Milestone Night In Liverpool

Keane Breaks Duck As Liverpool Strolled To Victory

UEFA Champions League

LIVERPOOL 3 -1 PSV Eindhoven

Scorers:
LIV - Kuyt (4min), Keane (34min), Gerrard (76min);
PSV - Koevermans (78min);

It was a memorable night at Anfield even though fans turned up, expecting yet another routine win by Rafa Benitez's boys. A controlled, discipline performance was expected and what we saw last night was exactly that.

But hell, even Robbie Keane scored this time.

The Irishman finally broke his scoring duck of 11 games as he connected with a fantastic Fernando Torres cross and directed it into the bottom right corner of Andreas Isaksson's net. He finally could do his cartwheel celebration but this time, donning the jersey of the club he supported as a boy.

It was one of those nights where your gut feeling just tells you things and it happened. I'm sure everyone's pleased that Keane opened his account in a European night. His quality is proven but it just needed that touch of luck.

Earlier on, he was expecting a penalty as he was brought down by Timmy Simmons but the referee wasn't interested. And we thought it was not going to be his night, again.

Well, let's not forget about another milestone set by a great Liverpool player last night. It's none other than captain Steven Gerrard.

Only the 16th player to carry the honour of scoring 100 goals for Liverpool, Gerrard fired in his 100th with his usual thunderbolt right-in-the-back-of-the-net style. A freekick from 30 yards out didn't stop the skipper from sending out a homing-missile like shot into the net. It was as if the ball itself had in mind where to go.

Beautifully taken.

It was an icing on the cake for Liverpool as they strolled through the game without even moving out of gear 2 and looked comfortable and untroubled throughout. Though the gloss was removed when PSV hit back with a goal that somehow silenced the Kop, it was still a disciplined and controlled performance, just like any other Liverpool games recently.

Scoring early, as I mentioned before, is a boon or bane for clubs and thankfully, Liverpool didn't slip into complacency mode after Dirk Kuyt giving the home side the lead in just under 3 minutes.

How we always said that the Reds were profligate and impotent with cornerkicks, we finally made it work out last night. Gerrard's outswinger, Torres' ingenious movement and Kuyt's followup.

Isaksson should have done better. Looked more a routine save to me than anything. Who knows what might happen if it didn't go in.

But that's not the point. It probably round up a pretty satisfying week for the Liverpool fans as we taught our poorer neighbours, Everton, a good football lesson and getting all 3 points in the Champions League is definitely good news.

In the best start of the season we've seen in quite a while, it remains to be seen how consistent Liverpool can get. But seeing Rafa dropping his usual chop-and-change tactic, there might be a shift of ideology from the Spanish manager.

Probably, he begin to realise the mistake that he has been making for the past few seasons....

11: John Arne Riise vs PSV Eindhoven

Goal that came from a defensive error on PSV's part but what a goal from Riise again. He seldom scores but when he scores, he always seemingly ensures that it's enough to break the net within the goal.

22. Steven Gerrard vs PSV Eindhoven

From back to front, quick, swift and effective. Reina's distribution isn't something that has been talked about for quite a lot but his goalkicks and throws are sometimes, unbelievably good that it sets the team in motion right away.

Anyway it was a good movement from Dirk Kuyt and it was his vision that saw Gerrard making that late run into the box. A trademark goal from the skipper, how many times have we seen that?

Into The Semis, It's Chelsea Again

Crouch Proves The Difference

UEFA Champions League
Quarter Finals 2nd Leg

LIVERPOOL 1 - 0 PSV Eindhoven
(Liverpool win 4-0 on aggregate)

Scorer:
LIV - Crouch (67min);

Match Highlights:




The big man is scoring for fun again. Once ridiculed as just a bambi on ice and his inability to hit the cow's arse with a banjo, Crouch has came a long way and last night, he scored his 5th goal in 4 starts and it takes his European tally this season to 6, on par with the likes of Drogba and van Nistelrooy. Only Kaka is above the trio with 7 goals.

It's hard to imagine Crouch being mentioned along with the likes of Kaka and van Nistelrooy but this man has proved his worth. Despite failing to score in his first 24 hours of play in the Liverpool jersey, he has since turned into a rather unnoticeable goal scorer and the 6 goals in 9 Champions League games speak for itself.

