Liverpool 2 – 1 West Bromwich Albion (Premier League), 4th October 2014
Ticket = £51
Train (Sheffield-Liverpool) = £22-50
Bus to Anfield = £4
Tea = £2
Programme = £3
Total = £82-50
For the 3rd weekend in 4, we made our way to Anfield for another clash. Like Villa, this was against Midlands opposition in West Brom, whose ground I’d visited back in a freezing weekend in January 2010. That seems a long way away now, and at some points we’ve felt like real regulars on Merseyside over the last 3 seasons. Again, I’d nailed these tickets via the Late Availability sale, which is great for last-minute tickets. The only down side is that the heavily discounted travel tickets have usually gone by this point, so we again utilised the Two Together Railcard, which made it £22-50, a reasonable discount to keep some of the costs down.
Last week, we had been massively disappointed as Liverpool had rather unluckily dropped two points against Everton, despite an excellent performance. The rusty banger is taking a while to warm up this season! Liverpool started slowly, and the first-half was characterised by a lot of sideways passing and wasted possession. There was a 10-minute spell just before the break when the home side looked something like the team they had been last year, with smart interchanges between Sterling and Coutinho and high pressing up the pitch. On another day, they would have gone in frustrated at the break, but today it fell for them, with Lallana scoring a superb goal from inside the box after a swift one-two with Henderson. This was bang on 45 minutes, and we were delighted – you could see how much the goal meant to Lallana, and it had come at a perfect time for the home side.
After the break, Liverpool started where they left off, with sparks of activity and movement recalling the great 2013-14 season. But the longer it stayed 1-0, nerves grew, and it was almost inevitable that WBA would equalise. This time they conceded from the penalty spot, with Berahino netting in front of the Anfield Road end. Not to be deterred, Liverpool continued with their neat passing, and while this wasn’t quite as good as last year, there was a certain spring in their step despite the equaliser. There was a frustrating lack of penetration to the attacks, and they occasionally lost concentration when Berahino was on the ball, but this was a big improvement performance-wise. 5 minutes after the West Brom equaliser, Henderson slotted in from inside the box after one attacking move broke down. 2-1 ahead and Liverpool now looked like they had a surge of confidence running through them. It was arguably too early for them to take the lead (61 minutes) and they had to ride out the final 15-20 minute period with some nervousness before scrapping home. This was a deserved win, and you could see what this meant to the players to get their first league win since August. Hopefully once confidence returns, performances and results will gradually improve, and they will play their way into form. Roll on the international break!
Ticket = £51
Train (Sheffield-Liverpool) = £22-50
Bus to Anfield = £4
Tea = £2
Programme = £3
Total = £82-50
For the 3rd weekend in 4, we made our way to Anfield for another clash. Like Villa, this was against Midlands opposition in West Brom, whose ground I’d visited back in a freezing weekend in January 2010. That seems a long way away now, and at some points we’ve felt like real regulars on Merseyside over the last 3 seasons. Again, I’d nailed these tickets via the Late Availability sale, which is great for last-minute tickets. The only down side is that the heavily discounted travel tickets have usually gone by this point, so we again utilised the Two Together Railcard, which made it £22-50, a reasonable discount to keep some of the costs down.
Last week, we had been massively disappointed as Liverpool had rather unluckily dropped two points against Everton, despite an excellent performance. The rusty banger is taking a while to warm up this season! Liverpool started slowly, and the first-half was characterised by a lot of sideways passing and wasted possession. There was a 10-minute spell just before the break when the home side looked something like the team they had been last year, with smart interchanges between Sterling and Coutinho and high pressing up the pitch. On another day, they would have gone in frustrated at the break, but today it fell for them, with Lallana scoring a superb goal from inside the box after a swift one-two with Henderson. This was bang on 45 minutes, and we were delighted – you could see how much the goal meant to Lallana, and it had come at a perfect time for the home side.
After the break, Liverpool started where they left off, with sparks of activity and movement recalling the great 2013-14 season. But the longer it stayed 1-0, nerves grew, and it was almost inevitable that WBA would equalise. This time they conceded from the penalty spot, with Berahino netting in front of the Anfield Road end. Not to be deterred, Liverpool continued with their neat passing, and while this wasn’t quite as good as last year, there was a certain spring in their step despite the equaliser. There was a frustrating lack of penetration to the attacks, and they occasionally lost concentration when Berahino was on the ball, but this was a big improvement performance-wise. 5 minutes after the West Brom equaliser, Henderson slotted in from inside the box after one attacking move broke down. 2-1 ahead and Liverpool now looked like they had a surge of confidence running through them. It was arguably too early for them to take the lead (61 minutes) and they had to ride out the final 15-20 minute period with some nervousness before scrapping home. This was a deserved win, and you could see what this meant to the players to get their first league win since August. Hopefully once confidence returns, performances and results will gradually improve, and they will play their way into form. Roll on the international break!
No comments:
Post a Comment