carved out both goals for Liverpool and with Sturridge in tow they were the reasons in a very poor display why almost one the game at the death.

The one hundredth Premiership goal of Steven Gerrard’s career underlined his greatness and what an icon the player is already in the annals of Liverpool Football Club history.

Critical Eye:  Brendan Rodgers seemed locked into his three at the back formation and showed no inclination to change to move a defender into midfield, even when it was obvious that Remy, was not going to operate as a No.9.  The defending for the second goal was woeful, but was a sign of the lackadaisical nature that had crept into our game.

The second-half performances this season are not discrepancies, against ten men they seemed almost lost, no urgency and drive and it wasn’t until we went two-one down that the vitality returned to the game.

Offensively we are all about Suarez and Sturridge, operating with a second class midfield unable to get on the scoring sheet and at times are basically functioning as a counter-attacking side.

Rodgers, give the impression of being so focused on extending Gerrard’s career he’s forgetting that his captain is still an offensive weapon and can be used behind the front two.  He could quite easily have brought on Joe Allen and allowed Gerrard to move further up the pitch.

The worst and most disappointing result of the season considering we had a whole half against ten men and showed up our inadequacies in offering goal scoring support to our front men and controlling the midfield.

Line-up:  22 Mignolet, 2 Johnson (Sterling – 83 min), 20 Cissokho 17 Sakho (Luis Alberto – 63 min), 4 Kolo Toure, 14 Henderson, 8 Gerrard, 12 Moses, 15 Sturridge, 7 Suarez

Substitutes: 1 Jones, 5 Agger, 6 Luis Alberto, 24 Allen, 31 Sterling, 34 Kelly, 38 Flanagan

Referee: Andre Marriner

Attendance: 51, 703