Match Reports
Liverpool 4-3 Blackburn Liverpool moved into second place last night following the most dramatic league match of their season. Despite being out of the title race, Liverpool still had second place to aim for, and sitting two points behind Man United before the evening's games, there was no margin for error on Liverpool's part, and from the attack minded team selection, Houllier and Thompson clearly sent out the message that Liverpool were going to go all out for the win they needed. Michael Owen, Emile Heskey and Nicolas Anelka started together for the third time in a home match. But Blackburn had plenty of attacking options of their own, most notably through Matt Jansen, who was being widely tipped to gain a place in England's World Cup squad. And it was Jansen who went close with Blackburn's first chance of the game when, after brilliantly creating space for himself with Hyypia and Henchoz present, he struck a shot which was narrowly off target. A Danny Murphy effort shortly after was on target however, and Liverpool took a 22nd minute lead. Riise's cross found Murphy in the area, around ten yards from goal, and despite slipping as he shaped to shoot, Murphy managed to hook his foot around the ball and force it past Alan Kelly. Blackburn's response took five minutes, and when their first goal did arrive, it proved to be a contender for the best worked goals of the season. Damien Duff made a run down the left of the pitch and after a one-two with Johannson, Duff played a second one-two with Tugay in the Liverpool penalty area in a move which reduced the Liverpool defence to statues, before Duff himself finished off the move by striking the ball low into the bottom corner of Dudek's goal from close range. Andy Cole was guilty of missing a great chance for Blackburn after breaking into the penalty area and attempting a shot across Dudek, which brought out a reasonably comfortable stop by the Liverpool 'keeper. Cole's miss seemed even more costly by the interval, by which time Liverpool had restored their lead. Anelka's future at Anfield is still extremely uncertain, but the Frenchman produced an exceptional performance to perhaps help the management make the decision on whether or not to sign him, and it was his late first half goal which gave Liverpool their advantage at the break. Riise was again involved from the left, and when his pass into the centre looked to be picked up by Owen, Anelka instead grabbed the opportunity and after charging past Craig Short on the edge of the Blackburn box, Anelka struck an accurate shot into the far corner of Kelly's goal to put Liverpool back on top. The game was far from over though, and Blackburn scored their second equalising goal after just 4 minutes of the restart. A cross from the right was met by a powerful close range header from Andy Cole, and despite Dudek's efforts to keep the header out, the ball hit the back of the net. It didn't take Liverpool long to bounce back, and the captain was the next name on the scoresheet. A run goalwards by Murphy was ended thanks to a foul from Lucas Niell, and after taking the free kick himself, Murphy found the head of Hyypia and his glancing header found the net to put Liverpool ahead for the third time in the match. After that, Blackburn were perhaps the better team and caused the Liverpool defence a huge amount of problems, particularly on the left side, where Riise was given a torrid time by Gillespie, who was the provider of Blackburn's third goal when it arrived. Gillespie's low cross into the area was not dealt with and once it reached Jansen at the far post, he was given an easy task of putting the ball in the net from 6 yards out, with Dudek stranded in the centre of the Kop goal. News of the score at Old Trafford started to filter around the gound and midway through the second half, the Kop erupted into a chant of 'One-nil, to the Ar-sen-al!'. With United losing, Liverpool had the chance to take full advantage and move back into second place in the league, but time was starting to run out and a draw would only have moved them closer to United, rather than leapfrogging them in the table. However, there was still time for one more twist, and after Liverpool had wasted a couple of chances, Emile Heskey scored what proved to be the winner. Starting with his back to goal, just outside the area, Heskey turned and made a powerful run into the penalty area, using every ounce of his strength to muscle past his marker, and finishing with an excellent strike which was again hit across the keeper and into the far corner of the goal. Blackburn continued to pile on the pressure, and Carragher in particular was outstanding at the back, making a couple of crucial clearances when it looked as though Blackburn would grab yet another equaliser and leave with a share of the points. The final whistle was greeted with huge cheers, as was confirmation of Arsenal's defeat of Man United, and Liverpool are now just one home win away from recording their highest position in the Premier League. View exclusive photographs from this match!
|