Liverpool overwhelm Inter with tactics, aggression and simulation
Liverpool 2, Inter Milan 0.
Before kick-off, that scoreline would been considered unlikely - but as hoped by Liverpool fans, Rafa’s men rose to their next European challenge and produced as good a display as could be hoped for (considering the buildup) to beat 10-man Inter Milan 2-0.
The scoreline hardly tells the whole story though.
An aggressive start by Liverpool countered by the calm control of Inter. A succession of ’simulations’ by Steven Gerrard and Fernando Torres, with Gerrard getting Chivu booked and Torres getting Materazzi 2 yellows, culminating in Materazzi’s ejection from the game in the 30th minute. Ibra and Cruz diving but getting nothing out of it. Inter increasingly going into their shell and focusing on effective defense, which they did alertly and without too much trouble.
Liverpool’s attacking play in the second half as they finally started stretching wide with the full-backs pushing way forward. The Vieira handball claim - a 50/50 call that the linesman couldn’t be absolutely sure of. The Ivan Cordoba injury that left 2 makeshift center-backs manning Inter’s central defence (one of them, Burdisso, hadn’t played in the Champions League for an year). The Kuyt goal that game after a tiring Inter defense let the ball bounce in the penalty box. The Gerrard goal, a rare instant where Inter players failed to close him down and Gerrard’s shot went inch-perfect, hitting the post and going in giving Cesar no chance at all.
The match tells us different stories, and it would pay to listen to all of them if one wants an fair and accurate prediction of the second half.
Liverpool are still one of the big four in England (shame on you for doubting that), if only based on their European performances. They have an excellent chance against Inter now and you can expect the roles to be completely reversed in the second leg with Inter on attack and Liverpool playing the counter.
Wouldn’t it be great if Rafa pushed his team forward to get that one goal which would leave Inter needing 4 and then defend? Does Rafa have the courage to take this risk? Do Liverpool have the courage to risk this, when they couldn’t break down 10 men playing at Anfield for 55 minutes?
The story is Inter’s defence, and don’t let the two goals fool you - there’s a good chance that with Cordoba on the pitch (instead of going off injured in the 73-74 minute), Inter could have held on. Assuming that Inter will have Cordoba back for the return leg, this defence will be quite hard to break down and it will be tough for Liverpool to get an away goal, so you might see Rafa defend to the hilt after all.
The story is the ref, whose contribution in shaping the course of the game cannot be ignored. There’s little point in blaming him because both set of players tried to con him (although the home side succeeded with far more significant results) and he wasn’t responsible for not giving the penalty as it was the linesman’s call at the time.
The story is that domestic cup and league form has no bearing on European form, and vice versa, so it would be crude to make assumptions based on how Inter do in the Serie A or how Liverpool play in Europe.
The story is Liverpool’s ability to keep possession which helps them greatly in tactical battles and it will be their biggest weapon when they go away for the second leg.
What are the chances of Liverpool going through to the quarter-finals now?
How biased can u be. Liverpool deserved their victory and it was a definite sending off. Liverpool should have also had a definite pen. Buy a pair of glasses and you might be able to give a better informed opinion
what game were you watching you must be a man u fan
“A succession of ’simulations’”
Do what?
“The Vieira handball claim - a 50/50 call”
Hahahahahahaha
The sending off was a little harsh - the first yellow was debatable, but based on his performance, it was only a matter of time before Materazzi got himself dismissed.
the 2 yellows were for persistent fouling by that horrible cunt materazzi. He just could not cope with the pace of torres and twice pulled him back when he was in good positions to attack the goal. The referee was merely applying the laws of the game.
Hahaha, what a shocking report.
I have no idea who you support but this is a disgrace.
Simulations … please.
That handball was a shocking decision but the Liverpool players did not hound the ref.
Congrats to Liverpool that was a completely dominant display. Inter defense held well. Pity about their injuries.
Take off your biased glasses mate and report on what happened. Try to take the emotion out of it.
Ahmed:
You made some good points, and a few things stand out for me:
Hernan Crespo would have been a better tactical choice than Julio Cruz, despite the latter’s good form. Crespo’s experience in the EPL, along with the UCL, might have given Mr. Mancini a different option up front. An away goal tonight would have been golden. Especially given that Inter created very few chances.
Marco Materazzi, due to his reputation, wears a yellow card on his sleeve. He grabbed Torres right in front of the referee in the box. With his experience, and already on a yellow card, he should know better.
The referee was consistently inconsistent.
The Reds deservedly won this tie, and the return leg should be very interesting.
Ahmed Bilal is a Man Utd fan, or didn’t you know? What he’s doing analysing Liverpool so intensley week in and week out should raise questions as to where his true allegiance lies? You won’t find too many Liverpool fans writing articles on Man Utd….and with such vigour. Strange eh, this Bilal character?
