[Liverweb] Anderlecht match report

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Liverpool moved top of Group G with a composed impressive performance to
stretch Anderlechts embarrassing record run of 11 consecutive champions
league defeats. While Liverpool were winning Chelsea were surprisingly
losing to Real Betis who had recently been stuffed 4-0 by Chelsea and 5-0 by
Malaga which had seen Betis slip to 17th in La Liga.

Liverpool were thankfully sticking with 4-4-2 with Gerrard on the right hand
side of midfield while Garcia started out left and Crouch and Morientes
started up front. I was not overly impressed to see both Moro and Crouch
start together as against Palace they were very ineffective and did not look
like a partnership and once again from my seat in the middle of the Kop, row
39 (great view), they again did not look like a partnership.

With Risse at left back and Finnan at right back we look so much more solid
at the back.

Liverpool started off controlling the game with neat short passing with
Anderlecht dropping deep, the pattern for the game was quickly cemented.
Finnan was doing well in behind Gerrard. On the left Risse, in he absence of
Garcia who clearly looked lost and uncomfortable out there, was using all
that free space to bomb forward which he did on quite a few occasions. Some
people has commented on how they believe that Risse is not the best left
back. My counter argument is that he is better than Warnock and 10 times
better than Traore. One other point about Risse, his first touch was
outstanding be it killing the ball with his chest, foot or even the inside
of his leg. With Risse and Finnan getting forward we played with some real
width.

