Sunderland v Liverpool: Match Thread

[JD]

Reina
Finnan
Carragher
Hyypiä
Arbeloa
Pennant
Sissoko
Alonso
Babel
Voronin
Torres

Subs:

Itandje, Agger, Riise, Kuyt, Mascherano.

0-0 after 20 mins

Pleased to see Babel in for Riise - expected Sissoko to replace Gerrard but surprised Alonso's been given a go ahead of Mascherano. Let's hope he seizes the opportunity.

[ozzyred]

sissoko is looking great, running down the wings,taking people on,  passing properly and overhead kicks

[Xabi1309]

Agger on for Sammi as he was 'snotted' and they could not stop the bleeding plus the blow also affected his eye sight!!!

Apart from that Voronin missed a great chance in the first minute,Xabi blasted the wall from a free kick 25 yrds out.

[JD]

Very untidy looking game.  Sunderland, muscling us off the ball at every opportunity - and we can't pass.

[ozzyred]

sisssoko !!!!! 1-0

[EVILeyeZ]

Sissoko scores!!! Err.. yes Sissoko .. 1-0!! :

[JD]

MOMO!  Can't remember him having scored for us before?
 

[KoPiTee]

Great goal from Momo to open up his scoring account with us...Even Gerrard would be proud of that...

[Xabi1309]

His first goal for the club and what a cracker!!!!!!!

And I do believe that he now has a nose bleed!!!

[EVILeyeZ]

MOMO!  Can't remember him having scored for us before?
 

Thinks its his first in competitive games for us.

[ozzyred]

isnt his 1st goal the 7000 liverpool goal

[JD]

Sissoko trying another long-range shot - maybe he fancies a hat-trick!

Can't believe our 7000th league scorer is Momo! The least prolific central midfielder we've ever had!

[Xabi1309]

Torres has  a header saved off the line

[JD]

Torres just had a great chance to put us 2-0 up but headed straight at the keeper. Unlucky lad.

HALF TIME:

Sunderland 0-1 Liverpool (Sissoko)

[JD]

Scrappy first half.  Hyypia taken off after getting a knock and replaced by Agger.  Voronin's done pretty well - his layoff for Momo's 25 yard goal was nice. 

Really pleased for Momo.  He never really recovered his place after his injuries and looked out of sorts last season.  I hope he can really improve and put pressure on the others.  It is vital that Momo performs because we can't rely on Stevie G every week.

[garlo_10]

anyone by chance have sissoko in their fantasy team?
smart move if so

[Xabi1309]

It is great to see us perform at a decent level without having to rely on Stevie.

I don't want to speak to soon but we clearly have excellent strength in depth this season and a squad who can help deliver the prem.

Another thing the team seem more confident this season and dare I say this may be our second consecutive away win!!!!!!!!!!

V excited for our prospects this season,we don't have to hammer lesser sides just ensure we take the three points.


Gonna put the kettle on for next half!!

[U-Borat]

I want to see Mascherano on....

[chrislfc22]

SISSOKO GREAT STRIKE I hope we can hold to it and not sit back too much, mascherano will come on I think at some stage Torres looking good strong again! Just goes to show we missed Gerrard 2 seasons ago when he wasnt playing and now the team we have we have strong players to cope!!

[Xabi1309]

What was Voronin doing?

Torres denied by great goal keeping!
The game has gone a bit flat,reckon we will see changes after 70 mins.

Like to see Kuyt and Masch terrorise the defence!!
Carra taken a knock  and needs treatment,can't afford to loose him
This is getting silly,he is either coming off or he isn't.

Just let Rise on!

[U-Borat]

And this is why we need more cover at CB......Buy some cheap guy who can cover CB......
in the meantime, move Arbeloa to CB and Riise to LB.

[EVILeyeZ]

Carra is off... and definitely had a go at the linesman and benitez for the delay in taking him off.  Can understand.. it looks to be in the ribs region and if there are any injuries around it.. its difficult to breath.
Really looks like some of our players have ran out of steam and we are holding on.  Should really take off veronin or torres and bring in mascherano.

[yorkie18]

Hope Carra is ok. He is the best central defender out there and we do need him. Was wondering who was going to take the captain's armband...and I'm glad that Finnan's been given a chance as captain.

[EVILeyeZ]

2-0 !! veronin!!!  Phew.. 3pts are safe.

[U-Borat]

Well Hyppia with a broken nose, and Carragher with a suspected broken/fractured rib.

We REALLY need to buy a CB now.

[shikhark]

3pts
torres is improving with every game...would have scored if gordon wasnt in great form today.
hopefully carra's injury isnt that serious...they have taken him to a hospital for an xray apparently.

[JD]

Good result 2-0 away.  When I saw that fixture early in our campaign it had me a bit worried.  We should be on 9 points though really.

Good start - unlike the previous years - a win away at Sunderland was decent.  Glad to see Voronin getting on the scoresheet again.  Two goals in two games.  I see no reason why he shouldn't be the first strikers name on the team sheet.

Fingers crossed with the injuries to Carra's ribs and Hyypia's nose. Both look like breaks.

[JD]

Match Report from BBC Sport

Mohamed Sissoko and Andriy Voronin got their first Premier League goals as Liverpool saw off Sunderland.

Sissoko got on the end of a good Liverpool move to fire a low shot past Sunderland keeper Craig Gordon.