This report is utter garbage and the ’simulation’ accusations are ludicrous. C. Ronaldo may perfect the art but thats not a good enough reason for Utd wankers to have a go at Torres and Gerrard. Lastly, how many Liverpool players crowded the referee when Materazzi had clearly tugged on Fernando’s shirt? Thats right, not many. None of this calling for players to be sent off in our team, I can tell you that mate.
The red card for Materazzi was not deserved, but Liverpool played well. They deserved to win becaue they applied constsant pressure. As for the two makeshift centre backs Ahmed mentions, you cannot ignore the facts that: Chivu is a natural central defender although he is plying on the wings and that Chivu had the best game I have ever seen with him. Against Liverpool he was a monster.
you people are so damn pathetic. get a freakin life and go learn football. inter player a great game. they defended to perfection. the first yellow on matrix was just rubbish. it wasnt a yellow. the attacker dived. as for the second, it may have been a yellow as the ref spotted matrix handling the player twice. but even so, there were many awkard tackles and physical play the ref slept on. liverpool is a joke in football, what a laughable team.
they found it impossible to break inter. and torress was constantly infringing the game but NOTHING for him. liverpool players dived a lot and constantly got unfair free kicks. the liverpool faggers NEEDED a deflection off maicon, and a lucky shot from deflected off the inside of the post.
match officials are getting more and more laughable. i think it is down to some matchfixing, bribing or bias. the match was a 0-0 draw all the way but liverpool fluked a LATE win. what a fucked up team, they couldnt break a 10 man defence for 50 minutes. PATHETIC liverfuck team!!
mancinis tactics were stupid as well. to revert to a 4-4-1 after STUPID/LIVERASS PAID sending off, with zlatan as lone player was sheer stupidity. brining in viera was another great mistake who was useless after a hiatus. playing with cruz, who seems to lack pace and even stamina over other choices was just dumbass mancini. zlatan should have been taken off with suazo brought in, as he was desperately tired. then of course, the cordoba incident was unfortunately. figo could have come in instead of viera and also crespo could have started. the problem was not brining in someone fresh to aid in counter attack and that;s where inter failed. mancini is to blame. but this was ANOTHER FLUKE by liverpool. they keep getting fluke results.
liverpool are a fluke. they are sheer luck. i believe liverpool are through. but they did not play as well as inter and did not deserve it. they keep getting these kind of stupid decisions in their favour. referees are either biased or getting paid behind the scenes.
massimo,
Am I to guess by your comments that shots that go in off the post are ‘lucky’? In that case you are the one who knows nothing about football. Inter player very well defensively today, but Liverpool was better overall. They were better when before and after “matrix’s” sending off. I understand that you are an Inter fan and that you want to defend your team but at least be reasonable. Liverpool were unlucky not to score before Kuyt struk; Inter were lucky to kepp the score down to 2 and Mancini was brilliant though he might have replaced Ibra with Suazo at half time to get a chance on the counter as you mentioned.
I aslo want to recall to your attention that Veira, through his sheer presence, denied Liverpool two very good goalscoring opportunities by my count. God knows how many others he prevented by closing down potential killer passes from a very sharp Gerrard. The only thing you can reproach to Mancini regarding the introduction of Viera is that he did it about 30 minutes too late.
Good luck to Inter!! It should be a cracking game in three weeks time!! But I still want Liverpool to go through.
HAHAHA. Look at massimo. no class or dignity in defeat. lets get out the violins…
Both fouls were cynical and typical of you cheating italian bastards. Materazzi deserved to go. He is clearly lacking in intelligence.
I called this “Rafa Luck”.. he is always excellent in Champions League, but not in domestic game.
The sending off of Materazzi and injury to Ivan Cordoba in the last 15 minutes really help a lot.
I was looking for one golden goal… two is an absolute bonus!
I haven’t said anywhere that Liverpool didn’t deserve the win.
You will note, however, that players from both sides went down too easily, sometimes without a touch (Torres ran ahead of Materazzi and then collided with him and tumbled too easily ‘off the ball’ for the first yellow, and on the second he went to ground after he had pulled clear of Materazzi and much after the initial tug on him). Inter players are not innocent either, but they were pushed so far back by Liverpool’s possession and attacking play that they rarely had any chance to make an impact on the game.
And without Materazzi’s sending off, it would have been hard to imagine Liverpool dominating 11 men so easily, and it would have been hard to imagine Inter conceding 2 late goals (still could have happened).
Chivu had a great game, agreed. Cordoba’s departure was a turning point as well.
