Gerrard hits the spot at City

Sports - Football - Carling Cup - Semi-Final - 1st Leg

Man City 0:1 Liverpool

Liverpool take a one-goal advantage to the second leg at Anfield after beating Manchester City 1-0 in the first leg of the Carling Cup semi-final at the Etihad stadium.

It was a game of two halves with Liverpool displaying a much more confident, professional and productive performance, much in contrast to their absent-minded 3-0 defeat to City in the Premier League only eight days earlier, again without their controversial main man Luis Suarez.

City on the other hand offered a much more shakey, on-and-off performance, with four forced changes since their last meeting, Vincent Kompany sudpended and David Silva injured, whilst both Kolo ande Yaya Toure are out on international duty with the Ivory Coast at the African Cup of Nations.

Their back line was kept under pressure constantly early on by Liverpool and with Kompany missing, goalkeeper Joe Hart was kept busy and produced good saves against Andy Carroll, Steven Gerrard and Stewart Downing.

Only 11 minutes into the game, Stefan Savic brought down Daniel Agger in the box conceding a penalty with a high, risky tackle on the knee. Gerrard netted the spot kick, Hart guessing right but JUST missing the ball to give Liverpool a well deserved 1-0 lead.

The rest of the half, Liverpool kept dominating, City and Mario Balotelli especially getting more and more frustrated. The home side looked stronger after Samir Nasri came on, the midfield keeping and creating more of the ball.

But Liverpool kept the ball well, dominated possession and chances. They will have felt disappointed that they did not take a bigger lead into the break, having the edge over City.

The second half, City finally came out their shakey shell more, with Liverpool withdrawing more and more, keeping a solid back line.

The best chance came when Martin Kelly's bad backpass found Sergio Aguero in front of goal. But Pepe Reina did well, making himself big, spreading out, coming close and putting good pressure on Aguero, for his shot to go high.

That summarised the day for City, they got closer and closer in the second half, but still nowhere near scoring with Aguero and substitute Aleksandar Kolarov painting the most frustrated picture missing plenty of chances and wasting a lot late on.

Kenny Dalglish can be proud of the improved performance of his side, especially the back line, although Glen Johnson had a mixed display and was caught in controversy late on for his two-footed tackle on Joleon Lescott, although it looked like he did not catch him with both and got the ball. At the front, Carroll left a lot to wish for once again with a below-par performance.

Roberto Mancini was not happy, understandably so, although his half-time talk and changes did make a difference. We will see if he can and whether he will make THE difference in the second leg, because no one on the pitch in the first leg looked like they could. Advantage Liverpool.

Manchester City: Hart; Richards (c), Savic, Lescott, Clichy; Milner, De Jong (Kolarov 72), Barry, Adam Johnson (Dzeko 66), Balotelli (Nasri 39, booked 86); Aguero. 4-5-1
Subs not used: Pantilimon, Zabaletta, Hargreaves, Onuoha.

Liverpool: Reina; Kelly, Skrtel, Agger, Glen Johnson; Downing (José Enrique 60), Henderson, Gerrard, Spearing (Adam 23), Bellamy (Carragher 80, booked 86); Carroll. 4-5-1
Subs not used: Doni, Coates, Kuyt, Shelvey.

Referee: Lee Mason (Lancashire)
Man of the match: Steven Gerrard

Match stats:
Man City-Liverpool
1st & 2nd half
Attempts: 4-6 & 8-0
On target: 1-5 & 1-0
Offsides: 0-1 & 2-0
Corners: 1-1 & 3-0
Free kicks: 5-5 & 6-5
Posession: 50%-50% after 30min, 47%-53% 1st half; 65%-35% 2nd half up to 78.min, 58%-42% FT

Full Match Summary:

1st half:

