Ratings and Reactions: Liverpool 2-2 Villa

[Ponky]

Yes it was all Guzan's fault because everyone in the known world knows that Suarez is a **** cheat.

[villa4europe]

 

Suárez touched the ball past Guzan from Steven Gerrard's inspired pass and the goalkeeper brought him down. That is what the referee decided in any case. Contact appeared to be minimal but the goalkeeper sold himself and Suárez knows what to do in those situations.

 

 

Guardian defending Suarez's dive.

 

 

that in my mind is everything thats wrong with it, suarez is clever, guzan was naive, nothing to see here

 

thats utter bullshit

 

but then again when you see "gerrards inspired pass" you know its going to be utter bullshit

[Mr_Dogg]

IF Guzan brushed Suarez or breathed on him or whatever (or any keeper vs striker) , even if there was some contact, it's not an automatic penalty, it's a contact sport. Drives me nuts, arrggghhhh

[GNeeUs]

It's a shame we didnt win that match but I guess a draw was fair.

I think we lost all our momentum when Gabby went off, he brings us something real special. I wish we didnt have so many injuries in defence because I think Bacuna would work well in KEA's position.

Thought Vlaar, Clark, Delph and Gabby were all fantastic. Also thought Bertrand and Holt played ok for debut's.

More of this please Villa....closing down, chasing, running and lots of passion. UTV!

[poitier]

I think it was a dive and shouldn't have been a pen, but charging in on the biggest diver in the league at the Kop end is still poor judgement in my opinion.

[supernova26]

Those always get given. Guzan has to get the ball really, if he doesn't then rightly or wrongly a penalty is the usual outcome. 

[Chap of Steel]

I think it was a dive and shouldn't have been a pen, but charging in on the biggest diver in the league at the Kop end is still poor judgement in my opinion.

 

What else could he have done?!

[Robbie09]

Predicted a Desmond before the game. Great first half and good to see Weimann grab a goal. Redknapp highlighted how well he played in negating Gerrard first half - hopefully some of his critics will cut him some slack.

 

Just hope Gabby is ok for the Boggies. Had he stayed on the pitch we would be talking about a victory now.

 

I thought KEA done ok first half, the midfield was competent.

 

Voted Vlaar but I think all the lads deserve credit tonight.

[Alpaywasawesome]

Technically, Rogers is right, Guzan's left arm did slightly brush Suarez's left boot .... 

 

So from every game from now on, we should just ask players to fall the in the box and make sure their boot lightly strokes the keeper on their way down .... 

 

[villa4europe]

 

shame i cant freeze frame it

 

 

so they are saying that guzan's belly clips his right leg? personally i still cant see it but look at the angle of his left foot when that apparently happens

 

yeah thats not a dive at all is it...

 

If you watch closely, in fact if you watch at all, you'll see that Guzan's arm is actually in front of his belly so surely it would have been his arm he hit?

 

Scumbag, that is all I can say about him.

 

 

yeah thats what i was expecting, guzan's left elbow to clip suarez's right leg, but when you see thats not the case and sky start saying the belly i thought yeah maybe, but i dont see that either

 

but like i said, either way its irrelevant, left foot at the point of "contact" he's turned it sideways, he's already left the ground and is going down before guzan is there

[AndyM3000]

Guzan should stay on his line but if he is going to come out its always going to be a pen with Suarez involved so make it worthwhile and completely nail the **** with a two footed challenge to the head.

Edited January 18, 2014 by AndyM3000

[briny_ear]

Great performance. Haven't enjoyed watching a Villa match so much for ages. Once Gabby went off you felt we had lost the chance to win it. Everyone is quite rightly saying Suarez dived but how naive was Guzan to give him the chance? Was actually really cross with Guzan. MOTM = Gabby.

Edited January 18, 2014 by briny_ear

[LordSepulchrave]

The problem with defending Suarez's action there, is that you are ostensibly saying that if a goalie wants to challenge a striker for the ball, the striker is within his right to go down regardless of actual contact.

 

It just isn't a precedent you want to set really.

[Jimzk5]

Utterly exasperating that every match report I've read basically translates to "plucky little villa grab unlikely point" with little to no mention of how well we actually played

[The_Steve]

That Guardian match report is laughable. Shocked that we can play well and mocks our away kit. Really? Grow up.

 

The fundamental problem with punditry and many sports journalists is there is inability to to challenge these obvious dives for fear of upsetting the big clubs. Rather than criticise Suarez, it's "well, what did you expect?", "silly Guzan", or "Suarez knows what to do in these situations". It's pathetic.

[villatillidie1980]

Great performance. Unlucky not to be 3-0 at half time. No pen for me, but as soon as Guzan was on the deck Suarez was going over. Gabby going off was massive, relived the pressure on their back line. Benteke's back. Vlaar is huge and Brad is one of the best keepers in the league IMO. Would have taken a point before the game.

[villa4europe]

liverpool dropped a couple of points against a surprisingly dynamic Aston Villa, though at least the home club's American owners saw a few goals and an entertaining game. Their team came back from two goals down to share the points on an evening that put some of the recent title talk around Anfield into perspective. It is true, as Brendan Rodgers keeps saying, that Liverpool still have to play most of the leading contenders at home, though evidently it is also the case that they cannot take results against sides lower down the table for granted.

