With six former Reds in the Blackburn ranks you could have been
forgiven for thinking you'd gate crashed a reunion of former
Liverpool players at Ewood Park this afternoon. But friends
re-united this was not.
A brace of goals from Michael Owen cancelled out a Matt Jansen
opener before Harry Kewell sealed a crucial 3-1 victory, yet these
statistics tell only half the story of an explosive, entertaining
and incident-packed encounter.
As expected, ex-Kop boss Graeme Souness named Brad Friedel, Davey
Thompson and the on-loan Markus Babbel in his line-up, while
alongside him on the bench sat Phil Boersma and Dean
Saunders.
But it was the present day Anfield heroes whom the 7,000
strong army of travelling Liverpudlians were more
interested in and the news that Gerard Houllier had opted
to stick with the same starting eleven that defeated
Everton in the Merseyside derby a fortnight ago was warmly
welcomed.
Having collected their first three-point haul of the season at the
expense of the Blues Liverpool went into this game high on
confidence but were rocked as early as the second minute when Milan
Baros was stretchered off following a tackle from behind by
Babbel.
If losing the in-form Czech striker was not bad enough the Reds
then found themselves a goal down shortly afterwards when Jansen
showed good skill to beat Carragher on the edge of the box before
unleashing a clinical volley that gave Dudek no chance.
Despite this nightmare start Liverpool refused to let their heads
drop and within three minutes of Rovers taking the lead they drew
level via the penalty spot. Gresko brought down Diouf inside the
box and Michael Owen stepped up to confidently tuck his
kick into Friedel's bottom left-hand corner.
Following such an explosive start a lull in proceedings was
expected but the early drama was not yet over had and before the
quarter hour mark the home side were reduced to ten men when Lucas
Neill was given his marching orders for a challenge on Jamie
Carragher.
It was an incident that forced Liverpool into making their second
substitution, but against ten men the Reds then took a firm grip on
the game and laid siege to the Blackburn goal. Owen should have
scored when one on one with Friedel and Gerrard saw a long-range
drive superbly tipped over as a frenetic first half drew to a
close.
Just as entertaining as the on-field shenanigans was the
animated antics of messrs Houllier, Thompson and Souness on the touchline,
where the mood became more and more heated as the tackles continued
to fly in.
The high tempo was maintained in the second period and although
Blackburn enjoyed some early pressure it was a fully
deserved lead Liverpool took in the 67th minute.
Owen had squandered two previous chances to net his second of the
afternoon but he made no mistake when the ball fell invitingly to
him 12-yards from goal with only Friedel to beat. He smashed the
ball home with conviction to register his fifth of the season then
celebrated wildly in front of the jubilant travelling fans.
With Diouf proving himself a constant menace down the right flank
another Reds goal looked more likely than a Rovers equaliser as
time ticked by.
Owen could and should have had his hat-trick towards the end and
young Anthony Le Tallec was handed his Premiership debut as a late
substitute for Steven Gerrard before Harry Kewell provided the
icing on the cake of a superb performance when he coolly finished a
flowing move in the final minute.
Six goals and six points in the last two games. Gerard Houllier's
new attacking policy is paying dividends.
Teams
Blackburn Rovers: Friedel, Neill, Gresko, Amoruso, Babbel,
Thompson, Flitcroft, Emerton, Ferguson, Cole, Jansen. Subs - Kelly,
Yorke, Baggio, Johansson, Tugay.
Liverpool: Dudek, Finnan, Carragher, Hyypia, Biscan, Gerrard,
Diouf, Kewell, Smicer, Owen, Baros. Subs - Luzi, Heskey, Riise,
Traore, Le Tallec.
Referee: Neale Barry
Attendance: 30,074
Liverpoolfc.tv Man-of-the-Match: El Hadji Diouf