Being a United fan has nothing to do with this Arvin, if you guys can dish it out if an opposition player ’simulates’, be prepared to take it when your own players (Gerrard has a history of it) do the same.
It doesn’t take anything away from the performance though, Liverpool were undoubtedly superior.
btw, it was great to see Babel run at the Inter defence with the ball the way he did, he’s an excellent prospect (but you already knew that).
Steve - yup, Crespo would have been better than Cruz, I thought that too.
Good win and much needed but basically the game was decided by the sending off….which was harsh.
An 11 man Inter probably would have gotten a draw. Anyway, you take what you can get and Liverpool/Benitez really needed this result.
The key now is not to blow it in Italy. As they say, 2-0 is often the worst lead to defend. Do you defend or go for an away goal?
It’s by no means safe and I’d still make Inter favourites to turn it around at the San Siro.
I thought the sending off was a bit harsh, but the ref applied the letter of the law. It was only a matter of time before he got himself sent off anyway. I was going to say that the ref was a ‘homer’ but then he ruined that by turning down the blatant penalty against Vierra.
Yes, Inter only had ten men, yes, losing Cordoba was a turning point, yes, I still don’t understand why Rafa plays Kuyt (I know he scored!) and Lucas, and doesn’t play Crouch but lets not take anything away from the reds, this was a good performance and a great result.
I have been critical of Rafa and of Gerrard. Credit where it is due, they did well last night. Great goal by Gerrard, great win for Rafa.
I think that Liverpool won thanks to fantastic motivation and support. Clubs without crowd have a much harder job to do. For example Valencia was criticized by fans, main problem is lack of motivation, all players are professionals without emotions to the club and without support they suffer.
On the other hand spirited Gerrard and fans makes results even a Liverpool form isn’t on high level.
Congrats red men!!! I have to admit i thought that playing the best team in europe would have saw pepe Reina have a coupl more saves
Yeh the sending off was really harsh it shouldnt have happened i turned to my dad after he got sent off and said “thank god torres is spanish”.
We deserved more than 2 i though but oh well it well do.
Enjoy the victory everyone the next tie isnt till 3 weeks get carried away with it
Bad Ahmed.
Shame, the LFC fans deserve this victory (even though I didn’t watch the game and cannot comment on it). After the crap they went through lately, I think the least we can do is belittle their victory.
Maybe now with nothing to play for at home, they might realistically feature again in another UCL final? (Hope we meet you there).
Well done LFC!
I don’t think this article is that biased against Liverpool. It sounds pretty reasonable to me. This Daily Mail article says pretty much the same about Torres diving. From what I saw Matarazzi did tug his shoulder but Torres fell long after he stopped pulling!
And the “handball” was definitely 50/50. Viera instinctively put his hand to his face. If it had been given I don’t think Inter could complain. The (lack of) reaction of the Liverpool players tells you more that it wasn’t obvious than it does about the good nature of the players.
It looks like yet again Liverpool have raised their game like a Bolton or West Ham against Man Utd. Matarazzi was a fool and Liverpool rode their luck in that they got to play probably Europe’s best team with 10 men for an hour. Credit to them that they peppered the goal and it eventually paid off. I imagine the rest of Europe’s big teams are rubbing their hands hoping Inter get knocked out.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles/sport/football.html?in_article_id=516656&in_page_id=1771&ICO=SPORT&ICL=TOPART
I think you are more or less spot on. The red card was very harsh, I felt the second yellow being completely undeserved. It was a free kick and no more. The handball incident though involving Vieira was a penalty though in my opinion.
thank you karl i honestly dont hope we meet you in the CL final i couldnt handle the nerves
Good luck to the 3 british teams featuring tonight i hope its an all brit last four this year
Babel is still very raw and quite frankly looks awkward on the ball. I guess it will take time for him to realise his potential. Clearly. Should he operate in his natural position as a striker on a reguular basis from next season, most Liverpool fans will be happy.
Lucas is again, much like Babel, quite raw. Ironic therefore that both are internationals with enough experience given their respective ages. At the moment Lucas fleets in and out of games with alarming regularity. Its up to him to take more responsibility during games and not shy away in the presence of Gerrad and Mascherano.
I can’t not see Liverpool scoring in the return leg at the San Siro, especially with the enforced absences of Materazzi and Cordoba. Crouch and Torres will most likely profit.
Our path to the final should be made all the more clearer, at least theoretically, if Schalke and Roma progess beyond their counter-parts. Of course in that situation the draw would have to be very kind to Liverpool, but as a kopite, heres hoping.
@ PlastisScouser:
“no class or dignity in defeat”
Perhaps you could teach Massimo something about that; seems to me you have a lot of experience this season in dealing with defeats
LOL Smart arse