Liverpool couldn’t find their way passed a stubborn
Sunderland defense as the Reds are still looking for their first league win of
the season. It was a game which Liverpool deserved to win but in some way or another
Sunderland held out for a point.
Steven Fletcher gave Sunderland the lead in the 29th
minute after poor defensive play first from Luis Suarez and Glen Johnson, and
then from Martin Skrtel who let Fletcher get around him and tap Craig Gardner’s
cross into the empty net. It was against the run of play, which is becoming a
nasty habit for Rodgers and his team.
Liverpool struggled to muster a response for the
remainder of the first half, but they did have two penalty appeals with Johnson
first being hauled to the ground only for referee Martin Atkinson to wave away
his appeal, and then when Suarez was seemingly clipped by John O’Shea the
striker was booked for diving.
The real response came in the second half as Liverpool
immediately started on the front foot and were inches away from equalizing when
Johnson cut inside from the left hand side and curled a delightful effort onto
the crossbar with goalkeeper Simon Mignolet well beaten.
The Reds weren’t done with the woodwork yet, as Steven
Gerrard clipped the outside of the post after excellent work from youngsters
Raheem Sterling and Jonjo Shelvey. It seems that the woodwork curse of the
2011/12 season – where Liverpool hit the woodwork no less than 33 times – has
not yet been exorcized.
Eventually Liverpool did equalize with 19 minutes
remaining and it was no surprise that the two most dangerous players on the
field were the ones involved. Sterling jinked his way passed Danny Rose before
whipping in a dangerous cross that Suarez could not properly connect with but
got a second bite when the ball ricocheted off Titus Bramble and the Uruguayan
made no mistake at the second time of asking.
It was all Liverpool for the final 20 minutes as they
pushed more and more players forward looking for the win, and almost got it too
when Shelvey found space inside the Sunderland area, but Mignolet did well to
parry his left-footed shot to safety.
Pepe Reina had a relatively uneventful game and made no
serious blunders which will have been a relief for Rodgers and all Reds fans.
Martin Kelly had a decent game at right-back but still seems to be struggling with
the technical side of his play as his first touch is always a bit off and his
passing can at times be astray.
Aside from his error for the goal, Skrtel was back to his
high standards alongside Daniel Agger at the heart of the Liverpool defense.
Both made sure that Fletcher and Stephane Sessegnon rarely got a sniff of goal.
At left-back, Johnson put in an excellent performance – both tracking back and
doing his defensive duties properly, but also bombing forward and being one of
the main attacking outlets in the side. The Englishman was also extremely
unlucky not to score with his shot that hit the bar.
Joe Allen once again filled in the defensive role in
midfield in the absence of the injured Lucas. Allen performed well yet again,
but often struggled to find a forward pass due to a complete lack of options
further up the field. Gerrard was played alongside Allen in a more disciplined
role while Shelvey was given license to roam forward and to try to get involved
in attacks. Gerrard had a marginal improvement from his recent poor performance
against Arsenal, but it is evident that the Captain is still to fully find his
feet in the new system.
Shelvey had a decent game attempting to link the midfield
and attack, getting himself in some excellent positions high up the field. He
was unfortunate to shoot straight at Mignolet after showing good footwork at
the end of the game, as he was a potential match-winner.
Rodgers finally decided to switch the positions of Fabio Borini
and Suarez, putting the former through the middle and pushing the latter out
left. While Suarez struggled to get as involved in the game as he usually does,
especially in the first half, Borini flourished in his favored position and could’ve
scored on a number of occasions had it not been for excellent goalkeeping from
Mignolet.
Suarez came to life in the second half as he drifted in-field
more, and when Borini was subbed off for Stewart Downing, Suarez was played
through the middle which is where he finally got his goal from.
Sterling was yet again the stand-out performer, showing
maturity beyond his years when it came to fulfilling his defensive responsibilities
and showing his flair going forward. The Jamaican-born starlet whipped in a
number of dangerous crosses and eventually got his reward with the assist for
the equalizer. As long as Rodgers can manage his talents, Sterling will be a
top player in little time.
It was a frustrating day for Liverpool as they left the
Stadium of Light knowing that they should have come away with the three points,
but the performance was a massive improvement from the dire showing against
Arsenal which will be some consolation for both Rodgers and the fans.
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