Liverpool Win Titanic Match Over Manchester City

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Today's match between Liverpool and Manchester City has been on the radar for some time now with title implications on the line.  Playing at Anfield, there were no surprises in the starting line-ups with both clubs putting their best eleven out for this crucial match.  Suarez, Sturridge, and Sterling headed the Liverpool attack while David Silva, Nasri, and Dzeko lead Manchester City.

Liverpool got off to a great start and had all the momentum in the opening stages of the game.  A pair of goals in the first-half had them in good position, for a time, as City struggled to get into the match.  First Raheem Sterling made a run behind defender Kompany and Suarez played a through-ball to put him in-on-goal.  Keeper Joe Hart came off his line in an attempt to intervene, but ended up in no-mans-land allowing Sterling to work enough space and bury the shot (6').

Yaya Touré was then forced to come out soon after the first goal with an injury.  While taking a shot from range, Toure injured his groin and could not continue.  Javi Garcia replaced him less than twenty minutes into the match.

Liverpool added a second goal from a set-piece later in the half to extend the lead.  Captain Gerrard delivered a corner-kick into the box and Martin Skrtel was at the near-post to attack the cross.  With a glancing header, Skrtel was able to sent the ball to the opposite post and find the side netting (26').

Manchester City eventually got into the match and gained a lot of momentum coming out in the second-half.  James Milner came on in place of Jesús Navas and the visitors started to take control of the match.  Shortly after coming on, Milner setup the first goal for City by rolling the ball into the path of David Silva who turned the shot into the net (57').  Moments later David Silva created another goal for City to level the score.  He intended to play a ball across the face of goal, but the pass came off defenders Glen Johnson and Sktrel causing a fortunate own-goal (62').

To make matters worse for Liverpool, Daniel Sturridge was force out with an injury and Joe Allen came on in his place.  But the Reds found an opening thanks to a mistake by Kompany in his own box.  The City captain scuffed a clearance and Coutinho pounced on the loose ball, smashing the shot home for the winning goal (78').

This win is the biggest of the season for Liverpool who extend their lead in the league table.  Chelsea reamin in second-place and City in third, though Manchester have played two fewer matches.  With only four matches left to play, Liverpool control their own fate and will need another strong performance when they play Chelsea in two weeks time.

Manchester City Avoid Upset By Fulham

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Manchester City have been on a good run since losing to Sunderland early in November.  Today at Craven Cottage, Manchester City continued their impressive run with a solid win against Fulham.  Fulham are without forward Berbatov who is injured and went with Adel Taarabt today at striker.  Similarly, City are without forward Agüero and played the tandem Edin Dzeko and
Álvaro Negredo in the attack.

Manchester City had the better start and scored two in the first-half.  A free-kick for Manchester City setup the first goal of the match coming from the edge of the penalty box.  Yaya Touré stepped up to take the shot and finished with a perfect strike that got over the wall and back down under the crossbar (23').

Later in the first-half captain Kompany added another goal for City with a second-chance effort.  Defender Demichelis won a header in Fulham's box that keeper Stekelenburg parried away.  However, the ball stayed in front of his goal and Kompany was ready for a tap-in finish (43').

Fulham were significantly better in the second-half and rallied to level the score.  Their first goal was initiated by Taarabt making a great run with the ball up the left flank.  Kieran Richardson made the run into the box and Taabart picked him out for an easy finish (50').

The home side then caught a lucky break that led to the equalizer.  Fulham fullback Riether got forward and delivered a cross into the box intended for John Arne Riise.  Kompany was in position to clear the cross, but the ball took an unlikely course off his foot and ended up as an own-goal (69').

Fortunately for Kompany the mistake did not cost City the match as two more goals were added to secure the win.  Substitutes Jesús Navas and James Milner each scored in the late minutes, bursting Fulham's bubble.  First Navas scored after Silva played a through-ball to put him behind the back line.  Navas finished with a firm strike that slipped between the legs of keeper Stekelenburg to retake the lead (78').

Then Milner scored the final goal moments after entering the match.  Negredo played a ball into the box that defender Hughes should have cleared.  However, Hughes whiffed his attempt allowing the ball to run to Milner waiting behind him for an easy finish (83').

Fulham have been rather disappointing this season and could find themselves in a relegation battle if their play does not improve.  Manchester City on the other hand are playing very well at the moment and could challenge Liverpool and Arsenal for the top spot in the weeks ahead.

Bayern Munich Bust, Manchester City Prevail

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The final round of the group stage in the Champions League started today with Manchester City playing Bayern Munich in Germany.  Both clubs earned enough points to advance out of the group stage coming into today's match, with Bayern Munich winning the last five including the meeting with City back in October.  Manchester City won every other match played in the Group D and had a chance to take the top stop away from Bayern.

Two early goals for Bayern Munich gave the home side a huge advantage and set the game up for a total blow-out.  Thomas Müller scored the first goal when defender Dante played him behind City's back line with a long diagonal pass.  Müller brought the ball down with a great chest-trap before beating keeper Joe Hart (5').  Mario Götze then added a second goal minutes later when a deflected shot fell for him.  Replay showed he may have been just offsides, but the flag stayed down and he was able to finish from close-range (12').

Manchester City's fortunes got worse before they get better.  Starting right-back Micah Richards had an issue with his hamstring and had to be replaced by Zabalete after only fifteen minutes.  Zabaleta is usually preferred in the starting eleven, but manager Manuel Pellegrini had intended to save him for the big Premier League game with Arsenal.  In any case, Zabaleta was an improvement, and City took over the match.

The come-back started when David Silva was left unmarked on a late run into the box.  Jesus Navas initiated the play with a cross to James Milner at the back-post.  Milner could only head the ball back to middle, and Silva came running in late to score for City (28').

The visitors took the momentum into the second-half and out-played Bayern for the rest of the match.  Milner won a Penalty for Manchester City when Dante missed his tackle and took down the winger in the box.  Aleksandar Kolarov stepped up to take the Penalty and scored from the spot to tie the game (59').

Then moments later a terrible mistake by Bayern defender Jerome Boateng opened the door for City to take the lead.  A cross by Navas was rolled into the box and Boateng was in good position to clear the ball off the line.  However he completely whiffed on his attempt and the ball kept rolling right to Milner at the back-post.  Milner finished with a well struck curling shot to pull ahead and silence the home fans (62').

Bayern Munich could not muster a response equalizer and end a ten game Champions League winning streak.  The German club still win the group by goal-differential, but Manchester City get the payback.  Manchester United also qualified for the knockout stage today while Chelsea and Arsenal will play tomorrow to earn their spots.