His goal last night completed a formality for Liverpool as they carried their 3-0 win over from Holland back to Anfield. Even with the Kopites roaring them on with songs and warming their throats over the impending visit of Chelsea with the 'F*** OFF CHELSEA FC' song, Liverpool rarely got into second gear and it proves to be quite a dull match with nothing much of note.

Even with Rafa rambling about how they'll show respect to their opponents, knowing that they're one foot into the semi finals, he dropped key players like Steven Gerrard and Jamie Carragher and let the likes of Sami Hyypia and Bolo Zenden with a run out.

Things didn't go Liverpool's way as Craig Bellamy had to be stretched off with a knee injury. Without Bellamy's pace up front and his constant harrying, it was a little more difficult for them to play.

And credit to PSV for turning up with a plan in mind and did well even though they know they had absolutely no chance. Their task's difficulty was upped a notch late in the second half after debutant Dirk Marcellis was unfairly sent off for a challenge on Zenden. It was a yellow card at worst but Italian referee, Roberto Rosetti, decided to show a straight red. A very odd decision indeed.


Playing with 10 men, PSV still looked particularly comfortable as they had an edge in terms of possession but Liverpool once again showed their clinical side as Crouch nailed the final nail in the coffin after Robbie Fowler's fantastic assist.

Riise's cross was turned towards goal by PSV defender, Eric Addo, and Gomes had to be at his best to prevent it from going in but Fowler was there to pick up the ball. With the angle being too acute, he choses to square the ball back into the penalty area for Crouch to score a tap in.

And Liverpool should've put an icing on the cake late in the game when Jermaine Pennant had the chance to further extend the lead but his finishing really needs to improve as both his initial shot and the follow-up was blocked by Gomes.

It wasn't a game you'll expect to see in a quarter finals as neither team had the urgency to step up but it was probably due to Liverpool's smash and grab effort last week in Eindhoven that provided the team with the comfortable 3-0 cushion. With ManYoo winning 7-1 last night, they'll surely grab all the major headlines while Liverpool looked like they've sneaked into the semi-finals quietly without much controversy.

It wasn't the best of matches but it was a professional performance from both sides. Now the Reds will move on to the semi-finals with Chelsea in sight and a repeat of the 2005 Champions League season is on hand.

Semi Finals:

Man Utd (ENG) vs AC Milan (ITA)
Chelsea (ENG) vs LIVERPOOL (Eng)

For more goals and highlights, visit http://redsgoals.blogspot.com/ for more!

When Rafa Says 'Perfect'

Three & Easy For Liverpool

UEFA Champions League
Quarter Finals 1st Leg

PSV Eindhoven 0 - 3 LIVERPOOL

Scorers:
LIV - Gerrard (27min), Riise (49min), Crouch (63min);

Match Highlights:




Liverpool made a giant stride towards their 6th European title after an emphatic 3-0 win over Dutch champions, PSV Eindhoven.

Did I say emphatic?

It was emphatic yet all too easy for the men in yellow as they put up with an effective and professional performance and finished off their opponents off easily, clinical as it is.

After the 4-1 routing of Arsenal on Saturday, Liverpool went into this game full of confidence while PSV isn't having the best of time in the Dutch League. Looking so indifferent without their key players, Alex and Aruna Kone, PSV suffered from being too negative and were royally punished by Rafa Benitez's men.

On the sour note, Fabio Aurelio had to be stretched off after what they believe as a ruptured archilles tendon and just when the Brazilian starts to find his way into his first team, injury didn't help him. But he has a reputation for being a regular visitor to the medical team and Rafa knows that well. In his 4 seasons at Valencia, he only started 40.

His team mates, meanwhile, didn't disappoint with their performances. It was a great team effort and Rafa, once again, showed that he's one of the best tactician in Europe currently, coming up with a plan that even Ronald Koeman had no answer to.

Perhaps, you could see it as another revenge mission as the Dutchman engineered Benfica's win over Liverpool last season. But being oh so close to the final, Liverpool was unfazed by the prospect. They went, they saw and they conquered.

The match started off just as expected and finished off just as expected. Both team were extremely cautious and one would certainly be hypnotised by the number of passes between Agger and Carragher in the first half. Waking up at 2.30am in the morning didn't help.

But when it all happen, it was so fast that PSV didn't know what hit them.

Steven Gerrard, despite being played out on the right, was found right in the thick of things within the penalty area after a well worked right wing attack from Steve Finnan and Javier Mascherano. Finnan's cross was perhaps meant for Kuyt but Gerrard went in for the kill instead.

