Five Favourite Wins Against - Man Utd away

Continuing the series where I look back at my five favourite wins the Liverpool’s next opponents.  This weekend Liverpool travel to Old Trafford for one of the biggest fixtures in British football to meet Manchester United and here are my five favourite wins from past encounters.

26^th December 1978

MAN UTD   (0)   0

LIVERPOOL   (2)   3   (Kennedy R 5, Case 25, Fairclough 67)

MAN UTD: Bailey; Greenhoff B, Buchan, McQueen, Connell; Coppell, McIlroy, Thomas; Greenhoff J, Ritchie, Macari

LIVERPOOL: Clemence; Neal, Thompson, Hansen, Hughes; Case, McDermott, Souness, Kennedy R; Fairclough, Dalglish

Boxing Day 1978 and Liverpool were top of the table, a point ahead of Everton.  Liverpool had been denied a hat-trick of League titles by Nottingham Forest the year before, and were determined to fight back.  This was their record breaking season and they were especially impressive in defence.  Man United were back in 7^th and managed by Dave Sexton, whose QPR side had run Liverpool close to the title in 1976.

Liverpool had actually hit a bit of a rough patch with 2 defeats in their last 3 matches, against Arsenal and, surprisingly, Bristol City.  Those disappointments were sandwiched between a 2-0 win over Champions, Nottingham Forest.  United had just lost at Bolton, ending a run of 3 straight wins.

The home side were off to a great start when Ray Kennedy opened the scoring after just 5 minutes.  Kennedy won goal of the season for his excellent strike against Derby and this season was his best ever in the League for Liverpool.  Midway through the first half and Jimmy Case made it 2-0.

Liverpool were in complete control in the game as United struggled to find any sort of grip on the game.  Their dominance was underlined when David Fairclough scored the 3^rd goal.  He only managed to net twice that season as he struggled to find a place in an increasingly dominant side who swept all before them.  The result was rarely in doubt and it was the start of a run where Liverpool would win 16 of their final 22 matches, losing only once.  They won the title by 8pts from Forest with United back in 9^th.  United did get their own back in beating Liverpool in the FA Cup Semi-Final after a replay.

In the United side this day was a young Northern Irish defender, Tom Connell.  He’d made his debut in the Bolton defeat, where United lost 0-3.  Three days later he retained his place for another 0-3 defeat and was never seen again.

7^th April 1982

MAN UTD   (0)   0

LIVERPOOL   (0)   1   (Johnston 63)

MAN UTD: Bailey; Duxbury, Moran (Grimes), Buchan, Albiston; Coppell, Robson, Moses, Wilkins; McGarvey, Stapleton

LIVERPOOL: Grobbelaar; Neal, Thompson, Lawrenson, Kennedy A; Lee, Johnston, Souness (McDermott), Whelan; Rush, Dalglish

As with the 1978-79 match Liverpool arrived at Old Trafford in a season where they were determined to win their League title back having lost it to Aston Villa the season before.  They were in great form too, having won their last 5 matches.  They were top of the table, ahead of Ipswich on goal difference with 11 games to go.  United were in 5^th, 5pts off the lead.

Seven minutes into the game and United were awarded a penalty.  Frank Stapleton stepped up to take it but Bruce Grobbelaar saved it.  This endeared the Zimbabwean to many Liverpool fans early on in his career and years later Bruce explained how it came about.

“I was sitting in the dressing room reading the programme.  In there was a sequence of photographs of where Frank Stapleton put his last home penalty.  I took this on board and I thought nothing of it.  Sure enough they got a penalty.  There goes Mr. Frank Stapleton to take the penalty.  I shimmied the opposite way and then I went the way they showed me in the book and I managed to save the penalty.”

This was Grobbelaar’s first season and he’d struggled for the first 4-5 months but a ‘gentle’ word from Bob Paisley turned things round after Liverpool were 12^th at Christmas.  After a Boxing Day defeat at home to Manchester City they lost just once more that season.

