Cardiff 3 Liverpool 6: Liverpool fight back to gain crucial win

Going into our fourth away league game in five and a third in a row Brendan Rodgers and he side knew that they were up for a hard time up against relegation threatened Cardiff City with ex-Liverpool favourite Craig Bellamy among their ranks.    Having seen Arsenal ruthlessly brushed aside by leaders Chelsea, only a victory would suffice.  

We showed tremendous resilience to come back twice and eventually wind up convincing winners in a game that had pitfalls written all over it.

Brendan Rodgers on the crest of wave after rightly praised for his tactical nous saw his side struggle to adapt to Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s formation based on three-centre-half’s  and two wing-backs stabilised by Medel and Bo-Kyung Kim in the midfield engine room.   Cardiff broke with lightning speed from the start and with Liverpool unable to retain possession with Coutinho and Henderson being the main miscreants, they looked dangerous with every foray led by the front three of Bellamy, Campbell and the excellent Mutch.

Cardiff went deservedly ahead on eight minutes after Joe Allen covering the under pressure Flanagan, inexplicably rolled the ball into the path of Campbell who pulled the ball back to Mutch to nonchalantly dispatch past Mignolet

Liverpool had not long to wait for parity and when it came, it was classic 2013-14 Liverpool.   Jordan Henderson whose improvement in his all-round game continuous to confound his critics, produced a sumptuously weighted through  ball, threaded through inside full-back Declan John for Johnson to run onto and he in turn picked out the unmarked Suarez to tap in.

Cardiff, not to be denied were still on the ascendency with Liverpool failing to stem the flow of attacks down the right targeting the erstwhile impressive Flanagan, who was in the midst of a torrid afternoon, his worst in a red shirt.   Campbell picking the ball in the inside right position found himself alone with Flanagan out of position, ruthlessly cut inside, stepping Agger to clinically shoot home in expert fashion.



Liverpool bags another hat-trick

The growth of this Liverpool side has seen others step up to the creative and goal scoring stakes and while Suarez and Sturridge are the two points of the attack, the second-half of the season has seen Sterling, Gerrard, Coutinho, Henderson and Skrtel step up to ease the burden.   Sturridge and Suarez give Liverpool the belief that this team has the X-Factor to take itself into the unknown, but the team is growing whereby others impacted on games. This time it was Skrtel and Coutinho.

Four minutes before half-time, Philippe Coutinho still out on the right following his corner, received Gerrard’s headed pass.  David Blaine as the magical Brazilian is called by his teammates, whipped over a low cross which was met on the volley at close range by Martin Skrtel leaving Marshall with no chance.  It was a body blow for a Cardiif side aiming to get into half-time ahead.

The turning point came eight minutes after the break when Cardiff with two players Theophile-Catherine and Mutch off the pitch receiving attention, were unable to defend Coutinho’s corner satisfactorily allowing Skrtel to head home unchallenged with the far post unguarded.

Liverpool sniffing an opening went for the jugular.  Johnson’s near post cross found its way to Sturridge with his back to goal and the England striker with his ESP (Extra Suarez Perception) on high alert, back-heeled to find his striking partner stealing in to finish.  It was exquisite from two footballers at the top of their game.

The deadly duo

With Kenwyne Jones and Wilfried Zaha now on Cardiff still looked threatening, but any thoughts of squaring the match was killed off when Liverpool struck a fifth.  Glen Johnson hit a left footed long-range diagonal cross-field ball which Suarez anticipated dropping over Caulker.   The league’s top marksman repaid the favour by rolling the ball to Sturridge .

Mutch deservedly scored a late header with the Liverpool defence failing to track Kenwyne Jones as he headed back to Mutch.   We scored a sixth when Suarez anticipated Juan Cala’s dithering to run in and score for his hat-trick and 28^th League goal of the season (equalling Robbie Fowler’s 28 in the 1995-96 season).

Man of the Match:  Daniel Sturridge – the striker ran his heart out for the cause, running the flanks and in between the lines, and even when Liverpool were under the cosh in the first-half using what little ball he saw thoughtfully.    His back heel to set up Suarez second-goal was a thing of beauty and it is patently obvious that he is not just playing well, but enjoying himself too.

Martin Skrtel’s goals were critical coming as a time when we were stuttering and as with many a good team goal scoring defenders are worth their weight in goal and even with the return to fitness of Mamadou Sakho it would take a brave decision from Brendan Rodgers to usurp the Slovakian.

Luis Suarez has had better games for Liverpool and scored none, but today showed the value of having a world-class player in the ranks.  And for me what showed his determination and fight was with Cardiff one-nil up and Jordon Mutch on the edge of the area looking to position himself to shoot, he arrived from know where to dispossess the striker.

Critical eye:  Philippe Coutinho did what it said on the packet.  He produced two assist, both times for Skrtel, but once again he was guilty of frittering away possession which is criminal when Liverpool were struggling to hold on to the ball and he also failed to help provide cover defensively we know he has done and is capable of doing, especially with Jon Flanagan continually under threat.  It’s where Raheem Sterling has crept ahead of him as he seems more naturally aware of his defensive responsibilities.

Jon Flanagan today found out that football is not all about ups, but we know he has the character to step up again to the challenge.  Unfortunately, it took his colleagues far too long to provide the required defensive cover, but by the time he went off he seemed to have regained some of his equilibrium.

Once again, Liverpool showed then even when lapsing into defensive errors we have far too much offensively and it’s that and a willingness to work hard which is pulling us into the Champions League and hopefully much more.

Blast from the past:  Craig Bellamy showed with his pace, guile and touch that his still has plenty to offer and what would we give for him to be the third/experience striker in the Liverpool squad –received a well-deserved standing ovation upon being substituted.  Craig Bellamy, YNWA.

Teams:

Cardiff: 1 David Marshall, 35 Fabio, 4 Steven Caulker, 27 Juan Cala, 28 Kevin Theophile-Catherine, 42 Declan John, 18 Jordan Mutch, 8 Gary Mebel, 13 Bo-Kyung Kim, 10 Frazier Campbell, 39 Bellamy

Subs: 6 Ben Turner, 7 Peter Whittingham, 9 Kenwyne Jones, 17 Aron Gunnarsson, 29 Mats Moller Daehli, 32 Joe Lewis, 36 Wilfried Zaha

Liverpool: 22 Simon Mignolet, 2 Glen Johnson, 37 Martin Skrtel, 5 Daniel Agger, 38 Jon Flanagan, 8 Steven Gerrard, 14 Jordan Henderson, 24 Joe Allen, 10 Philippe Coutinho, 15 Daniel Sturridge, 7 Luis Suarez

Subs: 1. Brad Jones, 9 Iago Aspas, 12 Victor Moses, 17 Mamaadou Sakho, 20 Aly Cissokho, 21 Lucas, 31 Raheem Sterling

Referee: Neil Swarbrick

Attendance: 28,018