It was like a training ground goal. Fast, well executed and clinical.

Perhaps knowing that conceding the one goal was enough to kill off the tie, PSV went into self destructing mode and you could tell from the body language that they've given up already. But what else could you expect when all they muster were a few stray long range strikes and maybe one particularly dangerous cross from former Liverpool man, Jan Kromkamp, that jerked Liverpool back to life.

They were depleted, demoralised and were totally uninterested.

Maybe that's what Rafa's plan was, to wait for the prey, study it, go in for a deadly hit and then watch it slowly dies.

Riise hit the second blow and my word, what a hit. He finished it with aplomb when half the PSV defenders went into snooze mode. Even the highly rated goalkeeper, Gomes, couldn't stop it. Filing bankruptcy against him might make us question his ability to invest his money but never in doubt were his ability to hit shots at such pace, power and deadly accuracy.

Timmy Simmons was the culprit as he needlessly presented the ball for the Norwegian to smash home. You could see the expressions on their faces and they know it isn't over yet.

Because truly, it isn't over yet at the moment. With Peter Crouch extending the scoreline and putting the result to the bed, we could still testify that 3 goals is never enough. Remember Istanbul?

I'd expect a professional approach to the second leg and let's treat them with a level of respect. We might score another 2 or 3 in the second leg but at least show that we're in serious business. Dirk Kuyt might beg to differ as he got himself booked perhaps, with a purpose to miss the second leg and made available for the semi finals but still, no trace complacency should be found.

Truly, it was a poor and abhorent PSV that turned up last night. They didn't seemed to have a game plan other than keeping a clean sheet and see what happens at Anfield. Ronald Koeman was stumped while his men crumbled.

Perhaps it's a curse that Liverpool put on the teams they meet in the Champions League. The teams they're supposed to meet seemed to be going through tough times and it's always Liverpool who go in for the kill at the right time.

But what a performance from them. It made an European away game looked so easy and made the quarter finals looked like a regular pre-season friendly. If they manage to bring this sort of form into the Premiership, they'll be feared.


For goals and highlights, head over to http://redsgoals.blogspot.com/ for more!

Drogballs

It's The Quarter Finals!

Champions League beckons and with only 8 teams left in the competition, every club will have the right to feel that they have a chance to win the prestigious European Cup.

Being a Liverpool blogger, of course my concern will be tonight's game against Dutch giants PSV Eindhoven. Seemed like a relatively easy draw on paper but one should not underestimate the Eredivisie leaders.

PSV's coach, Ronald Koeman, was the very man who plotted Liverpool's downfall last season and already, Arsenal were downed by his team in the last 16.

This will be the 3rd time this season that the two teams meet as previously, they've been drawn together in the same group during the group stages with Liverpool getting 4 points out of a possible 6.

Contrasting fortunes for both the teams as Liverpool will go into the game brimming with confidence after the 4-1 thrashing of Arsenal on Saturday while PSV saw their seemingly unassailable lead in the Dutch League slip and are on a run of poor form.

Liverpool will be without Malian midfielder, Momo Sissoko, as he is suspended for this game and therefore, Javier Mascherano could make his Champions League debut at the Phillips Stadium tonight.

Craig Bellamy, who missed Saturday's game due to rib injury, has been passed fit as well as Steven Gerrard, who shook off the slight calf injury and is expected to play on the right hand side of midfield again.

The injury problems faced by PSV is well documented and they will certainly be without towering Brazilian defender, Alex. He scored the all important goal to knock Arsenal out of the Champions League with a header and his presence will be sorely missed by Koeman and his men.

Aruna Kone is a major doubt for this game as well and the burden of scoring goals will land on the lean shoulders of Jefferson Farfan.

Expect a cagey game as both teams will not want to concede the early goal. PSV, who looked short on confidence, will try to hold out and keep a clean sheet while Rafa Benitez's men will want to hit PSV on the counter attack.

Drogballs' Prediction: PSV 0-1 Liverpool.

Possible Lineup: Reina, Finnan, Carragher, Agger, Aurelio, Gerrard, Alonso, Mascherano, Riise, Kuyt, Bellamy;

YESSSS!

