Manchester’s dream of winning another league title became more desperate after they faced a resurgent Liverpool side at Anfield last Sunday. The visitors came away from the match with zero points and with a tough schedule ahead their title hopes seems a little further from grasp.
Liverpool seemed the better team throughout the match while Berbatov and Rooney did not test Reina once during the first half. It did not take long for Suarez and Kuyt to link up after the Uruguayan made a spectacular run down the opposing goal line. His shot was deflected into the path of Kuyt who had an easy knock in to give Liverpool the goal advantage.
The commentators listed the poor visibility for a reason why Van der Saar did not come up with any key saves, but even when the tables were turned and Reina had to deal with the sun he was able to nearly come up with a clean sheet.
Kuyt scored two more goals as the score became 3-0 thanks to his hat trick. It was his first since moving to the English side in 2006.
The game was made even more special as it was Andy Carroll’s first game in Liverpool red since being traded from Newcastle. The new striker did not see much of the ball in the closing minutes of the game but was greeted with a warm welcome from the Kop who finally got a chance to see Liverpool’s new number nine in action.
Manchester was able to score in the final minutes but it was only a consolation from a Liverpool side that seemed to be unbeatable in their recent form. That is if you can discount their poor performance against West Ham last weekend.
A win for Manchester would have brought their lead in the standings to four away from Arsenal who tied against Sunderland in a nil nil draw. A loss to Liverpool who climbed back into sixth place puts them only two points ahead of Arsenal with a game in hand. Manchester will need to go on a good run if they expect to keep their title hopes alive