In the second half Craig Johnston broke the deadlock with what proved to be the only goal of the game.  It was a crucial victory as Ipswich were being held at Sunderland on the same night.  Things got even better three days later as Johnston was again on the scoresheet as they thumped Manchester City, 5-0 as a Glenn Hoddle goal gave Tottenham a win against Ipswich.  Liverpool were 5pts clear at the top and never looked back.

Liverpool won their 13^th title and the 5^th under Bob Paisley in 8 years.  United finished 3^rd but were 9pts behind the winners.  Liverpool also won the League Cup beating Tottenham 3-1.

18^th March 1990

MAN UTD   (0)   1   (Whelan og 83)

LIVERPOOL   (1)   2   (Barnes 15, pen 55)

MAN UTD: Leighton; Anderson (Duxbury), Bruce, Pallister, Phelan; Blackmore, Phelan, Ince; Wallace (Beardsmore), McClair, Hughes

LIVERPOOL: Grobbelaar; Venison, Hansen, Hysen, Staunton; Houghton, McMahon, Whelan; Beardsley, Rush, Barnes

)

Liverpool travelled to Old Trafford in 1990 on an unbeaten run of 12 matches but still 5pts behind leaders Aston Villa.  United were struggling down in 16^th, just 2pts above the drop-zone.  They won just 2 of their past 15 matches and things were decidedly unsettled around Old Trafford.

Despite their dominance during the 1980’s it had been eight years since Liverpool last won at Old Trafford and United had lost only 2 of their previous 20 League games against Liverpool.

United could’ve taken an early lead but for Steve Staunton’s excellent interception when McClair looked to have a free shot on goal.  But Liverpool were soon into their stride and 15 minutes in they had made the breakthrough.  Venison dispossessed Martin, fed Houghton who then drilled his pass to Beardsley.  The diminutive Beardsley, ever industrious, then instinctively found Barnes marauding his way down the left.  Barnes ran most of the United half unchallenged before sliding the ball under Jim Leighton.  It was a goal of simplicity made possible by players who just knew where each other would be at any given time.

United then had a couple of chances to equalise but the visitors always looked the more likely to score.  Then early in the second half Liverpool pounced on some sloppy United passing and Houghton played the ball forward to Beardsley, just outside the United area.  McMahon was also involved in the play which saw Viv Anderson’s clumsy attempt to halt Rush’s progress bring about a penalty.  John Barnes stepped up and sent Leighton the wrong way for a 2-goal lead.

The second half then slipped into a pattern of Liverpool creating, then spurning, several chances but they looked comfortable for a victory until the game took a rather odd turn which brought about a much more tense finish than the previous 80 minutes had promised.  Bruce played a long ball from the back but Hysen got up to nod the ball down where it fell to Ronnie Whelan, about 25 yards from his own goal.  Whilst facing his own goal, Whelan presumably intended to play the ball back to Grobbelaar to take the sting out of the attack but unbelievably he met the ball on the half-volley and it looped over the Liverpool keeper for a shock goal.

It was one of the strangest own-goals and possibly one of the longest and it brought about a strange period when Liverpool seemed slightly uncertain of their own ability to see the game out.  They did, though, and moved to within 2pts of Villa and still a game in hand.

Both Liverpool and United were expected to meet in the FA Cup Final too, as they were both in the Semi-Finals by this stage, but Liverpool were beaten in a dramatic Semi-Final by Crystal Palace, who themselves were minutes from beating United in the Final.  Had they done that, then the next 23 years could have been completely different.

Liverpool won the title by 9pts from Aston Villa and just missed out on another double by losing the FA Cup Semi-Final.  United finished in 13^th, just 5pts from relegation, but won the FA Cup in a replay against Crystal Palace.

17^th December 2000

MAN UTD   (0)   0

LIVERPOOL   (1)   1   (Murphy 43)

MAN UTD: Barthez; Neville G, Brown, Silvestre, Irwin (Chadwick); Beckham, Butt (Greening), Keane, Scholes, Giggs; Solskjaer

LIVERPOOL: Westerveld; Babbel, Hyypia, Henchoz, Carragher; Gerrard, Murphy (McAllister), Biscan, Barmby; Heskey, Owen (Smicer)

)

When Liverpool arrived at Old Trafford just before Christmas 2000, they were lying in 6^th having already lost 6 of their 17 matches.  United were top of the table, having lost just once, at Arsenal, and had picked up 25pts from a possible 28pts since then.

