Liverpool 1-1 Everton / Rafa denies pressure getting to them
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RAFA BENITEZ might have been better off losing his voice at the same time he suffered kidney stones. For, since his astonishing blast at Alex Ferguson, Liverpool have conceded the momentum in the Premier League title race.
In the wake of Rafa’s rant, his side have stumbled to two draws while United have taken a maximum nine points from three games. It had seemed Liverpool were on the way back to the top when Captain Fantastic Steven Gerrard smashed in a 68th-minute drive. But Tim Cahill pounced three minutes from time stooping to head in Mike Arteta’s free-kick to leave United still in front on goal difference.
If there was any man who was going to rescue the night for Everton, it was the battling Aussie. Cahill became the first player since Dixie Dean in the 1930s to score for The Toffees in three Merseyside derbies as David Moyes’ side made it seven games without defeat and continued to perform miracles in the absence of their injured strikers.
But Benitez invited them to come on to Liverpool by taking off his two forwards Fernando Torres and Robbie Keane as well as wide-man Albert Riera. This was Liverpool’s fifth draw at home in the league this season and more vital points dropped.
Gerrard had done everything in his power to earn his men the victory. Dogged by problems off the field he showed they were not affecting him on the pitch. Taking a pass from Riera, Gerrard had plenty of time to line up a 25-yard shot and buried it in the bottom corner to send his adoring public into raptures.
It was Gerrard’s 14th goal of the season — and one he enjoyed just that little bit more because it was against Reds’ bitter Mersey rivals, whose fans taunted the midfielder all night about his pending court case.
Gerrard was a nine-year-old schoolboy who stood on the Kop the last time Liverpool won the league title back in 1990. He of all people knows it has been too long.
Cahill became the first player since the 1930s to score for The Toffees in three Merseyside derbies.
But Cahill ensured his celebrations were nipped in the bud and Liverpool were left to rue earlier missed opportunities — particularly one from Torres.
The ball of the night from centre-back Sami Hyypia produced a glorious chance for the Spaniard in the 28th minute. Hyypia picked Torres out with a raking 60-yard pass which split the Everton defence and sent the Liverpool hotshot clear.
You would have put your house on him scoring as keeper Tim Howard looked powerless to prevent the inevitable. But, from six yards, Torres surprisingly flicked a right-foot shot against the post. He could not believe it — and neither could the freezing derby crowd.
Perhaps there was a touch of ring- rustiness about the £22million man who was making his first start since November 26 because of injury. But he would have expected to score a chance like that.
This was a full-blooded Merseyside derby with players on both sides getting battered and bruised. There were no shirkers on view. Pepe Reina was the busier keeper early on saving Victor Anichebe’s effort after just 35 seconds and then Cahill’s downward header.
Steven Pienaar caught Torres with a flailing arm which incensed the Reds fans — and so their Everton counterparts started picking on a few targets in retaliation. Gerrard got it in spades and they followed with the strains of “Rafa’s cracking up.”
Riera almost silenced them a minute before the break when he intercepted Tony Hibbert’s attempted clearance, skipped to his right and flashed a 25-yard shot inches wide.
Torres felt he should have had a penalty three minutes after the restart as a back-tracking Phil Jagielka caught his right leg. It was right in front of the Kop and, not surprisingly, their opinion tallied with that of Torres. But referee Howard Webb was not interested and waved play on.
Everton’s sheer belligerence was typified by Leighton Baines. As Liverpool upped the ante a desperate Howard pushed Gerrard’s shot across goal and Hyypia closed in to finish it off. But full-back Baines made a magnificent saving tackle to deny the Finnish defender.
After a not-too-convincing shout for a penalty by Everton when Anichebe went sprawling under pressure from Martin Skrtel, Gerrard struck. But then Cahill turned in Arteta’s free-kick and you could almost hear the cheers in Manchester.
I wonder if Fergie poured himself a large one?
Liverpool: Reina, Carragher, Hyypia, Skrtel, Aurelio, Kuyt, Gerrard, Alonso, Riera (Babel 89), Keane (Benayoun 67), Torres (Leiva Lucas 85).
Subs Not Used: Cavalieri, Dossena, Arbeloa, Mascherano.Goals: Gerrard 68.
Everton: Howard, Hibbert, Lescott, Jagielka, Baines, Osman, Arteta, Neville, Pienaar, Cahill, Anichebe.
Subs Not Used: Nash, Van der Meyde, Castillo, Rodwell, Jutkiewicz, Gosling, Kissock.Booked: Pienaar, Arteta.