Not realising that his side were about to sweep into a wholly unexpected two-goal lead, Paul Lambert had his head in his hands just 45 seconds into the game when Villa missed a great chance to open the scoring, Gabriel Agbonlahor latching on to Christian Benteke's flick but poking the ball wide in front of the Kop with only Simon Mignolet to beat. If that was a lucky escape for Liverpool, then luck evened itself out within a couple of minutes when Leandro Bacuna survived a penalty appeal after the ball clearly hit his arm following a corner.

Villa's away kit is every bit as hideous as purple and white quarters suggests, though the visitors did not come to Anfield as shrinking violets. They took the game to Liverpool in the early stages, getting forward in numbers and creating opportunities. Though Agbonlahor and Benteke both looked capable of causing problems for Kolo Touré and Martin Skrtel, all Villa had to show for a period of sustained pressure midway through the first half was an Ashley Westwood shot that Mignolet saved fairly easily. Villa kept knocking on the door, however, and the Kop goal had another let-off when Ciaran Clark struck the foot of Mignolet's post with a firm downward header from a corner.

With Liverpool struggling to get into their attacking stride, it was important for Villa to make their early superiority count. They took a deserved lead with a well-executed counterattack when Benteke and Agbonlahor again combined to get behind the home defence. Benteke sent Agbonlahor galloping beyond Touré into space on the left, and Andreas Weimann sprinted 80 yards to supply the far-post tap-in when the cross came along the goalline. There was a suspicion of offside because Weimann had got beyond the Liverpool defenders, though replays suggested he was not in front of his team-mate when the pass was released.

Brad Guzan made a save from Raheem Sterling as Liverpool attempted to get back on terms, and Bacuna was fortunate to get away with leading with his elbow in a challenge on Luis Suárez, but Villa's attacking adventure gained further reward when Mignolet and Skrtel got in each other's way and failed to deal with a routine Agbonlahor cross from the right to gift Benteke a straightforward header. The ball crossed the line almost apologetically, and, to make matters worse, Liverpool's next chance to reply fell to Aly Cissokho just before the interval, and the defender appears to have modelled his finishing technique on a Jason Puncheon penalty. Fortunately, Daniel Sturridge does know how to find the net and, when a neat touch from Jordan Henderson turned a Suárez pass into something more dangerous in stoppage time, the England striker beat Guzan with an angled shot to reduce the arrears.

Rodgers made a change at half-time, sensibly deciding that this was not the game to leave Lucas Leiva on the bench, and introducing the defensive midfielder at the expense of Philippe Coutinho. The elder Brazilian lasted 20 only minutes before he too made way for Joe Allen. Villa also made an enforced change a couple of minutes after the restart, Agbonlahor pulling up to allow Grant Holt the chance to make his debut. Scorer of a memorable goal here for Norwich though considered too portly to hold down a place at Wigan, Holt had the briefest of chances to make an immediate impression before Liverpool levelled the scores from the penalty spot.

Suárez touched the ball past Guzan from Steven Gerrard's inspired pass and the goalkeeper brought him down. That is what the referee decided in any case. Contact appeared to be minimal but the goalkeeper sold himself and Suárez knows what to do in those situations. Gerrard calmly stroked the ball into the bottom corner.

Suárez and Henderson had shots saved as Liverpool pressed for a winner, Suárez went close with a free-kick and Bacuna was booked for cheekily wasting time by presenting the ball to a member of the crowd. On this occasion, Suárez was unable to come to Liverpool's rescue; it happens sometimes. Neither side could produce enough urgency in the final half hour to deserve all three points. A draw was fair.

 

awful write up

 

liverpool dropped 2 points but a draw was fair

the comments about the kit

the comments about the 2nd goal

the 2 comments about bacuna but no suggestion that he was fouled on both incidents

the comment about weimann being offside, before saying in the next sentence he wasnt offside

not just sucking gerrard off but cupping his balls at the same time (inspired passing FFS)

 

i hate our journos at the best of times but thats piss poor

[VillaForever1970]

I assume some people are busy, either that or they only post when we lose! Odd.

Great performance, worked hard and didn't get thumped bonus!

Away form has always been mid table, it's the home form that's utter shite and keeps us close to the bottom.

[Caddy]

Gary Lineker @GaryLineker 3m
@sammatterface And we could have told them in 20 secs that it was not dive. Just stupid goalkeeping.

 

and there you have it folks. "stupid goalkeeping". how on earth can you whine about diving ruining the game and then turn around and actually try to justify it by implying that Suarez is well within his rights to simulate contact?

[Mantis]

That Guardian match report is laughable. Shocked that we can play well and mocks our away kit. Really? Grow up.

 

The fundamental problem with punditry and many sports journalists is there is inability to to challenge these obvious dives for fear of upsetting the big clubs. Rather than criticise Suarez, it's "well, what did you expect?", "silly Guzan", or "Suarez knows what to do in these situations". It's pathetic.

The Guardian is a dreadful newspaper. I expect no less from those cretins.