Liverpool walked away from the Etihad Stadium on Sunday evening with a point after playing out a 2-2 draw with Manchester City in a game the Reds largely controlled.
It was the hosts who opened the scoring against the run of play, with poor defending by Glen Johnson and Daniel Agger allowing James Milner to play a low ball into the path of Dzeko, who tapped in to give City an early lead.
It was Daniel Sturridge, returning to his former club, who got Liverpool's equaliser, picking up the ball on the edge of the box and firing a low, drilled effort into the bottom corner of Joe Hart's goal to bring the visitors level minutes after the opener.
A sensational strike from Steven Gerrard gave Liverpool the lead with less than twenty minutes left in the second-half as the midfielder fired an excellent effort from distance into the top right-hand corner of Joe Hart's goal/
But Liverpool once again failed to hold onto a lead against top-half opposition as a ball out right by Gareth Barry was chased down by both Sergio Aguero and Pepe Reina, with the Argentine chipping a shot past the Spanish keeper and into the back of the net from a tight angle.
Brendan Rodgers gave another start to Jamie Carragher after the veteran defender put in a solid performance against Arsenal midweek, with the only change from the game at the Emirates on Wednesday being the return to the first-team of Jose Enrique, who replaced youngster Andre Wisdom.
With captain Vincent Kompany out injured Roberto Mancini started Matija Nastasic and Joleon Lescott at the back whilst Gareth Barry and Javi Garcia started in the centre of midfield for City due to Yaya Toure's absence at the African Cup of Nations.
The opening encounters offered chances for both sides. David Silva chipped a shot towards goal from just outside the box, which was well saved by Pepe Reina, whilst a looped ball into the box from the right on the fifteen minute mark fell into the path of Daniel Sturridge, who did well to take it under control before his shot on goal was blocked by Pablo Zabaleta.
Luis Suarez will have felt he could have had the Merseyside outfit in the lead on two different occasions, one after Sturridge pulled a ball back across the face of goal and into the path of the Uruguayan, who fired well wide, before some sloppy passing at the back by City gave him a clear sight of goal, but his effort went just wide of the far post.
It was City who struck first however after a good period from the visitors, with James Milner easily breaking past Glen Johnson before playing a low cross into the path of Edin Dzeko, who was poorly marked by Daniel Agger in the centre, who tapped home to give the hosts the lead against the run of play.
Liverpool got their equaliser within minutes of the Manchester City opening. with Reds breaking forward quickly as an attacking move by City broke down, with the ball eventually falling to Daniel Sturridge who fired a drilled shot into Joe Hart's bottom left-hand corner, with the 23-year-old not celebrating against his former team.
The visitors looked the better side in the opening stages in the second-half, pressing and passing well as they did throughout the first period, though there clear cut chances were limited, with Suarez and Sturridge only have a few efforts between them which failed to really test Hart in the City goal.
Barry had a good chance for the visitors, heading just over the bar from a set piece whilst Sergio Aguero may have felt he could have done better when be broke quickly through a number of Liverpool defenders before losing his balance inside the box, failing to get his shot away and allowing Liverpool to once again break forward.
Liverpool put themselves into the lead with just over seventy minutes on the clock as the ball fell to Steven Gerrard outside the box, who hit a stunning strike on the half-volley into Hart's top right-hand corner, leaving the City keeper with no chance of stopping it.
But City came back quickly as Gareth Barry floated a ball from the middle of the park over to the right-hand side of the box where Sergio Aguero, followed by Pepe Reina, went to meet it. The Argentine turned quickly on the ball flicking it past the goalkeeper and into the net from a tight angle to bring the hosts level.
It was the hosts who opened the scoring against the run of play, with poor defending by Glen Johnson and Daniel Agger allowing James Milner to play a low ball into the path of Dzeko, who tapped in to give City an early lead.
It was Daniel Sturridge, returning to his former club, who got Liverpool's equaliser, picking up the ball on the edge of the box and firing a low, drilled effort into the bottom corner of Joe Hart's goal to bring the visitors level minutes after the opener.
A sensational strike from Steven Gerrard gave Liverpool the lead with less than twenty minutes left in the second-half as the midfielder fired an excellent effort from distance into the top right-hand corner of Joe Hart's goal/
But Liverpool once again failed to hold onto a lead against top-half opposition as a ball out right by Gareth Barry was chased down by both Sergio Aguero and Pepe Reina, with the Argentine chipping a shot past the Spanish keeper and into the back of the net from a tight angle.
Brendan Rodgers gave another start to Jamie Carragher after the veteran defender put in a solid performance against Arsenal midweek, with the only change from the game at the Emirates on Wednesday being the return to the first-team of Jose Enrique, who replaced youngster Andre Wisdom.
With captain Vincent Kompany out injured Roberto Mancini started Matija Nastasic and Joleon Lescott at the back whilst Gareth Barry and Javi Garcia started in the centre of midfield for City due to Yaya Toure's absence at the African Cup of Nations.
The opening encounters offered chances for both sides. David Silva chipped a shot towards goal from just outside the box, which was well saved by Pepe Reina, whilst a looped ball into the box from the right on the fifteen minute mark fell into the path of Daniel Sturridge, who did well to take it under control before his shot on goal was blocked by Pablo Zabaleta.
Luis Suarez will have felt he could have had the Merseyside outfit in the lead on two different occasions, one after Sturridge pulled a ball back across the face of goal and into the path of the Uruguayan, who fired well wide, before some sloppy passing at the back by City gave him a clear sight of goal, but his effort went just wide of the far post.
It was City who struck first however after a good period from the visitors, with James Milner easily breaking past Glen Johnson before playing a low cross into the path of Edin Dzeko, who was poorly marked by Daniel Agger in the centre, who tapped home to give the hosts the lead against the run of play.
Liverpool got their equaliser within minutes of the Manchester City opening. with Reds breaking forward quickly as an attacking move by City broke down, with the ball eventually falling to Daniel Sturridge who fired a drilled shot into Joe Hart's bottom left-hand corner, with the 23-year-old not celebrating against his former team.
The visitors looked the better side in the opening stages in the second-half, pressing and passing well as they did throughout the first period, though there clear cut chances were limited, with Suarez and Sturridge only have a few efforts between them which failed to really test Hart in the City goal.
Barry had a good chance for the visitors, heading just over the bar from a set piece whilst Sergio Aguero may have felt he could have done better when be broke quickly through a number of Liverpool defenders before losing his balance inside the box, failing to get his shot away and allowing Liverpool to once again break forward.
Liverpool put themselves into the lead with just over seventy minutes on the clock as the ball fell to Steven Gerrard outside the box, who hit a stunning strike on the half-volley into Hart's top right-hand corner, leaving the City keeper with no chance of stopping it.
But City came back quickly as Gareth Barry floated a ball from the middle of the park over to the right-hand side of the box where Sergio Aguero, followed by Pepe Reina, went to meet it. The Argentine turned quickly on the ball flicking it past the goalkeeper and into the net from a tight angle to bring the hosts level.
Liverpool News 24/7
0 comments:
Post a Comment