Fernando Torres and Voronin should have increased their advantage but Gordon was in inspired form.

But apart from a couple of Anthony Stokes efforts they rarely threatened, and Voronin cut inside late on to fire a right-foot shot past Gordon.

Sunderland manager Roy Keane had tipped Liverpool as title contenders before the game - and they showed a steel perhaps missing in recent years in holding off a home side full of commitment but lacking in quality.

Liverpool were the better side from the kick off and Sunderland right-back Greg Halford almost gifted the visitors a lead within 30 seconds with an underhit backpass.

Voronin won a race with Paul McShane to get to the ball but his effort was saved by the body of Gordon.

But other than that Sunderland managed to frustrate Rafael Benitez's side for much of the half.

The Reds enjoyed plenty of possession but it was mainly restricted to their own half as Keane's men harried and pressed their illustrious opponents.

Both sides were not helped by the loss of a player inside 20 minutes with Liverpool's Sami Hyypia forced off with a bloody nose and an injured Kieran Richardson soon following him down the tunnel.

Sunderland got a sniff at goal when the otherwise impressive Pennant gave the ball away and Black Cats substitute Stokes got on the end of a Michael Chopra pass but could not beat Pepe Reina from a difficult angle.

Liverpool got the breakthrough towards the end of the half when a Xabi Alonso cross was headed back across for Voronin, who laid into the path of Sissoko to fire low past an outstretched Gordon.

It ended Sissoko's 75-game wait for a first goal for the Anfield club and also brought up Liverpool's 7,000 in league football.

Torres could have added number 7,0001 before the half-time whistle.

The Spaniard headed a Pennant corner past the post and was then denied by a brilliant piece of goalkeeping from Gordon after Liverpool burst onto a fluffed clearance from Ross Wallace.

Gordon showed why Keane paid £9m for him as he again denied Torres after he had burst between Nyron Nosworthy and McShane the other side of the break.

Liverpool's expensively assembled front two of Voronin and Torres began to profit from the increased space afforded as Sunderland began to chase an equaliser.

Sunderland got more adventurous in the final half an hour but aside from a long-range effort from Stokes that had Reina scrambling they failed to seriously threaten snatching a point.

And in the closing minutes Voronin found space in the box to finally find a way past Gordon and make sure there would be no late drama for Sunderland this time.



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Sunderland: Gordon, Halford, McShane, Nosworthy, Wallace, Miller, Etuhu, Yorke, Richardson, Chopra, Murphy. Subs: Ward, Stokes, Leadbitter, Anderson, Connolly.

Liverpool: Reina, Finnan, Carragher, Hyypia, Arbeloa, Pennant, Alonso, Sissoko, Babel, Torres, Voronin. Subs: Itandje, Agger, Riise, Kuyt, Mascherano.

Referee: Mark Halsey (Lancashire).

The present table (before everyone else gets another game on us)

1 Man City 3 2 0 0 2 0 1 0 0 2 0 4 9
2 Liverpool 3 0 1 0 1 1 2 0 0 4 1 3 7
3 Chelsea 3 1 0 0 3 2 1 1 0 3 2 2 7
4 Wigan 3 2 0 0 4 0 0 0 1 1 2 3 6

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5 Everton 3 1 0 0 2 1 1 0 1 3 2 2 6
6 Portsmouth 3 1 1 0 4 2 0 1 0 2 2 2 5

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7 Newcastle 2 0 1 0 0 0 1 0 0 3 1 2 4
8 Arsenal 2 1 0 0 2 1 0 1 0 1 1 1 4
9 Blackburn 2 0 1 0 1 1 1 0 0 2 1 1 4
10 Reading 3 1 0 1 2 2 0 1 0 0 0 0 4
11 Sunderland 4 1 0 1 1 2 0 1 1 2 5 -4 4
12 Tottenham 3 1 0 1 5 3 0 0 1 0 1 1 3
13 Fulham 3 1 0 1 3 3 0 0 1 1 2 -1 3
14 Middlesbrough 3 0 0 1 1 2 1 0 1 2 2 -1 3
15 West Ham 2 0 0 1 0 2 1 0 0 1 0 -1 3
16 Man Utd 3 0 1 0 0 0 0 1 1 1 2 -1 2
17 Aston Villa 2 0 0 1 1 2 0 1 0 0 0 -1 1

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18 Birmingham 3 0 1 1 2 3 0 0 1 2 3 -2 1
19 Derby 3 0 1 0 2 2 0 0 2 0 5 -5 1
20 Bolton 3 0 0 1 1 3 0 0 2 2 5 -5 0

[Court LFC]

Good result 2-0 away.  When I saw that fixture early in our campaign it had me a bit worried.  We should be on 9 points though really.

Good start - unlike the previous years - a win away at Sunderland was decent.  Glad to see Voronin getting on the scoresheet again.  Two goals in two games.  I see no reason why he shouldn't be the first strikers name on the team sheet.

Fingers crossed with the injuries to Carra's ribs and Hyypia's nose. Both look like breaks.

Yeah solid performance from our lads today then.  I'm a bit dissapointed that Torres didn't score. 

The most important thing is that we got all 3 points.  (And we really should be joint top).

Hopefully Carraghers ribs won't be as bad as we all thought, and that Hyypia recovers soon.

[Xabi Gerrard]

After momo scored his goal, I could hear the LFC fans singing a song about him and mascherano, but I couldnt make out all the words, does anyone know the song?