• City k.o.
• 5. Carroll denied by Hart, Balotelli stopped by Skrtel on the other end.
• 10. Good save by Hart again, this G.'s shot sneaking in on the right. Downing flicks one in off corner, great save again by Heart.
• 11. Penalty! Agger down! Savic catches him on the knee, high, risky tackle. G. to take the spot-kick.
• 12:17 G. nets it to Hart's right, outstanding penalty, gk got the side right JUST missing it. 0-1.
• 14. Lpool continue storm forward, G.'s shot deflected, Hart catches it preventing corner.
• 16. Aguero's left footer from edge of the box goes high & wide. 1st attempt for home side.
• 22. Spearing down with hamstring, Adam comes on for him.
• 26. Ground's gone quiet, not sold out btw.
• 29. Poor giveaway by Carroll, glad to see Richards lose it. Adam brings down Balotelli has a tantrum after Adam tapped him on his head passing by. Fk to City.
• 30. Balotelli's fk blocked.
• 33. Fk from the right by Johnson, Kelly heads it away. Adam goes down dramatically for a fk.
• 35. Balotelli takes down Johnson, bad lunge, seems off his game, like the whole City side so far. Kelly cross from right into the box, Carroll getting in front of Savic but heads it wide.
• 38. Milner brought down by G., fk, eventually goes out wide.
• 39. Balotelli off, Nasri on. The controversial forward goes straight down the tunnel, looked off, maybe injured, definitely not on the ball!
• 41. City making a meal of getting the ball away, looks wet & slippery out there, not nice.
• 43. G. stops Aguero from left. Nasri shot cleared by Reina, the shot from the wide right bounced just in front if him, took a bit away from the shot, advantage for the Spanish gk.
• 44. City seeing more of the ball with the extra man in midfield.
• 45. Milner puts one high on the edge of the backs after Richards fine break & cross from the right, blew Glen Johnson away.
• 46. 3 minutes added on. Adam down. Looked like Savic got him.
• 48. City's 1st corner of the match off big deflection. Johnson good & strong in box, Skrtel bad outside, gives ball away, fk for City conceded by G. Johnson takes it, curls it high & wide, last kick of the game. HT: 0-1

City looked stronger after changes, midfield kept & created more of the ball. Apart from that, all Liverpool, kept the ball well, dominated possession & chances, they'll feel disappointed that they are not further ahead. So far, Reds have the edge, City look like they still have to get on the pitch & in the game.

2nd half:

• Lpool k.o. 2nd half.
• 46. Early corner for City, looking for a quick come back in the 2nd half, comes to nothing.
• 51. City keeping possession, containing the ball, trying to create chances but are kept out the box well & solid by Lpool. Adam does well taking ball to the corner & deflecting it out for a gk.
• 54. Aguero comes forward, kicks ball too far for Skrtel able to intervene & put the ball out for a corner. Reina catches corner, distribution leads on to Liverpool attack, the game speeding up, crowd waking up.
• 56. Kelly mistake, backpass taken by Aguero, his shot goes high, good pressure by Pepe. Lpool starting to show cracks. José Enrique is getting ready on the side line. Fb on, winger off, looked like Downing's nr will be up.
• 59. Barry drives one up from left, out for a corner. Richards leaping header blocked & stopped brilliantly by Reina.
• 60. Downing off, José Enrique on for Lpool.
• 65. Bellamy loses out ball to Barry, City on counter, 15 takes shot, looks like he slipped slightly, not a strong shot, easy save for Reina.
• 66. Adam Johnson off, Dzeko on for City.
• 68. Fine Clichy cross from left, no one in the box to take the chance. Aguero on next attack, great tackle by Glen Johnson on the edge of the box. Bellamy attach stopped by Richards, City counter deflected, end-to-end stuff here. Much more positive by City.
• 70. Nasri past Glen Johnson, but too high.
• 72. De Jong off, Kolarov on for City.
• 73. Kolarov puts free kick wide from right, nowhere near anyone. G. got instructions from King Kenny to move Kelly & Henderson forward, more attacking.
• 76. Kolarov cross from left, easy take for Reina.
• 77. Kolarov speculative again, takes shot from far left, high, nowhere near again. Was good forward attack run by Richards.
• 79. Barry loses out to Reina.
• 80. Bellamy off, Carragher on, Lpool going over-defensive, wanting to keep hold of the lead at the Etihad stadium.
• 82. Milner shot drags wide, no real pressure or power on it.
• 85. Adam cross from right blocked out for a corner by Agger. Kolarov wastes corner high & wide AGAIN!
• 86. Nasri on Carragher, little push-about by both side, Kolarov getting involved, first booking of the night goes to Nasri, second to Carragher, good refereeing.
• 88. Aguero shot blocked by Kelly. Through all their possession City looked less likely of scoring. YNWA echoes through the ground.
• 90. 3 minutes added on. Adam gives away a fk on the right. Aguero heads it JUST over the cross bar.
• 92. Henderson concedes fk, looks like he got the ball. Milner puts it in the box, Carroll heads it out, packed box, Johnson got ball off Lescott with both feet, similar to Kompany's s.o., got less of the player though. FT: 0-1

Liverpool take a one-goal advantage to the second leg at Anfield after a professional, productive performance, decisive in the end in comparison to City's shakey, on-and-off performance (off 1st half, more on it 2nd half, but still nowhere near).

