Liverpool FC players arrived at the City of Manchester Stadium, antcipating one of their toughest matches of the season. Many of the footballing world had long since declared the result. “Oh if Suarez scores 4, Liverpool might have a chance”, was one of the remarks heard. The game itself was a much closer affair than those more flippant and dismissive pre-match comments would’ve had you believe.
The home team, boasting stars such as the likes of David Silva, Yaya Toure, Vincent Kompany, Alvaro Negredo, and Jesus Navas, brought their plethora of skills to the match. They started bright, playing intricate one-two football, they created space and out-passed their high-flying visitors. They buzzed the ball around the field with ease and then, when they entered the final third, did all of nothing. The team possessing the ball provided little in terms of clear chances and a cutting edge.
On the other hand, Liverpool were quiet and threatening. It was like a predator, waiting in the bushes to pounce on its prey. Finally, seeing the opportunity that they had waited for, they pounced, clinically when Philippe Coutinho finished from a tight angle following Luis Suarez and Raheem Sterling’s creativity. For the remainder of the first half, Joe Hart and Liverpool’s inexperience worked together to wither away 3 different goal scoring opportunities. That was the difference. Had Coutinho been able to put the finishing touch to a fantastic move, we would still be talking about it now, such was the elegance in the build up. As it was, Joe Hart reasserted himself in the City goal and reminded everyone, Pellegrini included, just who is number one.
By the time of that move, Vincent Kompany had already headed City level and while Liverpool’s inexperience and inability to capitalize on chances displayed their increased danger, Manchester City’s abundance of cash and quality capitalized on argubly their only chance from open play in the entire match. Alvaro Negredo settled the contest just before half time, with a huge slice of fortune thanks to Simon Mignolet’s goalkeeping blunder as he failed to deal with his lofted finish. That is the nature of the Premier League. Unforgiving, and lethal. Miss chances and you will be punished. Not least by City at the Etihad.
Throughout this well played match by a relatively young Liverpool side, there were obviously many positives. Following another impressive display of attacking intent and linkup play with Suarez, my performer of the match for Liverpool was: Raheem Sterling.
It isn’t every day that an 18-year old forward is tasked with the objective of threatening world class stars such as Kompany. Sterling did not dissapoint. He fearlessly ran into great positions and gave the defenders a problem. It also isn’t normal to see such a small, young and inexperienced player feature so prominently versus a team of stars. The courage and work Sterling put in alongside Suarez earned him performer of the game for me.
The future English winger lacks the experience and calmness required to be a consistent goal-threat, however, time is definitely on his side as he already has a full Premier League season under his belt at the tender age of 18. The potential is there and Sterling is definitely rising to the occasion. Consistent improvement and courage will earn him great success, and glimpses of this were present versus City. Far from being the one-man team that so many are quick to dismiss Liverpool as, the future is looking brighter on Merseyside than it has for a while.
Thanks for reading – as always feel free to leave comments below and follow me on twitter @a_sidd8 and follow the site @lastwordonsport.
Feel free to discuss this and other footy related articles with thousands of fans at r/football.
Interested in writing for LastWordOnSports? Visit our Join our Team page and be heard!
Photo Credit: Newsco.me