Goals: Cahill 87.
Att: 44,382
Ref: Howard Webb (S Yorkshire).
Player Rater man of the match: Liverpool's Steven Gerrard on 7.12 (on 90 minutes).
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i watched the first half.
torres is really an amazing player.
speedy and very skillful.
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Torres and Gerrard not enough to bring their team to greater heights.
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Actually ok lah, they were doing rather well until Rafa started his nonsense... Perhaps they are more nervous now that more people are taking note of their every match since Rafa's rant... People want to see if Rafa's rant would fire them up but instead more attention are placed on them right now and maybe the players don't like the extra pressure...
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Have said so many times that Liverpool will not win the league with Rafa in charge!! He was just stupid to take off both strikers and Riera!! Keane replacement contributed to Everton goal and Torres replacement seems to be like Everton's 12th man on the pitch...
The best form of defence is attack. They sat back after the 1st goal, instead of trying to kill off the game....Seems like Rafa kidney indirectly affecting his brain...
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like I said, if Liverpool can't win the league, Rafa will conserve for UCL..
imagine, you are only leading 1-0 and you take off both your strikers.. what's the logic.. unless you have a cast-iron defence..
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Originally posted by sg_forum:
The best form of defence is attack. They sat back after the 1st goal, instead of trying to kill off the game....Seems like Rafa kidney indirectly affecting his brain...
were you describing MU or Liverpool? Pool's game was all attack during the 80s, they would just put anyone to the sword , but now, it is more continental and not so eye-pleasing.. Hence more people prefer to watch MU or Gunners..
Just my two cents.
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definitely its not Liverpool's season - cannot win at home - what more can I say...
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i think LFC just blew it..
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Well, they will have another chance to get at Everton in a few days time so cheer up Pool fans...
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Originally posted by iceFatboy:
were you describing MU or Liverpool? Pool's game was all attack during the 80s, they would just put anyone to the sword , but now, it is more continental and not so eye-pleasing.. Hence more people prefer to watch MU or Gunners..
Just my two cents.
I was describing current Liverpool team under Rafa...Yes, all attacking style was a history for Liverpool...Rafa is a very defensive minded manager...Liverpool will not go far with him in charge for sure. Liverpool on top because ManU has been playing not to their own standard and Chelsea got a dressing room problem.
Scolari put all attacking players and keep pressing Stoke for a win on Sat...SAF will never sit back and defence like Rafa did.
Zocoss...I would rather put 2nd team against Everton and concentrate the next BPL game against Wigan...And every Liverpool fans prefer BPL title rather than CL.
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Originally posted by sg_forum:
I was describing current Liverpool team under Rafa...Yes, all attacking style was a history for Liverpool...Rafa is a very defensive minded manager...Liverpool will not go far with him in charge for sure. Liverpool on top because ManU has been playing not to their own standard and Chelsea got a dressing room problem.
Scolari put all attacking players and keep pressing Stoke for a win on Sat...SAF will never sit back and defence like Rafa did.
Zocoss...I would rather put 2nd team against Everton and concentrate the next BPL game against Wigan...And every Liverpool fans prefer BPL title rather than CL.
well, Liverpool did win the UCL once under him, and it seems that all Pool Fans are crazy over him..
Well, did you read his comments? He said he replaced Torres who was tired and moved Kurt in, so it was a like for like change, and Torres can't prevent Everton Goal. So in a way, he is right that formation wise, it is same, but without Torres, Everton went forward and they got their reward. Pity, they only scored once.
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Originally posted by sg_forum:
Zocoss...I would rather put 2nd team against Everton and concentrate the next BPL game against Wigan...And every Liverpool fans prefer BPL title rather than CL.
I totally agree with you and I belief majority of Pool fans would prefer he EPL title anyday to the CL... Unfortunately, the FA cup isn't as big as it used to be but more importantly, its not just any team they are meeting... Its Everton, more than just the FA up is riding on it... Its the city's pride as well... -
Originally posted by iceFatboy:
well, Liverpool did win the UCL once under him, and it seems that all Pool Fans are crazy over him..
Well, did you read his comments? He said he replaced Torres who was tired and moved Kurt in, so it was a like for like change, and Torres can't prevent Everton Goal. So in a way, he is right that formation wise, it is same, but without Torres, Everton went forward and they got their reward. Pity, they only scored once.
