Carlos Tevez celebrates his equalizing goal (Reuters)
Last week Liverpool played poorly in a loss to West Brom at the Hawthorns. They faced an even tougher test this weekend as they hosted defending champions Manchester City at Anfield in their home opener. There was much to be excited about for the Liverpool faithful in this one as things looked a lot better on the offensive end. Unfortunately, two absolute howlers at the back gifted City all they would need to walk away from Merseyside with a point in their pocket.
City started out on the right track as they they probed for weaknesses in Liverpool's back line. However the Reds did a really nice job of limiting any quality looks at goal for the Champions. In the 9th minute Aleksandar Kolarov sent a threatening free kick on target, but Pepe Reina was positioned well and was able to easily field the shot in front of net.
However it was only a little bit of good fortune that kept the game level in the 19th minute. Carlos Tevez squirted free of the defense and sent in a shot/cross along the end line. Reina took a diving stab at it as did Martin Kelly. Neither of them could alter the ball as it ended up rolling pretty much right on the goal line toward the far post. At the end, it struck the post and took an Anfield friendly bounce away from the goal and the Reds breathed a sigh of relief.
Liverpool ended the first half with a bang, quite literally. In the 34th minute Steven Gerrard sent a good looking corner kick into the City area and Martin Skrtel came flying in from nowhere to meet it. His bullet header gave Joe Hart no chance before it stabbed into the back of the net to give Liverpool the 1-0 lead going into the interval. Skrtel celebrated, but he would have a further effect on things in the second half.
The second half started a bit slowly, but turned into a real cracker when it came to life. Luis Suarez nearly doubled Liverpool's lead in minute 50, but didn't get enough on his shot as his slow ground roller dragged just wide of the far post. Then in the 63rd the Champions were able to equalize. Tevez sent an airborne ball across the face of goal, one that Reina should have been able to punch clear rather easily. However he totally botched it, and the ball went through to Kelly. The fullback also could have cleared, but it bounced off of his knee and fell to Yaya Toure, who took full advantage for City. The Ivorian easily tapped the ball into the open goal to equalize at 1-1.
Credit goes to Liverpool for not dwelling on their misfortune though. They came right back to the other end of the pitch looking to reclaim the lead. That happened in the 65th minute off the foot of Luis Suarez. The mercurial striker had difficulty finding the target in the early going, but he sent a gorgeous free kick around the Manchester City wall that beat Joe Hart into the bottom corner to make it 2-1 to the Reds.
Manchester City piled on the pressure though, and there was still plenty of time for Liverpool to suffer from another self-inflicted wound. In the 80th minute Skrtel sent a lazy rolling back pass in toward Reina from about a third of the way up his defensive half. The Reds defender seemed blissfully unaware of the presence of Tevez for City, who easily picked off the pass and headed toward the goal. He juked Reina out of his boots in the 18, and easily slotted home the goal to make it 2-2, which was the score at the full time whistle.
First off for City, it's not good news that they're giving up so many goals. Defense was a strength of this team last season, and as yesterday's result shows, they can't win every match 3-2, especially with Aguero out injured. If they can tighten up at the back though, they should be fine. Tevez seems to be firmly back in the fold, which will help immensely.
Liverpool is extremely unfortunate to drop points in this one. Brendan Rodgers said after the match that they should have won. This is true. Both City goals were gifts from Liverpool, especially the second one. You can't just press on and ignore that though. If the Reds defense can't become more disciplined, there will be more gifted goals in the offing and more dropped points on the horizon. It was definitely a step in the right direction offensively though.
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