During Saturday's top of the table clash in the Dutch Eredivisie between Ajax and PSV Eindhoven, the Amsterdam club thumped their close rivals by 5 goals to 1. It was a game of great goals such as that scorcher from Wesley Sneijder (go YouTube and find it, it's worth it!) and also Huntelaar showing his predatory skills.

But one incident did certainly caught the eye of many. It was referee, Eric Braamaar, who is in the line of fire this time.



Any coincidence this is the same referee that took charge of that fateful game between Lille and ManYoo?

Facking glory hunter...

Reds Draw PSV

The draw for the 2006/07 Champions League quarter and semi finals are out and as the English teams were kept apart, Liverpool will have to overcome Dutch giants, PSV Eindhoven, who have just sent Arsenal packing from the competition.

I was so adamant that we'll get PSV and was pleased to get the draw. It's not because they seemed to be the weakest amongst the 8 on paper but more like getting a revenge.

The man in charge of PSV is none other than Ronald Koeman, the man who plotted our exit from last season's Champions League with Benfica. He's reknown for his continental style tactics, tight defences and counter attacks. We've seen what he has done over at Benifca last season when he took them all the way to the quarter finals before getting dumped out by champions elect, Barcelona.

It's surprising how far Koeman have taken them to this season with players of inferior quality and even managed to gun down the Gunners. It just says a lot about Koeman and his team. They're hard to beat, disciplined and well drilled. It's certainly not an easy draw for us at all.

His continental style of coaching might just be a wee bit similar to Rafa's, as both teams are terribly hard to break down. It'll definitely be a close game but the advantage Liverpool have on their hands would be the fact that the second leg of the quarter finals will be at Anfield, the fortress of noise.

Quarter Finals Draw

AC Milan (Ita) vs Bayern Munich (Ger)

PSV Eindhoven (Hol) vs LIVERPOOL (Eng)

Roma (Ita) vs Man Utd (Eng)

Chelsea (Eng) vs Valencia (Esp)



Semi Finals:

AC Milan or Bayern Munich VS Roma or Man Utd.

PSV Eindhoven or LIVERPOOL VS Chelsea or Valencia

That actually means, we MIGHT see yet another Chelsea vs Liverpool semi finals. BRING IT ON.

Champions League Round-up

There will be 8 teams in the hat for the draw tomorrow at ancient Athens, the venue for this year's Champions League final. Not much surprises when it comes to the composition of the quarter finals as all of the 8 teams have done well or just enough to squeeze through.

It has been a week of high drama. From Anfield to Mestalla. From Emirates to San Siro. Ever match provided entertainment of the highest class and not a minute of it gone down the drain.

Liverpool provided perhaps, the best result of the round despite the 1-0 defeat at Anfield. They managed to defy all critics and doubts about their credential by kicking out the defending champions with 2 excellent performances. The 2006 Kings of Europe were stymied and were perhaps, a little fortunate to escape Anfield with a win, just like their counterparts over the weekends, Man Utd.

As Riijkaard mentioned, with a bit of luck, the Reds could go all the way.



Arsenal Shocked At Home

Crashing out of the Champions League is pretty hard to take for a team that actually went all the way to the finals last season. But to crash out of all domestic cup competition in 11 days is pure heartbreaking.

The way they lost to PSV sums up their problems this season. Over-elaborating of plays and just like Liverpool, failure to put the final sword stroke. It's already an uphill task considering that pretty ridiculous defeat at Eindhoven a fortnight ago. Now with talisman, Thierry Henry, rumoured to be out for a couple of weeks, where will the Gunners go from here?

Is Wenger going to be oh so stubborn and stick to his 'beautiful football' philosophy? Or doing something pragmatic and get the right results?


French Champion Stunned

Lyon were in the driving seat after holding Roma at the Stadio Olimpico 2 weeks ago. They're always touted to be the black horse of the Champions League but never fulfilled their 'potential'. This time round, it was the Romans who dashed Gerard Houllier's dream. The Frenchman plotted their downfall back in 2001 with Liverpool and seemed like the men from the eternal city have gotten their revenge.

Especially with goal like this:



Milan Breaks Celtic Hearts

It took a brilliant individual goal from Brazilian, Kaka, to seal the win for the Rosseneri. Celtic did well to hold out for a draw at Celtic Park and they're undaunted by the former champions of Europe even at the intimidating San Siro. Goalkeeper, Arthur Boruc, put up a fine display and thwarted Milan's effort.

