Liverpool climbed back up to fourth place in the Premier League table. After an impressive 5-3 win over Stoke City .It was the Reds’ first ever league victory at the Britannia Stadium as they finally came out on top. Steven Gerrard played his 650th match for The Reds. A game that he will remember for a long time.
Liverpool started really well! The 0-1 on the scoreboard popped up after 4 minutes. Cissokho’s volley from Sterling’s cross took a wicked deflection off Shawcross and left 3rd choice goal stopper Butland helpless.
Liverpool continued to dominate. Gerrard and Henderson worked tirelessly as they pressed Stoke and forced them to cough up possession. Gerrand and Henderson made combined 6 tackles, 3 interceptions and 10 clearances.
Luis Suarez doubled the score just after the half hour mark. A long ball forward caused all kinds of problems for Stoke and Suarez made the most of confusion between Wilson, Shawcross and Butland to nip in and slide the ball home.
James Pearce said it earlier: “Liverpool were in a position of control but in the space of six minutes before the break they undid all their good work.”
Stoke managed to score two goals in six shocking minutes. First, Marko Arnautovic was given far too much time and space on the left-side of the field. He crossed the ball into the box, the cross found Crouch, who pulled away from Kolo Toure to guide a header past Mignolet. Toure should know better, you can’t give Crouch any space inside the box when a cross comes in. Then a few minutes before half time the Potters got back on level terms. Mignolet wasn’t able to save Adam’s shot.
The interval gave Liverpool the opportunity to regroup and that was exactly what Rodgers’s men needed. Liverpool started the second half as good as they started the first half. Sterling went down under the challenge of Wilson as he tried to round the Stoke defender. The Reds put themselves back in front as the Skipper calmly side-foots a sport-kick. It was Gerrard’s 34th successful penalty for Liverpool. He joined third on club’s all-time list alongside Billy Liddell.
Daniel Sturridge came on after 65 minutes and showed his class a few minutes later. He carried the ball forward and slipped a pass through to Suarez who found the far corner with a low, side-footed finish. Suarez scored his second of the game. He has now scored 22 Premier League goals this season. A chance conversion rate of 29,3%.
That should have been game over but Jonathan Walters slipped a finish underneath Mignolet to set up an entertaining last 5 minutes. Each of Walter’s last three Premier League home goals have come against Liverpool.
Liverpool was not done yet! Daniel Sturridge blasted home at the second time of asking to re-establish a two-goal cushion for Liverpool with two minutes left. But Stoke didn’t give up. They were fighting for every ball and almost scored the 4-5 but Crouch hit the woodwork.
Liverpool will face Aston Villa at Anfield on Saturday. Kick-off time: 17:30.