Liverpool Survive Late Sunderland Surge

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A sluggish Sunderland side came into Anfield today to face Liverpool in Premier League play.  Few teams have been able to silence the potent Liverpool attack with Suarez and Sturridge at the forefront.  Today was no exception despite the best efforts from the visitors.

Sunderland came out with a defensive mindset starting three centerbacks to clog Liverpool's offensive flow.  Initially the tactic worked as Liverpool could only manage shots from outside the box.  However a foul by one centerback, Vergini, gave Liverpool a freekick on the edge of the penalty area.  Steven Gerrard stepped up to take the freekick and beat the keeper with the shot to score (37').

Shortly after half-time Liverpool added another goal.  Daniel Sturridge was given space inside the Sunderland box and his shot took a slight deflection (48').  That slight touch by defender Wes Brown was enough to put off keeper Mannone and Liverpool pulled further ahead.

Sunderland manager Gus Poyet then  made two positive changes bringing Adam Johnson and Ki Sung-Yueng.  Together the two substitutes linked up for a goal to narrow the gap.  Johnson delivered a corner-kick that the Liverpool defense allowed to bounce in front of their goal.  Ki was attacking the far-post and scored with a diving header (76').

Now with only a one goal lead Liverpool played more conservative and found themselves defending more frantically.  In the end Liverpool held on to the lead and came away with three points.

Liverpool are now just one point off Chelsea at the top of the table with seven matches left to play.  The  Reds have a tough schedule ahead of them with Tottenham, Manchester City, and Chelsea on the horizon.  Fortunately they are all home games which could help Liverpool in the title race.

Sunderland Shock Manchester United, Face City in Final

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The second leg of the Capital One Cup semifinal between Manchester United and Sunderland took place today at Old Trafford.  Sunderland came into the match with a 2-1 lead having beaten United in the first match of the semifinal.  Manchester City already won the other spot in the final beating West Ham United 9-0 over their two semifinal matches.

Manchester United found a groove late in the first-half and scored on a set-piece.  Danny Welbeck was able to get a flick on a corner-kick to setup defender Jonny Evans.  Crashing the back-post, Evans finished with a header to level the aggregate score (37').  

The second-half of the match was played out with either side taking the lead and extra-time was therefore required.  Away-goals were not a factor in regulation, but now in extra-time, United's away goal in the first match gave them the lead.  Sunderland therefore had to score to keep their hopes alive.

No goals were scored in the first-half of extra-time, but in the last moments of the second-half two miracles occurred.  First Sunderland scored the goal they needed when defender Phillip Bardsley's shot ended up in the net.  Bardsley found a window to shoot and sent a weak rolling shot towards goal.  Keeper De Gea had the shot covered, but was not sure-handed and let the ball slip out of his grasp and into his goal (119').  

The late goal by Sunderland seemed like a death-blow to United and the fans started heading for the exits.  However they came running back to their seats when Hernandez saved them from defeat seconds later.  Januzaj played a ball across the face of goal and Hernandez was at the back-post to smash it home (120 +1').  

The late equalizer gave United a chance to win in a penalty shootout, no one more thankful than keeper De Gea.  Unfortunately for United the two hour match had taken its toll and their finishing from the spot was quite bad.  Januzaj and Rafael had their shots saved and Welbeck and Jones missed the target completely.  Sunderland only scored two of their penalty kicks, but it was enough to advance to the final.

The final will be played at Wembley Stadium on March 2nd.  It won't be an all Manchester final, but Manchester City are the easy favorites to win that match-up.  Anything can happen of course and Sunderland have shown serious resilience in their run to the final.

Suarez Shines in Liverpool Return

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Luiz Suarez returned to Premier League play for Liverpool today as the Reds travelled to face Sunderland.  Suarez and Sturridge both started at striker for Liverpool and by half-time each had one goal.

Sturridge scored on a corner-kick delivered by captain Gerrard.  His service was flicked-on by Kolo Touré in the box to setup Sturridge in front of the net (28').  Initially it looked like Sturridge finished with a header, but replay showed he used his arm to get the final touch.  No one seemed to see it on the field, including the ref, and the goal counted.  Sturridge then setup Suarez for his first goal of the season.  Creating space wide right, Sturridge played an easy pass across the face of goal for Suarez crashing the far-post (36').

Sunderland were much better in the second-half and had Liverpool's defense rather uneasy.  The new Italian signing Giaccherini scored a goal early in the second-half to narrow the gap.  Ki Sung-Yueng fired a shot at goal that keeper Mignolet was able to block.  Mignolet could not hold on to the shot however, and Giaccherini pounced on the loose ball and scored (52').

Suarez and Sturridge were too much for Sunderland today though, and the two strikers linked up once more for another Liverpool goal.  Suarez was able to break forward on a counter-attack and picked out Sturridge with an early cross.  Sturridge then passed the ball back across the net for Suarez who continued his run to score at the back-post (89').

Liverpool climbs to second in the table following the road win at Sunderland, tied with Tottenham with thirteen points.  Next week Liverpool will host Crystal Palace making a return to the Premier League, while Sunderland take on Manchester United.

Arsenal's Ramsey Nets Two in Win Over Sunderland

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The Premier League returns after taking a week off to fit in all the World Cup Qualifiers around the globe.  Arsenal travelled to Sunderland today and were able to debut their latest signing.  German International and former Real Madrid midfielder, Mesut Özil started for the Gunners and seemed to mesh perfectly with his new club.

In the early moments of the match, Özil set up Giroud in the box for a goal.  Defender Gibbs played a long ball out of the back that Özil trapped well before laying across the face of goal.  Giroud made a good near-post run and scored with his first touch, sliding the shot past the keeper (11').

Jozy Altidore played less than twenty minutes for the United Stated in their qualifying matches, but was in the starting line-up today for Sunderland.  His chances were limited as Arsenal controlled a vast majority of possession, but he looked fit and had one good shot from distance that was saved by keeper Szczesny.

Sunderland made a change at half-time taking Vaughan out for Craig Gardner who proved to be an improvement.  A penalty was awarded to Sunderland when defender Koscielny missed his tackle in the box, and Gardner scored from the spot to tie the game (48').  Arsenal took the lead back though when Aaron Ramsey scored with a very well struck volley.  Rightback Jenkinson picked him out in the box with a cross and Ramsey blasted his volley past keeper Westwood (67').

Moments later Sunderland had a chance to again equalize when Jozy Altidore got tangled up with Bacary Sagna.  Altidore broke away from Sagna, who was holding him back, and put the ball in the Arsenal net.  However, the referee called the foul on Sagna before the goal was scored and Sunderland only got a free-kick instead of a goal.

Aaron Ramsey then scored a third goal for Arsenal to seal the deal when Giroud slotted a through-ball for his run into the box.  Ramsey did well to slip through defenders and score his second goal of the match (76').

Though it is still early in the season, Arsenal may have found the perfect player to put them back at the top of the Premier League in Mesut Özil.  One the other side, American Jozy Altidore is making his second run in the Premier League and has a chance to help a good club as well as take the next step as an elite striker.