At this stage, Liverpool hadn’t won at Old Trafford since 1990, when they last won the League, and had not beaten United home or away in the Premier League for five years.  During this match they displayed defensive qualities which had been absent on numerous occasions that season.  Gerrard was immense in midfield, well supported by Biscan.  United seemed complacent, possibly underestimating their opponents.

The game turned just before half-time.  In fact, it wasn’t until the 42^nd minute that Liverpool had their first meaningful chance on goal when Scholes cleared off the line from Heskey.  A minute later Gary Neville inexplicably chose to punch the ball just outside his own area and Liverpool were awarded a penalty.  Danny Murphy stepped up and curled it perfectly into the top right-hand corner of the net leaving Barthez stranded.

Liverpool were able to defend their lead throughout the second half by a combination of working extremely hard as well as the confusion around United’s attacking options.  Ferguson had started with Scholes playing off Solskjaer but then changed that to move Giggs there, but neither combination bore fruit.  Without Cole, Yorke or Sheringham they were fairly impotent but nothing should be taken away from the effort put in by the visitors.  Liverpool’s previous league game had been a home defeat to Ipswich for which Houllier received strong criticism.  But now the Frenchman received deserved praise for his tactics.  Ferguson’s attacking plight was summed up when he brought on two youngsters, Greening and Chadwick, only to see the latter get sent-off in the last minute.  It was the first time a United player had been sent-off at Old Trafford since April 1998.

In this series I have tended to mostly enjoy games where Liverpool has crushed their opponents in a shower of goals, but this victory was special as it ended the long unbeaten home record of United.  As the Liverpool Echo put it -  “After 3,240 minutes, 296 fouls, 28 bookings and 133 goals, United lose at Old Trafford”.

Liverpool were up to 5^th and when they beat Arsenal the following week were now just 2pts off 2^nd place.  They ended the season 3^rd in the League as United won the title, but Liverpool pulled off a unique treble by winning the FA Cup, League Cup and UEFA Cup.

14^th March 2009

MAN UTD   (1)   1   (Ronaldo pen 23)

LIVERPOOL   (2)   4  (Torres 28, Gerrard pen 44, Aurelio 77, Dossena 90)

MAN UTD: van der Sar; O’Shea, Ferdinand, Vidic, Evra; Anderson (Berbatov), Carrick (Scholes), Park (Giggs); Ronaldo, Rooney, Tevez

LIVERPOOL: Reina; Skrtel, Hyypia, Carragher, Aurelio; Gerrard (El Zhar), Lucas, Mascherano, Riera (Dossena); Kuyt, Torres (Babel)

)

A truly memorable day for many a Liverpool fan.  Rafa Benitez had enjoyed success in the tactical battle against Alex Ferguson before, but this was a day when they just ground their opponents into the dirt.  This was United’s biggest league defeat for 17 years and one which saw their acclaimed boss running scared of the post-match interviews.

Liverpool came into the game with just 1 defeat in their last 17 matches, and were 3^rd in the table level on points with Chelsea and 7pts behind the leader, United.  United had won 11 straight matches coming into this one and were unbeaten in their last 16.  It had been over a year since United fans saw their side beaten at home and their hopes of continued success seemed boosted as Liverpool’s plans were thrown into chaos just before kick-off when Arbeloa withdrew through injury.

23 minutes into the game and Ji-Sung Park was put through by Tevez into the area and as he pushed the ball passed Reina, he made sure he left a trailing leg for Reina to slide into and the referee, Alan Wiley, had no hesitation in signalling for a penalty.  Cristiano Ronaldo made no mistake from the spot and United were in front. 

This season United had gone from mid-November to mid-February without conceding a goal in the league, and so were expecting to maintain their lead.

Five minutes later and with the ball in Liverpool’s right hand corner of their half, Martin Skrtel launched a ball forward where Torres was marked by both Ferdinand and Vidic.  Vidic made the cardinal error of letting the ball bounce and this allowed Torres to nick the ball off him and as van der Sar came out, Torres just dinked the ball over him for the equaliser.