There are no doubt of Rafa's ability in Europe but that's not the fans priority now.Torres was tired? Why can't he keep Torres for another 5 minutes? (Rafa replaced him on the 85th minutes). Everton will not went far forward with Torres in the team. They will be cautious of his counter attack because of his speed. Like I said earlier, the best defence is to attack, so Torres can prevent Everton goal. The fact that Rafa brought Lucas in means that he tried to preserve the 1-0 score and that's not gonna happen in BPL...Why did ManU scored 2 goals in injury time to win their CL? Because they keep going forward and Bayern Munich kept defending...You do not see SAF put his men to their own half after 1-0 lead?
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i knew it from the start, we will nvr win the title.
liverpool just don play like champ. -
Skrtel went to sleep.
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tim howard was so free at his goal post.
i thought he should bring a psp with him to keep himself out of boredom. -
LIVERPOOL 1-1 EVERTON - REACTION
Benitez denies pressure is getting to Liverpool
Liverpool boss Rafael Benitez insisted that his side are not wilting under the pressure of a title fight, despite their failure to beat neighbours Everton at Anfield on Monday night.
The Reds had looked on course to collect the three points that would have moved them above Manchester United and back to the Premier League summit But a late equaliser from Tim Cahill, who headed home unmarked at the near post from a Mikel Arteta free-kick, meant Benitez's side remain behind their north-west rivals on goal difference having also played a game extra.
Despite that the Liverpool boss still maintained: ''The players believe they can challenge for the title.'' He added: ''You are not suffering from pressure after leading until three minutes from time.
''It is not pressure to be level on points with Manchester United in January. ''We are disappointed with how we defended against that late free-kick, and disappointed with giving a free-kick away at that stage so close to our box. It could have been avoided.''
Yossi Benayoun had needlessly conceded that free-kick for a foul on Victor Anichebe. ''I will have to look at that incident again, but we had talked about not conceding free-kicks in that sort of area because Everton's set-plays are good,'' Benitez added. ''But we are still level with United and we know we can play better. ''We will improve as we get more of our injured players back, we still believe we can challenge for the title.''
Everton boss David Moyes believed that his side deserved their goal and the hard-earned point. It extended Everton's unbeaten run to seven games and Moyes said: ''We showed what we have been doing now for a few weeks. We played with confidence and a draw was certainly a fair result.
''Maybe we could have had a penalty just before they scored, that was disappointing. ''We were still appealing for the penalty when Liverpool broke away and we allowed Steven Gerrard to walk into midfield and score.
''We turned off at that moment. We lost our concentration after not getting the penalty, and Liverpool took advantage.'' Moyes refused to condemn referee Howard Webb for the decision not to award a spot-kick for Martin Skrtel's push on Anichebe.
Moyes said: ''The referee had a very good game. There was a couple of penalty shouts at each end he didn't give them. I am more concerned with how we turned off at the moment we were denied a possible penalty rather than with the referee's decision.'' But Moyes hailed his players for their spirited performance.
''Liverpool have been buying players to win titles, we are not in that league,'' he said. ''But we have showed the stability there is at our club, and how far we have come in the last few years. ''We were able to give Liverpool a really good game on their own pitch and we deserved the point, we earned it.''
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it will be a big big shock if villa wins the title.
all the top 5 teams stand a chance.
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Originally posted by dragg:
it will be a big big shock if villa wins the title.
all the top 5 teams stand a chance.
oh definitely man...
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ya, they r now siting in 4th place, if i'm not wrong
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Originally posted by dragg:
it will be a big big shock if villa wins the title.
all the top 5 teams stand a chance.
well, it is a shock but at least, it proves one thing, consistency wins you things..
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Originally posted by sg_forum:
There are no doubt of Rafa's ability in Europe but that's not the fans priority now.Torres was tired? Why can't he keep Torres for another 5 minutes? (Rafa replaced him on the 85th minutes). Everton will not went far forward with Torres in the team. They will be cautious of his counter attack because of his speed. Like I said earlier, the best defence is to attack, so Torres can prevent Everton goal. The fact that Rafa brought Lucas in means that he tried to preserve the 1-0 score and that's not gonna happen in BPL...Why did ManU scored 2 goals in injury time to win their CL? Because they keep going forward and Bayern Munich kept defending...You do not see SAF put his men to their own half after 1-0 lead?
friend, CL is an one-off la, and SAF has to do it cause it is do-or-break time.
This case, different, Pool leading, and Torres just got match fit, what happens if he plays the last 5 mins, got re-injured, and Everton scores two.. Even worse scenario right? so keep the ace up the sleeve mah.. who knows Everton can turn and score leh.
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ya lar, everything also you deny lah.
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Lolx Everton denied Liverpool to top lolx