A wonderful 6-0 win that sent a message to the rest of the EPL: Liverpool mean business. The first twenty minutes were quite evenly contested, with Derby doing well to close down every ball Liverpool had. Meanwhile, Liverpool did not have much creativity in attack, and quite often resorted to the long ball tactic - one that Hyypia was guilty of, and irks me - with such a strong midfield, why bypass it with the long ball up? The first goal was lucky, really. Alonso's free kick from 35 yards or so dipped over Kuyt, who was unable to get a touch, and Bywater was unable to keep it out, resulting in the goal. Derby were extremely unlucky to concede in that way, for they were very much in the match up until that point.
Just as I thought the first half would end, Agger played in a great pass that a Derby defender was unable to clear, allowing Arbeloa to get into the Derby penalty box. He did well to cut the ball back to Babel, who feinted past two colliding defenders and side-footed the ball into the net. It was a great goal, although Babel's overall performance was pretty poor. Seems like the youngster is quite a confidence player. Second half, Liverpool stepped up a gear, and the goals started flowing. Before the third goal, Alonso had an excellent chance to score the third when he found himself unmarked and with the ball just a few meters out. He somehow put the ball narrowly over, perhaps because it was slightly behind him.
After which, Mascherano capped an imperious performance in midfield with a display of anticipation, sliding in to dispossess the Derby defender, hitting the ball to Torres, who switched the ball to his left foot while evading two defenders, and seemingly rolling the ball into the bottom corner. It was his first goal in front of the Kop end, and it was a good one at that. Benayoun came on for the impressive Pennant, and got the ball in the penalty box, but took a little too long, and was dispossessed. Derby defenders and Benayoun looked to the referee, and Alonso was on hand to send the ball into the bottom corner from outside of the penalty box. Seems like he can never score from inside the box, eh?
Voronin then came on for Babel, interestingly. Derby had just sent in a fifth defender, and I expected Rafa to relax and wait the game out. After all, Liverpool were leading 4-0 at that point in time. However, he sent in a third striker to combat the five defenders, and it paid off almost immediately. Four minutes after coming on, Voronin poked the rebound from Kuyt's shot into the net. Liverpool completed the rout when Voronin hit the ball forwards, and the Derby defender did poorly to try and pass the ball to their keeper, allowing Torres to race on and hit the ball past Bywater before slotting it into an empty net.
That capped a brilliant performance by Liverpool, after struggling to break Derby County down earlier on. I especially enjoyed Rafa's tactics - sending on a third striker isn't something I see often from the usually cautious guy. However, I hope this change in him helps Liverpool to a better title challenge as well as success in other competitions... this season is going to be interesting.
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