Week 13: Premier League Tops and Flops

Sports - Football - Premier League - Picks of the Weekend

The most devastating news of the week was without a doubt Gary Speed's death by apparent suicide. My thoughts and condolences go to his family and friends. I saw Football Focus on BBC on Saturday where I watched him chatting about the game and reminiscing about his successful career. The more of a shock it was when the news came on Sunday. I just cannot shake off the thoughts of WHY?!?!?!
R.I.P. Gary Speed!

Top game: Liverpool's 1:1 home draw against Manchester City was a delight to watch. The visitors dominated the first half but were kept at bay by a very well organised homeside, the back line especially, as solid and reliable as ever. The second half was much more of a competition, Liverpool taking over the attack, hammering the City back line and goal with everything they had. Lucas Leiva and Luis Suarez were the stars of the show with intimidatingly sparkling displays. The draw was a fair result in the end, both top sides not deserving to lose.

Top team: Liverpool are unbeaten in ten matches since the 4-0 defeat away to Tottenham in September which sees them in the sixth spot of the league on 23 points, two behind Chelsea in fifth who have lost three out of their last five games and three behind Newcastle in fourth. Manchester City kept their unbeaten season record intact with their second draw added to their eleven wins taking them to 35 points which keeps them at the top of the league still five points ahead of their United rivals. You have to go back 15 Premier League games to find the last time City failed to score at least twice. Looking at those records and the table, December promises to be a mouthwatering month with some decisive fixtures and some surprises guaranteed, I am sure.

Top player: Joe Hart kept the goal saving his team's grace and ensuring them a point. His display with many breathtaking and exemplary saves serves very well as an ideal model for every goalkeeper to follow and be led by. Andy Carroll and Suarez were kept wondering what the hell they had to do to get a goal. In this case, Hart wouldn't even have let the ball be beamed through! Pepe Reina had a good game too proving his experience and status in the team but was not challenged anywhere near as much. Petr Cech and Tim Krul made some beautiful and crucial saves too for Chelsea and Newcastle respectively - it seemed to have been a goalkeepers' weekend!

Top goal: City's opener against Liverpool was a set-piece like out of the book. David Silva's inswinging corner was met decisively by Vincent Kompany. It looked like a fine header at first but on the second viewing the came off his shoulder and beat Reina. Javier Hernandez was in the right place at the right time too when he netted Wayne Rooney's volley which had ricocheted off Steven Taylor - although I have to say it looked very close to being offside. Both were not exactly breathtaking goals, but just nice goal exactly how they should be done!

Top news: A lot of cup action on and off the pitch this week: Carling Cup quarter finals and the semi finals draw; Europa League football with the group stage slowly but surely reaching its final stages; and last but not least the Euro 2012 group draw.

Flop game: Swansea's goalless draw against Aston Villa was hard enough to watch, I cannot and don't want to try to imagine how difficult and distressing it must have been for the players to get a game together after receiving the news of Gary Speed's apparent suicide. The images, tears and emotions of his close firend Shay Given marked the game and day. I would not have blamed them if they would have called the game(s) off on the day. It just puts everything into prespective and shows that football isn't everything.

Flop team: Chelsea did find back to their winning ways with their 3-0 home win against Wolves but I feel they should not try to fool themselves that everything is back to perfect. Wolves are fourth from bottom, hovering over the relegation zone and made the win nearly too easy for Chelsea. The Blues face Liverpool in the Carling Cup quarter final next and then have a trip to Newcastle to look forward to in the Permier League on Saturday. Those displays and results will show how much Andre Villas-Boas has learnt and changed from their defeats.

