A statement game for Liverpool

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September 13, 1:41 PM

by Jesse Baumgartner, Soccer Examiner

 

 

AP Photo/Peter Byrne

Just like that, the defending champs took a shot to the jaw while two of the contenders made some statements on Saturday.

Liverpool-Manchester United was obviously the game of the weekend, and it did not disappoint. Carlos Tevez smashed in a ball only three minutes in thanks to a fine setup from Dimitar Berbatov in his United debut, but Edwin van der Sar gave it right back in the 27th by pushing a defection off of Wes Brown’s knee and into the net for an own goal. Van der Sar seemed to think he had to dive and get the ball away, but with Brown shielding the Liverpool player, it would have been much easier just to gather the ball in.

When Steven Gerrard came on in the 68th minute after battling his groin injury, it almost seemed like Liverpool was sure to break through thanks to the magic that man possesses at Anfield. The goal came thanks to hard work from Javier Mascherano on the endline, as he battled multiple defenders to push the ball out to Dirk Kuyt, who found substitute Ryan Babel out on the left side to hammer it home for the 2-1 victory.  

For Liverpool, it was a huge win after struggling at the beginning of this season and playing without Fernando Torres, and for much of the game, without Gerrard. And United now finds themselves with only four points in three games as they try to cope with Cristiano Ronaldo’s absence.

Berbatov was able to hold the ball at times up front and provide the assist to the opening goal, but he often didn’t have the ball in his control because United struggled to limit Liverpool’s possession. Meanwhile, Wayne Rooney continually went deep into the defensive end on the right side and didn’t look all that dangerous around the goal, although he did make some nice runs when receiving the ball around the midfield area.  When Ronaldo gets back, it will be interesting to see where Rooney fits in with the new rotation.

Meanwhile, the Gunners continued to roll with a 4-0 win against Blackburn thanks to a hat trick from Emmanuel Adebayor. And as this is being typed, Manchester City and Chelsea sit tied 1-1 at the half. The City goal? Robinho of course. Who else would it be?

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