Match Reports
Ipswich Town 0-6 Liverpool Liverpool blew away Ipswich at Portman Road this afternoon, less than a week after their 4-0 rout of Leeds, also away from Anfield. New signing Abel Xavier was the scorer of goal number one, hitting a shot from just inside the area after a deflected cross by Gerrard had found it's way to the Portuguese defender. Xavier's shot also required a touch of luck to send it past Andy Marshall, for his first goal in English football. If there was a slice of luck attached to the first goal, then it was certainly the only bit of luck which Liverpool were to have for the remainder of the afternoon as the men in red produced without doubt the most complete Liverpool performance for some time. Despite the score though, Ipswich certainly didnt give the visitors a trouble free ride, and Jerzy Dudek was forced into a number of excellent saves, the best of which came from a chance taken by Sixto Peralto, which a full stretch Dudek managed to tip away from goal. Emile Heskey, high in confidence after finally rediscovering his goalscoring form upfront, was next to add his name to the scoresheet with a couple of minutes remaining in the first half. Steve Gerrard played a superb pass through the defence, and Heskey ran onto the ball before thumping it across Marshall and into the far corner of the goal. At that point, it looked virtually impossible for Ipswich to mount a comeback, even considering their recent league record which has seen them win 7 from 8 games in the Premier League after looking relegation certanties just a week before Christmas. And if the game was not over with Liverpool two goals to the good, it certainly was form the moment that a third was added. On 51 minutes, a Danny Murphy corner found the head of Hyypia, who powered a header at goal from close range, and even an Ipswich defender on the line could not fully block the header due to the pace of it, and the ball once again was nestling in the back of the Ipswich net. The result was now a foregone conclusion, and the test for Ipswich was to keep the score down as much as possible, which was far from an easy task with Liverpool's passing and movement proving too much for the Anglian outfit. Michael Owen finally got in on the act and buried number four following great work between Gerrard and Riise down the left side, and Owen netted a second for himself with just short of 20 minutes on the clock. Abel Xavier and Heskey were involved in the build up, this time played out on the right side of the field, and from the moment Owen recieved the ball, there was no doubt that putting it into the net was his aim, and that was achieved with a finish very similar to his second goal against West Ham on the opening day of the season. Nicolas Anelka had a shot well saved by Marshall, but Liverpool kept up the pressure and Heskey grabbed a second in the last minute after another fine build up involving Gerrard and Anelka. Those who doubted Liverpool's title credentials despite last week's win at Leeds will now have to consider the Reds as genuine title contenters after such a performance which was as near to perfection as any performance in the Premier League this season. Phil Thompson often claims that his side have performed 'magnificently'. This was one of the days when he couldnt have been more true.
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