Flop player: Mario Balotelli proved himself as the ticking timebomb he is. It took him 17 whole minutes after coming on as a substitute to see two yellow cards and get the marching order after his elbow met Martin Skrtel in the air. Roberto Mancini was not happy with the decision but Kenny Dalglish correctly suggested for the Italian striker to 'look into the mirror' to find who was responsible. Too many times has his attitude cost him and his side and Mancini certainly showed his discontent to the player when he left the pitch so cannot deny his player's contribution to his own downfall.

Flop goal: The penalty decisions of this weekend have baffled me. How was Aaron Lennon's dive a penalty for Tottenham against West Brom when there was no contact made by Nicky Shorey? How was Rio Ferdinand's clean tackle on Ben Arfa a penalty when he obviously got the ball? And I think Victor Moses went down a bit too easily on Sebastian Larsson's tackle too to win a penalty for his Wigan side against Sunderland. Too many times do the referee's fall for the theatrical drama performances of the players and don't look at the physical facts and then they scare away from making the right decisions when it matters most! It makes me sick!

Flop news: Steve Bruce has become the first manager of the season to be axed, Sunderland are now eyeing up Martin O'Neill as his successor. I think it was a rather harsh move by the club, I can think of plenty of other managers that are (or I thought they were) walking on much thinner ice (Villas-Boas at Chelsea, Steve Kean at Blackburn, Roberto Martinez at Wigan, ...).

My predictions - Actual Results

Stoke 3:2 Blackburn - 3:1

Bolton 1:2 Everton - 0:2

Chelsea 0:0 Wolves - 3:0

Man Utd 2:2 Newcastle - 1:1

Norwich 3:1 QPR - 2:1

Sunderland 3:1 Wigan - 1:2

West Brom 0:2 Tottenham - 1:3

Arsenal 2:1 Fulham - 1:1

Swansea 2:0 Aston Villa - 0:0

Liverpool 2:2 Man City - 1:1

Week 9: Premier League Tops and Flops

Sports - Football - Premier League - Picks of the Week

Top game: City's thrashing of United and QPR's shocking win against 9-man Chelsea were two results no bookie or fan would have expected. It just shows that predicting is impossible in the Premier League, you never know what is around the corner. But the more nailbiting, exciting and entertaining it is! I will definitely never forget this weekend! 6:1!!!

Top team: City widened the gap to United to five points at the top of the table. They looked worlds apart at Old Trafford, I have to say! Never have I seen United taken to the cleaners so badly and thoroughly! Newcastle need a mention as well. After their best start in 14 years, they are fourth in the league, same points and only four goals behind Chelsea in third and the team spirit is more than up and going, brilliant to watch and see.

Top player: City's Mario Balotelli was and is the main man again this week. His two goals and provocative attitude and character leading the way in their win against United. His shirt was a sweet touch to put the icing on the cake. Harsh booking. Why always him?!

Top goal(keeping): Sunderland's Stephane Sessegnon took a nice turnaround shot to make it 0:1 in his side's deserved win against Bolton. Both goalkeepers starred at Anfield with brilliant saves keeping the scoreline even, John Ruddy was the man of the match for me in the top performance by Norwich.

Top news: 11 Premier League sides in Carling Cup action this week, in the Last 16. 

Flop game/fans: Wolves struggled, but then produced a vital comeback, two goals in two minutes, to show you should never give up! Swansea thought they had it in the bag, dominated most of the game, but it's not over till the fat bloke whistles! Ha to the fans who were leaving the ground at that point, like Mick McCarthy said, never give up!!!

Flop team: It was the fifth consecutive defeat for Bolton. Owen Coyle's men didn't make much of the game and have now lost 12 and only won two of last 14 games, scoring 16, conceding 36 and taking 6 only points out of a possible 42. Worrying stats.

Flop player: The sent off players of the weekend proved they are unable to deal with pressure. They just snapped and crashed under pressure leading to their sending off and their team's demise. Jonny Evans, Jose Bosingwa and Didier Drogba, shame on you!

Flop goal: Liverpool are still waiting for their first clean sheet this season. They only netted one of over 20 attempts, hitting the bar three times! It was one of those games you just knew it wasn't ment to be! There were and are promising signs but as long as it doesn't show on the scoreboard, it's no good!

Flop news: The John Terry race row, just when you think the top players have learnt and are more mature and exemplary and BOOM, they show they are still the same old idiots!