As half-time approached Torres threaded a ball through for Gerrard to run onto and he had the better of Patrice Evra whose late challenge brought down the Liverpool captain and Wiley signalled to the spot again.  Gerrard stepped up to take it and beat van der Sar to give the visitors a half-time lead.

In the second half United came at Liverpool and Ronaldo hit the post with a cross, then Tevez just failed to turn the ball into the net but things soon turned sour as Vidic hauled down Gerrard.  Ferguson had just completely changed his midfield by using all three subs and now Vidic was sent-off for a desperate challenge when adjudged to be the last man.  Once everything had died down and the home players got used to one of theirs being sent-off at home, Fabio Aurelio stepped up and calmly curled the ball inside van der Sar’s near post.  Liverpool were 3-1 up and only the second side to score at least 3 goals against United since Chelsea almost three years previously.

Gerrard then blasted the ball over the bar from 10 yards out but as the final whistle loomed, Reina’s goal-kick bounced all the way through to the edge of the United box and Dossena, a second half substitute for Riera, lobbed the ball over van der Sar.  Old Trafford was already emptying out before the 4^th goal went in but the travelling Liverpool fans were having the time of their life.

For Liverpool, this game was one of 11 wins from their final 12 matches but they were still 4pts short of Champions, United.

Extra

1^st October 1995

)

This wasn’t a victory but contained two unforgettable goals from Robbie Fowler.  United fans may point to the return of Eric Cantona after his lengthy ban for attacking a supporter, but for many of us Fowler’s 2^nd goal where he barges Gary Neville out of the way before deftly chipping Schmeichel, with live long in the memory.

HEAD TO HEAD at Old Trafford

Matches: 80

Liverpool win: 15

Man Utd win: 40

Draws: 25

Liverpool goals: 78

Man Utd goals: 144

FA Cup Replay Marathon

It was the longest FA Cup Semi-Final tie in history, lasting for an incredible four matches.  The season is 1979-1980 and Arsenal were the defending Cup holders having beaten Manchester United in an exciting Final the year before.  There was the prospect of the first ever all-Merseyside Final as both Liverpool and Everton had made it this far, and were drawn apart too.  Current League Champions and league leaders, Liverpool were up against Arsenal, who were also chasing a place in the European Cup Winners’ Cup Final having come up against Juventus at the Semi-Final stage.  In the other Semi, Everton would meet West Ham, then a Second Division side.

Liverpool had reached this round beating Grimsby, Nottingham Forest, Bury and Tottenham without conceding a goal.  Arsenal had negotiated their way past Cardiff, Brighton, Bolton and Watford, needing replays against Cardiff and Bolton to progress.  These two had already met in the Charity Shield when Liverpool put on a brilliant performance to win 3-1.  The two then played out a goalless draw at Highbury in November.  That was the precursor to what was to follow.

For Arsenal the FA Cup Semi-Final in April 1980 was their 57^th match of the season with Liverpool embarking on their 52^nd match.  The first meeting was at Hillsborough in front of over 50,000 fans.  It was a tight-tense affair where neither side played particularly well or dealt with the pressure of the occasion, and it was a drab goalless draw.

Back in those days replays came along three days later and so the whole circus moved to Villa Park on the following Wednesday where David Fairclough put Liverpool in front shortly after half-time.  But just over 10 minutes later his goal was cancelled out by Alan Sunderland.  After another period of extra time the two couldn’t be separated and would now go to a Third Replay again at Villa Park.

As if this marathon cup tie wasn’t enough the two clubs broke off from their FA Cup exploits to play a league match at Anfield.  Kenny Dalglish opened the scoring early in the first half but Brian Talbot equalised to force yet another draw.  The following Wednesday saw Arsenal pull off a famous victory over Juventus in Turin when substitute Paul Vaessen scored a late winner.  In the League Liverpool extended their lead at the top of the table with a win over Stoke City.  Both clubs then suffered draws in league games at the weekend, before they were back to lock horns at Villa Park on the Monday.

