Rest in peace Anne... Image: sabotagetimes.com |
It
was an eventful day to put it kindly on Sunday in Merseyside as
Liverpool prepared to applaud the memory of Hillsborough campaigner
Anne Williams and the victims of the Boston marathon whilst also
welcoming ex manager and fan favourite Rafael Benitez back. As if
the headlines weren't big enough before the whistle they'd soon
swell up even further post match after the footballing public looked
back on what appeared to be almost certainly a bite on Ivanovic from Luis Suarez.
Pushing all of that aside Liverpool actually fought hard and picked
up a good result with the game ending 2-2 and of course it was Suarez
who found the winning goal.
I
feel as though I should start with the Suarez incident really for
this post just because it's such a pressing topic and to voice my
opinion then get it out the way to do a match roundup would perhaps
be a better order of things.
The
first moment that caused a reaction from me was when I saw Ivanovic
sitting on the floor trying to tell Kevin Friend that he'd been
bitten on the arm by Suarez. Suarez was in the box limping from what
looked originally like a normal clash with the defender. My first
thought was that Ivanovic was playing to the ref, any old excuse to
get Suarez in trouble because we all know he's an easy target, I was
wrong to think this of course and my opinion was perhaps
coloured by a dislike for Chelsea but nevertheless Suarez had of
course done this before.
The
next thing we saw was a zoomed in replay and to my despair all you
could see was Luis Suarez in the corner of the screen physically
grabbing Ivanovic's arm and sinking his teeth in to it. I couldn't
quite believe what we were seeing to be honest. What made things
worse is that the conversation in the pub about Suarez biting someone
was bad enough to start with but to be ending sentences with "again"
after he bit somebody in his time at Ajax, well it's just
unacceptable.
I
have no idea what an earth his thought process is when he's deciding
whether or not it would be a good idea to bite another player but
he's quite simply a nutcase. There's people online attempting to find
any ounce of an excuse to defend Suarez but I personally won't. I do
also feel that people using the example of Defoe not getting properly
punished for doing the same thing or the fact a bite doesn't injure a
player is ridiculous, these people are totally missing the point. It
doesn't matter if it hasn't injured somebody or if somebody got away
with it before, it's completely and utterly wrong and any punishment
Suarez serves will be completely deserved. The club today have
announced he has been fined and they will await a decision from the
FA.
Despite
all of this though, just because Suarez has done something
indefensible that doesn't mean I no longer want him at my club, far
from it. Sometimes geniuses are flawed and it appears as though we
have one of these characters on our hands I just hope he can learn to
calm down a bit else we'll be constantly missing him through bans.
ANYWAY...
On
to the game. A minutes applause for the inspirational Anne Williams
opened proceedings and there were several banners displayed in her
memory at Anfield. Shortly after the game kicked off Rafael Benitez
also got his expected warm welcome as sections of Anfield began to
sing his name. It was nice but strange to see Rafa back, you could
tell he misses the place though.
Brendan
Rodgers had started a similar XI to the last fixture but for me the
most questionable part was why Daniel Sturridge wasn't starting
again, I personally haven't really understood this decision and you
would think in a game against his old club Brendan may have started
him but Sturridge had to wait until the second half to feature.
The
first half wasn't a brilliant one for Liverpool who started the game
ok but quickly lost control with possession being lost left right and
centre. It appeared to be a struggle to successfully complete a pass
at times which was annoying to watch.
Chelsea
made things worse for the Reds when they took advantage of some poor
defending after a corner at 25 minutes. Oscar had managed to create
just the slightest bit of space and his glancing header found the
back of the net putting the away side ahead. Carragher made a late
decision to follow Oscar out but it was already a done deal, Agger
was also spotted discussing with Reina about marking Oscar but he
never did so it was difficult to choose somebody solely at fault for
the goal.
Fernando
Torres made the start for Chelsea and unlike the one received by his
manager, the Torres reception wasn't a very welcome one at all. He
must have been pleased to have a mask to hide behind as boos rang out
whenever he touched the ball and the likes of Jamie Carragher and
Daniel Agger made it their mission to stop him from breaking through.
The
first half ended without any further goals but Liverpool certainly
weren't out of this yet. Coutinho was replaced at half time by Daniel
Sturridge and whilst I wanted Sturridge on I wasn't sure I wanted
Coutinho off, however the substitution proved to be immediately
effective.
With
almost his first touch of the game Daniel Sturridge fizzed a shot
from 25 yards but couldn't find the goal. 5 minutes later though and
he had found it. A lovely set up starting with a ball from Carragher
in defence to Downing, then to Suarez who played a lovely ball
through to Sturridge allowed the striker to finish to the bottom left
of goal.
Sturridge
was a breath of fresh air in what had become a difficult game and
with an equaliser now secured the Reds had that springboard to take
the game to Chelsea. However things weren't set to pan out that way.
Shortly
after the Sturridge goal Suarez was flailing around defending a
Chelsea corner with one hand in the air, it was definitely a penalty
and in fairness even before the later more serious incident, this
annoyed me too. You don't put your hands up like that in the box.
Eden Hazard successfully converted his penalty to put Chelsea back in
the lead to the away fans delight.
Liverpool
may have had some renewed strength in attack after bringing Sturridge
on but it felt like there was a long way to go now. Suarez was
clearly frustrated with conceding a penalty for his side and I can
only imagine that this was the fuel for his resulting bite on
Ivanovic, this was the next incident of note to happen really but I
voiced my opinion on this at the start of the post. (Just to note if
you have any of your own views I'm always interested in your opinions
so drop a comment in match chat below!)
After
the extremely controversial incident it was written in the stars that
Suarez would somehow find his glowing side again and secure Liverpool
a point, and that he did. A cross from Daniel Sturridge set up the
Uruguayan who headed home for Liverpool in the 7th
minute of stoppage time. 6 were added on but it's believed Kevin
Friend added those extra seconds that became so vital to Liverpool
due to the time it took for Juan Mata to leave the field at 90
minutes.
It
was a good result for Liverpool considering what happened and as much
as we all would like to focus on the positives the game will always
be remembered for Suarez mistaking Ivanovic's arm for a stick of French
bread.
Suarez
has apologised to both Ivanovic and the fans/players/Liverpool
Football Club since the incident and as much as this has to be
appreciated it obviously won't be enough. There's people saying he's
apologised for his mistake so let's move on and whilst I agree we
should move on as Liverpool fans who want to see the right side of
Suarez there's no denying that this wasn't a “mistake”, a
“mistake” is buying the wrong milk not chewing someone's arm.
Next
up for Liverpool is Newcastle United, don't be surprised if they all
line up in garlands of garlic.
#IStillJustCantGetEnough