Sissoko was not having such a great first half, penned back for long spells,
Anderlecht could still produce slick passing of their own and one fine
example was brought to an end by a Sissoko trip on Christian Wilhelmsson
which earned a booking for the Mali international. Sissoko was then involved
again on a couple of occasions which could have seen him sent off. I
suspected he may have been subbed at half time but whatever Rafa said to him
at the break he came out a much more composed and level headed player and
contributed with a fine busy second half performance patrolling the space in
front of the back four up as far as the centre spot.
On 20 minutes Garcia's ineffective first half was relieved by himself and
Gerrard switching flanks. Garcia became more involved but similarly I
thought Gerrards contributions was subdued on the left. With both Kewell and
Zenden on the bench and Crouch apart from 2 half chances looking unlikely to
score I thought we would have looked more dangerous with Garcia in behind
Moro and Zendon or Kewell on the left flank.
I remember looking at the clock on 30 minutes and just beginning to wonder
would this be another one of those games whereby we are in complete control
but the 0-0 in big red lights to my right would not see a reason to change.
Thankfully 4 minutes later the worry was lifted and the Kop went wild as did
the rest of the ground. Morientes opened the scoring on 34 minutes when he
chested down a Gerrard through ball before firing a drive in off the far
post as Hannu Tihinen failed to close down quickly enough. It was the
Spaniard's first Anfield goal of the season and only his sixth goal in 28
matches for the club.
Liverpool came out in the second and looked hungrier than in the first and
in my opinion produced an outstanding second half display. Both Morientes
and Sissoko had shots blocked and from a resulting corner Jamie Carragher
was clearly disappointed to see his unopposed header go straight into the
hands of Proto. Liverpool was playing really well and were going for the
Jugular of Anderlecht.
Liverpool were forced to make their first change on 51 minutes when
Morientes, who had taken a knock from an earlier tackle and was clearly
struggling, was replaced by Zenden. Zenden went left, Gerrard which freed up
Garcia to play with more of a free role.
Steve Finnan continued his fine performance with a great cross from the
right . Garcia managed to flick the ball from the right hand side of the box
into the left hand corner of the net with the goalkeeper moving an inch, an
outstanding goal from the small Spaniard who was clearly enjoying being
released from the shackles of playing on the left hand side. 61 minutes gone
and we were now leading 2-0. To be honest I thought the goal caught the home
support by surprise, myself included as when the ball went in the seemed to
be a tiny dot of silence before the crowd celebrations as no one expected
him to score from there.
Apart from the occasional run from Mpensa chasing a long ball and one attack
which seen a run down the left and shot forcing Reina into a rare save it
was all Liverpool with both Alonso and Sissoko going close. Crouch was taken
off on 71 minutes and replaced by Cisse. Cisse was in the action within 5
seconds of coming on. Gerrard played a ball over the top which seen Cisse
use his speed to collect the ball and bring it to the bye-line. The final
ball led to nothing but the threat was there and to be honest it was more of
a threat in 10 seconds than Crouch had mustered up in 71 minutes. I am not
saying Crouch did not contribute but from an attacking force and a striker
his threat as an attacking force is almost nil.
On the 70 minute mark Anderlecht made 2 changes. By now they were playing
high up the pitch, so high I called for Cisse to come on for Crouch about 10
minutes before it happened. Anderlecht brought on Pujol for Vanderhaeghe
Jestrovic for Akin and as already described Rafa seemed to notice the extra
space in behind Anderlecht and so brought on Cisse.
Jestrovic was only to last 4 minutes. At the time the sequence of events
appeared to be a clash between Sissoko and Jestrovic. The Danish Ref well
known for issuing high profile Red Cards in the past to messers Beckham and
Rooney once again reached for the Red without hesitation. At the time we did
not know why but later found out it was for a racist comment from the Serb.
At this stage of the game Anderlecht looked resigned to defeat and did not
push on even if they only had 10 men. They continued to play with 2 banks of
4 and just one solitary striker. We also looked content and the next few
minutes seen very little happen. Gerrard who had been looking uninterested
for a while in the second half which was commented on in the Kop with one
guy beside me being of the opinion that he was still not 100% fit. With
Kewell seen ready to come on there no great surprise when Gerrard's number
came up on the board. On came Kewell and one very dodgy haircut. With Zenden
already on Garcia seemed to move right and Kewell stayed central. We seemed
to pick up the pace in the last 5 minutes after some time of just playing
out the clock. Kewell should really have scored on 86 minutes when unmarked
8 yards out he pulled his shot wide. Kewell was again involved for the final
goal on 89 minutes. Maybe just maybe the 100's who were gone home by now
could hear the cheer and hopefully regretted leaving. I was fairly annoyed
at the prat who removed himself and young son who could not have been more
than 8 years old on 83 minutes, yes 83 minutes. The young lad was craining
his neck all the way out until his view ended when he went down the stairs.
Kewell ran at the Anderlecht defence, the ball took a couple of ricochets
and Cisse took the ball out the other end and slotted it through the legs of
the oncoming keeper. 3-0, job well done and great to see us knocking in the
goals again. Cisse was clearly overjoyed at scoring as were we all.
Man of the match...........Hmmmm hard one but after tossing up between
Garcia and Sissoko I will give it to the Spaniard for work rate and a
fabulous goal.
Overall a great trip which finished with my leaving the Albert at 2am. I
paid for it the next day and were it not for 2 bottles of water I brought
with me a 2 Solpadine the next days journey would have been much worse,
saying that though the bus trip from Lime street to John Lennon airport was
torturous as the journey which took 50 minutes seen me sweat like pig in
tandem with my stomach doing summersaults. I thought I was over the worst
until Mr Turbulence decide to intervene which give me one of the worst
flights back to Cork that I can remember.
When I got home I was about as usefull as a one legged man in an arse
kicking competition hence no match report until now.
Teams:
Liverpool Reina, Finnan, Carragher, Hyypia, Riise, Gerrard (Kewell 78),
Alonso, Sissoko, Luis Garcia, Morientes (Zenden 52), Crouch (Cisse 72).
Subs Not Used: Dudek, Hamann, Josemi, Warnock.
Booked: Sissoko.
Goals: Morientes 34, Luis Garcia 61, Cisse 89.
Anderlecht Proto, Zewlakow, Juhasz, Tihinen, Wilhelmsson, Vanderhaeghe
(Pujol 70), Deman, Goor, Akin (Jestrovic 70), Zetterberg, Mpenza (Baseggio
82).
Subs Not Used: Zitka, Deschacht, Hasi, Traore.
Sent Off: Jestrovic (75).
Att: 42,607
Ref: Kim Milton Nielsen (Denmark

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