My predictions - Actual results

Wolves 2:0 Swansea - 2:2

Aston Villa 2:1 West Brom - 1:2

Bolton 0:0 Sunderland - 0:2

Newcastle 1:0 Wigan - 1:0

Liverpool 3:0 Norwich - 1:1

Arsenal 2:1 Stoke - 3:1

Fulham 2:1 Everton - 1:3

Man Utd 3:3 Man City - 1:6

Blackburn 0:2 Tottenham - 1:2

QPR 1:4 Chelsea - 1:0

Week 8: Premier League Tops and Flops

Sports - Football - Premier League - Picks of the Week


Top game: The Clash of the Titans at Anfield ended up being more of a cautious kickabout until the first breakthrough in the second half finally saw things kicking off.
Newcastle's hard-fought draw against Tottenham deserves a mention as well. It was a hell of a match, you did not know which turn it would take next, the last ten minutes expecially, a nail-biter-and-a-half!

Top team: Manchester City proved their dominance with their 4-1 thrashing of Aston Villa at Eastlands. With top players like David Silva, Yaya Toure, Samir Nasri and Edin Dzeko on the bench, they showed the resources they have in place to take them through the season and all competitions, including Champions League of course, in hot pursuit of the top spot and trophies the whole line through. We will see what United will make of that in the biggest Manchester derby in decades!

Top player: Manchester City's walking time bomb of a player Mario Balotelli proved his control over his temperament and that he is the boss off all mind games when he scored the opener against Aston Villa. That shut the Villa crowd up. Juicy entertainment but I am still waiting and expecting him to snap and explode at some point soon... Manchester United's David de Gea had a breathtaking game creating save after save proving his position in the team.

Top goal: Anthony Pilkington's smasher which gave Norwich the lead in the first minute against Swansea was a tasty appetiser to start the show at Carrow Road as the home side bounced back convincingly and very entertaining from their defeat at Old Trafford. Steven Gerrard smacked in one of his iconic unstoppable free kicks in his first start for Liverpool since March, the only one even United's Spanish keeper could not stop.

Top news: Plenty of European action this week: Both Manchester sides and London sides Arsenal and Chelsea are in group action in the Champions League and Spurs, Stoke and Fulham try to climb up in their groups too in the Europa League.

Flop game: QPR's 1-1 home draw against Blackburn was nothing to write home about, apart from Heidar Helguson's 100th league goal in English football, which snook in, squeezed in somehow. The calls for Steve Kean's head will have certainly not been turned quiet after this disappointment.

Flop team: Blackburn remain at the bottom of the table, giving Steve Kean not much to lean his confidence on. Arsenal have snook into the top half of the table for the first time this season but will have to do a lot better than they played against Sunderland to make sure it won't be the last time with an everything else but convincing performance at the Emirates.

Flop player: Luis Suarez was once again in the headlines for all the wrong reasons. Every week I mention him for his temperaments and antiques. This week Manchester United Patrice Evra accused him of racism, which is nothing to laugh about! Kenny Dalglish is trying to keep on a strong face backing the Uruguayan striker against accusations of racism and diving by Evra and his manager Sir Alex Ferguson, but I'm afraid, looking back at the season so far, the profile and evidence is mounting against Suarez. Hopefully it /he will be sorted out in time and won't escalate!

Flop goal: Three mistakes meant three goals conceded and ended up a 3-1 home defeat for Wigan against Bolton. After keeper Ali Al Habsi saved former team mate Kevin Davies' penalty kick, you would think it should have given Wigan the confidence booster they were looking for. But no such thing happened. Bolton were able to hold firm, weathered the storm and were gifted a third goal in injury time to seal the win.

Flop news: The Tevez story is still bubbling on with the disciplinary hearing on Friday and him being charged with refusing to warm up against Bayern Munich. In every other job under similar circumstances and situation, he would have been sacked weeks ago!

My predictions - Actual results:

Liverpool 2:1 Man Utd - 1:1

Man City 3:0 Aston Villa - 4:1

Norwich 2:1 Swansea . 3:1

QPR 1:1 Blackburn - 1:1

Stoke 2:1 Fulham - 2:0

Wigan 2:2 Bolton - 1:3

Chelsea 1:1 Everton - 3:1

West Brom 0:0 Wolves - 2:0

Arsenal 2:0 Sunderland - 2:1

Newcastle 2:1 Tottenham - 2:2