Fixtures were coming thick and fast, as they often did in those days.  Nearly 43,000 packed into Villa Park where just before the game began a fan ran onto the pitch, pulled his trousers down and bared his bum.  This was all forgotten pretty soon as Alan Sunderland scored the fastest goal in a Semi-Final.  It was timed at 13 seconds and was the first time Arsenal had been in front in the tie.  The Gunners remained in front deep into injury time and then Kenny Dalglish grabbed a dramatic equaliser for force yet another period of extra time.  Neither side could find a breakthrough so they would meet again on Thursday.

Highfield Road, Coventry was chosen for the venue of the Third Replay.  Coventry had just played Aston Villa there on the Tuesday and remarkably two days later, Liverpool and Arsenal turned up to try and settle this Semi-Final.  West Ham had long since booked their place in the Final after beating Everton late in extra time in their replay.  The whole country was gripped with the drama of this never-ending story, and already there were discussions over various ways settle the tie.

Brian Talbot put Arsenal in front after 11 minutes and this time they managed to hang on.  Both the two sides and the country were physically drained, and it had been a marathon never to be seen again.  These days the tie would be settled on the day with a penalty shootout and other rounds just go to the one replay.  What foreign managers would’ve made of this tussle is uncertain but you cannot imagine them putting up with it for very long.

Two days later Liverpool travelled back to Anfield and beat Aston Villa, 4-1 to retain their League title.  Arsenal, on the other hand, remained in Coventry as they had a league match at Highfield Road on the Saturday and won 1-0.  It was Coventry’s final match of the season, yet Arsenal still had three more to play as well as two Cup Finals.  The following Monday they drew at home to Nottingham Forest and then had just 5 days to prepare for the FA Cup Final against West Ham.  They were beaten by a Trevor Brooking goal and then four days later were beaten in a penalty shootout by Valencia in the European Cup-Winners’ Cup Final when Graham Rix’s final penalty was saved.

By the time the seaon had finished Arsenal had played 27 cup ties to go with their 42 league matches and a Charity Shield game.  An incredible 70 games and not a trophy in sight.  In comparison, Liverpool had played 60 and Nottingham Forest played 65 but both had trophies to remind them of their exploits.

Saturday 12^th April 1980, Hillsborough, Sheffield.  50,174

FA Cup Semi-Final

LIVERPOOL   (0)   0

ARSENAL   (0)   0

LIVERPOOL : Clemence; Neal, Thompson, Hansen, Irwin; Case (Fairclough), Lee, Souness, R.Kennedy; Johnson, Dalglish

ARSENAL : Jennings; Rice, O’Leary, Young, Nelson (Walford); Price, Talbot, Brady, Rix; Stapleton, Sunderland

Wednesday 16^th April 1980, Villa Park, Birmingham. 40,679

FA Cup Semi-Final, Replay

ARSENAL   (0)   1   (Sunderland 62)

LIVERPOOL   (0)   1   (Fairclough 51)

LIVERPOOL : Clemence; Neal, Thompson, Hansen, Irwin; Lee, Souness, R.Kennedy; Johnson, Fairclough, Dalglish

ARSENAL : Jennings; Rice, O’Leary, Young, Walford; Price, Talbot, Brady, Rix; Stapleton, Sunderland

Monday 28^th April 1980, Villa Park, Birmingham. 42,975

FA Cup Semi-Final, 2^nd Replay

LIVERPOOL   (0)   1   (Dalglish 90)

ARSENAL   (1)   1   (Sunderland 1)

LIVERPOOL : Clemence; Neal, Thompson, Hansen, A.Kennedy (Fairclough); Lee, McDermott, Souness, R.Kennedy; Johnson, Dalglish

ARSENAL : Jennings; Rice, O’Leary, Young, Devine; Price, Talbot, Brady, Rix; Stapleton, Sunderland

Thursday 1^st May 1980, Highfield Road, Coventry. 35,335

FA Cup Semi-Final, 3^rd Replay

ARSENAL   (1)   1   (Talbot 11)

LIVERPOOL   (0)   0

LIVERPOOL : Clemence; Neal, Thompson, Hansen, Cohen; Lee, McDermott, Souness, R.Kennedy; Johnson (Fairclough), Dalglish

ARSENAL : Jennings; Rice, O’Leary, Young, Devine; Price, Talbot, Brady, Rix; Stapleton, Sunderland

Favourite Wins Against - Fulham away

Continuing the series where I look back at my five favourite wins the Liverpool’s next opponents.  Midweek fixtures this week sees Liverpool travel to Craven Cottage to meet Fulham and here are my five favourite wins from past encounters.