But when the magician weaves his magic, who's going to stop him?



Real Falters. Capello Under Pressure

Now, the Galacticos' policy of changing a manager every year seemed to be underway again after last night's result. How absurd was it to concede a goal 10 seconds into the game? Used to be known as one of the best left backs in the world, Roberto Carlos' first touch of a rapist let Hasan Salihamidzic intercept before placing the ball through the static Real defence and Roy Makaay to slam home.

As usual, Real Madrid's defence were again not present last night. Only Casillas bothered to turn up and the rest, like I've always said in a sarcastic tone, were scare crows.

Larsson Delight For United

His last game for United before moving back to his beloved Helsingborg, Henrik Larsson provided cheers for the United fans as they triumphed over the whiny French side, Lille, to advance to the next round. Nothing really interesting happened but I was quite amused to see how Mikael Silvestre got injured.

He headbutted the ground. Well, not so much of a loss, eh?


Portugese Provided Scare For Mourinho


His post match interview sounded as if he was the one who scored the winner for them. Self-important as usual, the man was nearly undone by a surprisingly good Porto side. Robben provided the equaliser after Ricardo Quaresma scored for Porto. Ballack was on hand to finish off the job with a brilliant 'volleyball' move.





Ugly News, Right At The Back

I've decided not to comment on anything Valencia and Inter after what happened post game. Just know that Valencia went through. Period.

Last 8:

LIVERPOOL (Eng)
Man Utd (Eng)
Chelsea (Eng)
AC Milan (Ita)
Roma (Ita)
PSV Eindhoven (Hol)
Bayern Munich (Ger)
Valencia (Esp)

Stay tune!

Reds Top Group After 2-0 Win

But Hit By Triple Injury Woes

UEFA Champions League

LIVERPOOL 2 - 0 PSV Eindhoven

Scorers:
LIV - Gerrard (65min), Crouch (89min);

1-0 Gerrard:



2-0 Crouch:

Our dear cable provider decided to show the match late (6am in the morning, dude) and I was sick for couple of days already. The medicine made me drowsy and couldn't wake up for the live streaming. Whatever it is, I'm still here to type something at least for a show and to express my pleasure of seeing our beloved Reds finally scoring again after such a long time. It felt like years since we scored, eh.

So Liverpool now top Group C with 14 points with Dutch counterpart PSV Eindhoven joining us in the Knock-out round or the Last 16. It was a fairly meaningless match but Liverpool wanted to claim the top spot in order to sort of draw the team that finish second elsewhere. It might NOT be an easy team, but the plus point is of course we get to play at Anfield for the second leg.

Steven Gerrard impacted the game from the middle of the park and drew praise from Rafa and Ronald Koeman. The injury to Alonso now makes it more obvious that Gerrard will now play a more central role in weeks to come. Peter Crouch then left it late with a header which ensures all 3 points for the home side.

The victory was marred by injuries. Terrible luck. Mark Gonzalez was rumoured to came off the worst with torn hamstring while Xabi Alonso and Jermaine Pennant were carried off the pitch as well.

So what will Rafa do now? Of course I believe the squad depth is there and there's always possibilities, like what Rafa always said. The reasonable change will be Warnock at left back, pushing Riise on to left midfield. Zenden will get an automatic place alongside Gerrard while Garcia will be on the right.

But who knows. Rafa might spring a surprise like calling up Paul Anderson to the right or even Lee Peltier and then Finnan to play at the right wing slot. Now Rafa will have the little liberty to reshuffle his pack without getting bombarded with the reason being injury.

I hope that the injuries aren't too serious and will not have an adverse effect on our already very disappointing Premiership campaign. With Sissoko already out till the new year, the central midfield area is just about enough to cover and hopefully, Xabi won't be out for too long.

This is certainly a morale boosting victory which is hard earned and I think we deserve it after toiling and trying so hard against Boro over the weekends. Goals will come when confidence is back up and may the spirit of Istanbul/Cardiff live on.

We might be far off pace from the Premiership. But seriously, who knows what will happen?


Other Results:
Bordeaux 3-1 Galatasaray
Levski Sofia 0-2 Barcelona
Werder Bremen 1-0 Chelsea
Inter 1-0 Sporting
Shaktar 1-0 Roma
Valencia 2-0 Olympiakos
Spartak 2-2 Bayern Munich

Thanks to GettyImages for the pictures