Andy Carroll and Maxi Rodriguez stood out against the http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Rovers-c40385 at Ewood Park but a number of other players also put in decent shifts on the night as well.
Liverpool snatched an unlikely win against Premier League strugglers Blackburn Rovers despite playing the majority of the match with only ten men.
Alexander http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Liverpool-c39809’s goalkeeper was sent off for bringing Yakubu down in the penalty area after Maxi Rodriguez gave the away side a two goal cushion.
Brad Jones, the Merseyside club’s third-choice keeper, came on to make his debut in a Liverpool shirt. His first touch was to save the Yak’s penalty and keep his side’s two goal advantage intact. However, Blackburn pressed their one man advantage and before long had their goal, courtesy of Yakubu, whose header found the side netting after a decent http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/David-Dunn-c10475 free-kick.
Yakubu had the chance to level the scores after a comical goalkeeping error from Jones led to Blackburn’s second penalty of the night. This time the former http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Everton-c13019 striker made no mistake from the spot as he slotted the ball past the Liverpool keeper.
At two goals apiece one could still sense there was another goal in the offing and it came from Andy Carroll in the dying seconds of the match. A Sebastian Coates long ball into the box was nodded into the path of Andy Carroll by http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Paul-Robinson-c29389.
The match ended with Liverpool taking all three points, yet when it came down to individual performances some players were performed much better than others.
Star Performers
Brad Jones – 7
The Liverpool goalkeeper made his debut in what weren’t the most ideal of circumstances. His first act as a Liverpool player would be to face a Yakubu penalty. However, the Australian keeper got his career at the club off to a perfect start when he saved the Yak’s effort.
He had a howler later on when his clearance rebounded off a Blackburn player and his efforts to catch the ball ended in disaster when he fouled the opposition player to concede a penalty, which he could not save.
Jones was called into action later on as well, when he had to deflect a headed effort, from Andy Carroll of all people, over his own post.
All in all, apart from the blunder, Jones put in a decent display on the night and shows that Liverpool have some strength in depth when it comes to goalkeepers.
Martin Skrtel – 9
With Liverpool manager, Kenny Dalglish having rested http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Pepe-Reina-c29672 suspended, the captain’s armband was handed over to Martin Skrtel, who to be fair put in a superb performance on the night.
Not only did he release http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Craig-Bellamy-c9471 down the right wing for Liverpool’s first goal, but he also defended brilliantly apart from the first goal the Reds conceded.
Skrtel and http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Glen-Johnson-c15050 were at fault for not marking Yakubu whose perfectly placed header found the back of the net and narrowed the away side’s lead.
Apart from that lapse in concentration Skrtel showcased plenty of leadership potential on the night and was easily one of Liverpool’s best players on the night.
Continued in Part 2
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