Liverpool scrape a win against the Saints

By J Wade
January 13 2005

Liverpool secured their third Premiership win on the bounce yesterday against a struggling Saints squad. Liverpool won the game 1-0 which was disappointing compared to their win two days earlier against WBA, however a win is a win which means that the Reds are still in site of fourth place.

Liverpool were sixth going into this match 1 point behind fifth place Middlesbrough who kicked off slightly earlier than Liverpool. Liverpool had to win the game to keep up with the teams ahead, which shouldn’t prove much of a challenge. Southampton have been struggling this season and have already had 3 different managers so far.

Harry Redknap is the latest to take the job after moving down the road from Portsmouth. Harry is still looking for his first win in charge of the Saints.

Liverpool who have only dropped 5 points at home this season have taken advantage of 4 home games in a row by winning the first two and would hope to carry on with a third.

Liverpool captain Steven Gerrard ahead of the game said that Liverpool should thrash the Saints like they did to West Brom. Gerrard insisted that, in order to be at the top they need to beat the teams lower down the table instead of dropping the points.

One person enjoying a break right now is Michael Owen. Teams in Spain have a winter break, which meant that he had enough time to come and see his old club from the stands for the first time. Michael said he would catch up with his old teammates after the game but is looking forward to a round of golf with his good friend Dietmar Hamann.

Liverpool started the game the better team with Riise aiming to get his third in two games with a shot testing Niemi in the first 2 minutes. A few moments later and Alonso had a volley deflected just wide of the post. Pongolle had Liverpool’s best chance up to that point in the game but wasted the opportunity after Gerrard had slid a pass through to him.

Southampton’s first chance came in the 34th minute when Prutton’ s snap shot scraped just wide of Dudek’s far post. This was the first thing Dudek had to worry about all game.

Steve Finnan was taken off towards the end of the first half through an injury after a foul by Neil McCann.

Liverpool finally broke the dead lock in the 43rd minute when Pongolle neatly turned in a precise pass from Alonso. This is the second league goal in as many games for the French striker who previously had only scored one goal in the Premiership.

Dudek hadn’t had a save to make in the game but unnecessarily went to claim the ball and ended up flapping at midair. This created unease in the Liverpool defence but Liverpool still looked the more likely to increase their lead.

Pongolle created a few chances to add to his tally but didn’t put them away and Mellor managed to get in a descent shot which produced a good diving save from Niemi in the Southampton goal.

Liverpool needed to get the second to put the game away and get the 3 points. Liverpool have already been punished this season for not finishing their chances as experienced against Portsmouth. Southampton threatened Liverpool in the second half, which increased the nerves of the Anfield faithful.

In the 78th minute Gerrard played a long ball wide to Riise with who took it down and smacked the ball with his left foot. Everyone thought it was in but the ball managed to hit the under side of the crossbar and rebound out of the area. Moments later Niemi again stopped Liverpool getting their second of the game when he produced a fantastic save to keep out Garcia’s header.

Liverpool were desperate for the game to finish and were relieved to here the final whistle.

Liverpool won the 3 points in a game of little entertainment, which means they stay 6th, but more importantly stay in contention for the 4th spot.

Liverpool: Dudek, Riise, Hyypia, Carragher, Finnan, Warnock, Alonso, Gerrard (c), Luis Garcia, Mellor, Pongolle.
Subs: Diao, Hamann, Nunez, Traore, Harrison

Southampton: Niemi, Crainie, Jakobsson, Higginbotham, Telfer, McCann, Prutton (c), Oakley, Delap, Ormerod, Blackstock.
Subs: Smith, Yahia, Svensson, Philips, Folly