There have not really been enough meetings in the League to make up a Famous Five, so this just covers three of my favourite wins.

16^th October 2004

FULHAM   (2)   2   (Boa Morte 24, 30)

LIVERPOOL   (0)   4   (Knight og 50, Baros 71, Alonso 79, Biscan 90)

FULHAM: van der Sar; Volz, Bocanegra, Green, Knight; Pembridge, Diop, Malbranque; Radzinski (John), McBride, Boa Morte

LIVERPOOL: Kirkland; Josemi, Hyypia, Carragher, Traore; Garcia (Warnock), Hamann, Diao (Alonso), Riise; Baros (Biscan) Cisse

Two months into Rafa Benitez new regime at Liverpool and they were still waiting for their first away win.  In fact, they’d lost their last three on the road and so were desperate to get things up and running.  Fulham were down in 12^th having won just twice all season, but were on a run 1 win in their last 6.

Midway through the first half and Pembridge’s pass into the area found McBride in some space and his ball across the goal was turned in by Luis Boa Morte.  Barely six minutes later and Fulham were again on the attack as Boa Morte was played in and his low shot beat Kirkland at his near post.  Fulham were rampant and went in at the break still 2 goals up.

But as we were soon to discover, Benitez had the knack of changing things at half-time and Liverpool came out a different side in the second half.  Baros shot from 30 yards out was deflected sharply by Zat Knight and it looped over van der Sar for a goal back.  With 20 minutes to go Xabi Alonso on the left-wing floated a ball right-footed into the area where Luis Garcia’s header was saved by the Fulham keeper.  The ball bounced back out and Milan Baros was first to it to bundle it over the line for the equaliser.  Eight minutes later and Liverpool had a free-kick just outside the area.  Xabi Alonso took it and the Spaniard gave Liverpool fans a glimpse of what they would become used to as he floated a superb free-kick over the wall and past van der Sar.

The comeback was complete as the visitors were now in front and as the game reached the end, and the home side pushing men up, Liverpool came forward to finish things off.  Warnock played a square ball to Biscan on the edge of the area and his first time shot fired into the top corner to complete a fine win from a losing position.

Liverpool finished 5^th in the League and won their 5^th European Cup with a famous victory over Milan in Istanbul.  Fulham finished 13^th.

9^th May 2011

FULHAM   (0)   2   (Dembele 57, Sidwell 86)

LIVERPOOL   (3)   5   (Maxi 1, 7, 70, Kuyt 16, Suarez 75)

FULHAM: Schwarzer; Salcido, Hughes, Baird, Hangeland; Sidwell, Murphy, Dempsey, Davies (Zamora); Gudjohnsen (Johnson), Dembele (Kakuta)

LIVERPOOL: Reina; Johnson, Skrtel, Carragher, Flanagan; Spearing, Meireles (Shelvey), Lucas, Maxi (Cole); Kuyt, Suarez

Five months into Kenny Dalglish’s 2^nd reign as manager and Liverpool were in good form.  Wins over Manchester City (3-0), Birmingham (5-0) and Newcastle (3-0) had seen them rise from 12^th at Christmas to 6^th coming into this match.  Fulham were 10^th, although 10pts behind their opponents on this night. 

Just over 25,000 watched Liverpool, on a warm early summer Monday night, make a stunning start.  Fulham kicked off and played a long ball forward which Flanagan cut out and eventually the ball fell to Lucas midway through inside his own half.  With Suarez on the left wing, Lucas threads a perfectly weighted ball beyond the Fulham defence and Suarez was away.  He gets all the way to the edge of the 6-yard box and plays the ball across the area where Fulham make a real hash of defending it. The ball runs free to Maxi Rodriguez who fires a low shot into the net.  Barely 30 seconds into the game and it was a dream start. 

