By Arun Nair – (@Nair_39)
Brendan Rodgers returned to face his old side Swansea at the Liberty Stadium but saw his Liverpool side frustrated with the match ending goalless. Jose Enrique had a goal ruled out for offside and Raheem Sterling hit the bar as the Reds were forced to leave Wales with just a point for their efforts.
The result extended Liverpool’s unbeaten run in the league to 8 games, but with just 3 of those games resulting in victories, Rodgers will be hoping that his side can discard their customary profligacy that has resulted in points dropped despite otherwise good performances.
Rodgers was given a mixed reception against his old club, with some jeers audible amongst applause, whilst the pre-match controversy between Swans skipper Ashley Williams and Luis Suarez, concerning the comments about the latter by Williams explaining why he’d like to ‘knock him out’, was seemingly forgotten as the opposing duo smiled and shook hands.
The away side had to withstand some early Swansea pressure. Jose Reina had to be alert to push Wayne Routledge’s shot behind before Pablo Hernandez curled wide.
Liverpool had the better of the first half chances however. Sterling crashed a fierce volley into the crossbar after a corner was only half cleared, before Gerhard Tremmel denied Glen Johnson after the latter was sent through on goal.
The Reds thought they had grabbed the opener but Enrique was marginally offside when he turned in a Suarez cross.
The second half was similar to the first as both sides tried to penetrate the opposition rearguard. Williams come close to a breakthrough, the defender seeing his header from a corner cleared off the line by former teammate Joe Allen. Suarez was thwarted by Tremmel, before Reina rescued Stewart Downing after he was robbed by Nathan Dyer, with the keeper requiring treatment after making a brave challenge to deny the Swansea winger.
Hernandez drew a fine save from Reina with a free kick, but Liverpool ended the game the stronger. A swift counter saw Sterling and Suarez advance 2 against 1 but the former’s pass was poor, before sub Jonjo Shelvey tested Tremmel from range. The Reds continued to search for a late winner, but their efforts were ultimately in vain.