Liverpool FC-Wigan Athletic: Reds Do It Again

Liverpool fans around the world were once again left biting their fingernails, as their team came from behind to beat a spirited Wigan Athletic at Anfield. They needed the win to stay on level points with league leaders Chelsea, who had earlier demolished a hapless Middlesbrough 5-0 during the lunch time encounter at the Riverside Stadium.

Much of the pre-match talk centred on the impact of the international break, with Liverpool entering the match without top scorer Fernando Torres, as well as the missing Ryan Babel and Javier Mascherano, who only returned to Melwood on Friday afternoon. 

Wigan had their own injury worries with former Liverpool player Emile Heskey; a reputed transfer target for Rafael Benitez in the January transfer window, picking up a knock on international duty with England.

Daniel Agger replaced the in-form centre back Martin Skrtel, who suffered knee ligament damage in the stirring win over Manchester City 13 days ago, whilst Dirk Kuyt moved up front to partner Robbie Keane.

Kuyt's replacement on the right of midfield was Jermaine Pennant, who made his first Premier League start this campaign.

The First Half

Wigan adopted an attacking approach from early on, showing they were not content to play a 10-1 formation, which soon paid dividends for the visitors.

A terrible mistake at the back between Pepe Reina and Daniel Agger allowed Egyptian striker Amir Zaki to rob the Dane and finish coolly past the advancing Liverpool keeper.

It was the seventh goal in all competitions for the striker, who looks to have been a good acquisition by the Wigan manager Steve Bruce.

Liverpool went searching for an equaliser, and it soon came for the home side when Dirk Kuyt scored his third goal in as many matches. 

Keen to make amends for his earlier mistake, Agger carried the ball a good 50 yards into the Wigan half, exchanged a neat one-two with Riera before he showed great skill in the box to allow him to centre for Kuyt, who's shot came off a diving Kirkland, but still had the pace to find the back of the net.

Liverpool pushed for a second goal with an excellent shot from Kuyt some 20 yards out which was only just tipped onto the bar by Kirkland. This was soon followed up with a great chance for Riera, but he could only direct his header wide of the target. 

The home side were dominant in the lead up to halftime, but the Kop was stunned in to silence as the Wigan striker Zaki—the joint top scorer in the league—acrobatically converted an Antonio Valencia cross that gave Reina no chance.

It was an excellent goal, which gave Wigan a lead they had deserved for their persistent attacking play during the game against the joint league leaders.

The Second Half

With Wigan leading away from home, you could have been forgiven for thinking that they would close up shop and get everyone behind the ball, but to their credit, they continued to defend well against the Reds—who came out strong after the interval in search of the equaliser they needed.

After a poor tackle on Robbie Keane just outside the Wigan box on 72 minutes, Steven Gerrard had Kirkland well beaten with the awarded free kick going narrowly wide of the right post.

Antonio Valencia's refusal to keep the mandatory distance from the ball before the Gerrard free kick earned him a yellow card and just three minutes later he was shown another, followed by the red, for a very poor tackle on Xabi Alonso.

Interestingly, it was the third time in three matches that a player has been sent off for a bad tackle on the Spaniard.

Replacing fullbacks Andrea Dossena and Alvaro Arbeloa with Nabil El Zhar and Yossi Benayoun, Rafa was making his intentions clear to his team; he wanted three points from the game.

Liverpool were now playing with just two at the back, a decision that soon paid dividends for the manager. The substitute El Zhar had received praise from the Anfield faithful for his role in their come-from-behind win over Middlesbrough earlier in the season and the young Moroccan had an almost immediate impact after coming on.

He worked his way down the left well, confusing the Wigan defence with some clever stepovers, and following an excellent dummy from Gerrard, the ball found its way to Riera in plenty of space to drill into the bottom right hand corner for his first goal in a Liverpool shirt. 

The Winning Goal

With just 10 minutes remaining, the Liverpool supporters where asking if they could pull another result out of the bag. They soon got their answer with Dirk Kuyt, the hero of the Eastland’s come back, popping up for his second consecutive game winner and his fourth goal in three games. 

Jermaine Pennant, who looked dangerous on the right, crossed well for Kuyt to score with an acrobatic finish to give Liverpool the lead on 85 minutes. The Reds managed to hold out for the remaining 10 minutes, which included five minutes of added time, to claim all three points.

Attention now turns to Liverpool's meeting with Atletico Madrid this coming Wednesday, which is followed by a top-of-the-table clash with Chelsea at Stamford Bridge next weekend.

With any luck, we Liverpool fans won’t be faced with the roller-coaster excitement of the past few games. I don't think my heart, or my girlfriend, can deal with the stress and the screaming.