Fulham had hardly a chance to find their feet when Johnson was put away down the right and his cross to the far post was fired in by Maxi for his 2^nd goal.  Seven minutes into the game and Liverpool lead 2-0.  Ten minutes later and Maxi was again involved in a sweeping move from left to right, where Meireles found Kuyt.  His progress was halted but Johnson was first to the ball and he played Kuyt back in and from a tight-angle Kuyt beats Schwarzer on the near post.  Sixteen minutes gone and now they were 3 goals up and the game was gone.  The home side, then managed by Mark Hughes, were stunned and never recovered.

During the second half, which predictably lacked the intensity of the first, Fulham got a goal back after a slick passing move saw Dembele slide the ball in from the edge of the area, but the celebrations were muted.  With 20 minutes to go, the visitors restored their 3-goal advantage as Flanagan intercepted a crossfield pass and set off.  He tried to play a one-two with Maxi, but when the Argentinian’s return pass was blocked, Maxi took the ball on himself and from 25 yards hit a screamer into the top right corner of the net to complete his hat-trick.  He’d scored a hat-trick in the Birmingham game and grabbed a goal in the win against Newcastle, and to everyone’s amazement the Argentine had finally come alive.  But Liverpool weren’t finished as they stole the ball in midfield and Shelvey surged forward.  He played a lovely through-ball for Suarez to round the keeper and slip the ball home for Liverpool’s 5^th.

Sidwell hit a real screamer from outside the area to get another consolation goal but Liverpool were comfortable winners.  They finished the season in 6^th with Fulham just two places below them.

12^th May 2013

FULHAM   (1)   1   (Berbatov 33)

LIVERPOOL   (1)   3   (Sturridge 36, 62, 85)

FULHAM: Schwarzer; Riether, Hangeland, Hughes, Richardson (Emanuelson); Duff, Karagounis (Riise), Enoh, Kacaniklic (Petric); Ruiz, Berbatov

LIVERPOOL: Reina; Wisdom (Enrique), Coates, Carragher; Johnson, Henderson, Lucas; Shelvey (Borini), Downing; Coutinho (Coady), Sturridge

The penultimate game of the season for both these sides and Liverpool were sitting in 7^th with Fulham down in 12^th.  Since beating QPR at the beginning of April, Fulham had suffered an alarming drop in form with no win in their last 6 and picking up just 1pt.  Liverpool were unbeaten in their last 6 and this was their 3^rd game without Luis Suarez, but they had coped well since his ban with a 6-0 win at Newcastle.

Fulham took the lead when Berbatov headed in a right-wing cross from Riether after 33 minutes.  It was a poor goal to concede as Berbatov was unchallenged despite standing between Wisdom and Coates.  But Liverpool were soon back level when Daniel Sturridge ran onto a ball from the back by Wisdom.  He twisted and turned, giving Aaron Hughes a torrid time, and then fired right-footed past Schwarzer.  The two sides were still level going into the break.

In the second half it was Liverpool who looked the more likely to score next but it took until the 62^nd minute for them to take the lead.  Another long ball forward which Fulham again struggled to defend and Coutinho’s shot was half-stopped and the ball ran to Sturridge where the striker made no mistake as he slipped the ball past Schwarzer for his 2^nd.

Then with just 5 minutes to go Liverpool completed the victory when they counter-attacked again with a precision and incisiveness we’ve come accustomed to this season.  Coutinho was inevitably involved as he continued to pull the strings in midfield.  From the centre circle he played a beautiful ball with the outside of his right foot for Sturridge to run onto, and he got there before Schwarzer and clipped the ball over the keeper for a wonderful hat-trick.  It was Sturridge’s 5^th goal in the 3 matches since Suarez was banned and Liverpool were finishing the season on a high enabling them to go into the following one with great optimism.

HEAD TO HEAD at Craven Cottage/Loftus Road

Matches: 28

Liverpool win: 13

Fulham win: 9

Draws: 6

Liverpool goals: 43

Fulham goals: 36