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| I hope to see more of this celebration this season... Image: Link |
Rodgers started a very strong side considering that he could have easily fielded a below par one. Pepe Reina was back in goal which was great to see and Lucas started in the centre. Borini and Suarez both started and Gerrard was freed up immensely due to Lucas and Shelvey in the middle of the park.
Liverpool got off to a very lively start as they looked to impress a near capacity Anfield crowd. Also in that crowd was Swansea's Joe Allen, it certainly looks like he'll be the next man revealed in a Liverpool shirt.
The first goal for the Reds came just after the 20 minute mark and who was the scorer? The man himself Fabio Borini. I know I wasn't the only one excited to see this chap at Anfield and hoping he could hit the groud running. Borini took the shot first time after some Suarez trickery caused the goalkeeper to make a save, the ball splayed out to the number 29 and it was a sweet strike to put Liverpool ahead.
Liverpool were off to a fabulous start. Suarez was here, there and everywhere, Gomel's defence were dumbstruck. Borini and Suarez appeared to be interchanging throughout the match and due to Gerrard being further forward it meant both players could take advantage of some fantastic link up play.
There are still some people that get on Gerrard's back but the 32 year old looked as fresh as anything last night. This was proved by a goal for the captain who was in the right place at the right time just before the half way mark.
Assisted by Suarez once again Steven Gerrard slipped the ball past the Gomel keeper with ease.
There were no changes from either side at half time which was quite surprising when looking at the Gomel side, they'd already ran out of ideas and I suspected maybe the manager would attempt to shake things up a bit but apparently not. Alumona who caused some problems in the first leg was perhaps the most lively again for Gomel.
The hour mark gave Suarez an opportunity to wow us with a free kick, he didn't score but he wasn't far off! Suarez had a brilliant game and although obviously we shouldn't get ahead of ourselves with this performance due to the calibre of the opposition there were some aspects that are major positives for any side to have in a player.
I spotted Suarez on several occasions get genuinely angry because somebody hadn't played the right ball or at the linesman for a decision and although some will look at that as a bad thing I personally think it's great, if he's THAT concerned in a Europa League qualifying match then you know for certain he will give his all in every game.
Liverpool's third goal completely put the game to bed and what a cracking shot it was. Glen Johnson who loves to cut inside when given the chance saw his opportunity and after controlling his effort his pure strike flew into the back of the net and sealed the Liverpool win.
Jamie Carragher, Charlie Adam and Jay Spearing all got some playing time and the final whistle meant Brendan Rodgers had bagged a convincing win in his first match as manager at Anfield.
Next up for Liverpool is a friendly against Sami Hyypia's Bayer Leverkusen, there won't be a match preview for this on the blog but there will be a mini report/round up!