Liverpool vs. Swansea: Winners and Losers from Premier League Game
Liverpool will enter 2015 in the top half of the Premier League table after Monday's 4-1 victory over Swansea City catapulted them to eighth spot in the English top flight.
Adam Lallana scored twice for the Reds and Alberto Moreno also found the back of the net, while Jonjo Shelvey completed the hosts' offensive output with an own goal. Gylfi Sigurdsson notched the lone tally for Swansea, who are ninth as 2014 comes to a close.
The final Premier League match of the calendar year featured several impressive performances and a few others that stood out for rather more notorious reasons.
Following are the individual winners and losers from the encounter at Anfield.
Winner: Emre Can, Who Impressed in Defense for Liverpool
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The versatile Emre Can might have expected to feature mostly in midfield when he joined Liverpool from Bayer Leverkusen during the summer, but on Monday the 20-year-old played from the start in the centre of defense.
It looked a natural fit.
Swansea winger Wayne Routledge got barely a sniff down the left-hand side. At the final whistle, Can had made an interception, contributed five clearances and maintained a passing accuracy of 91 percent, according to Squawka.
Rory Smith, correspondent for The Times, referred to the Germany under-21 international as "promising" in a post-match tweet.
Loser: Jonjo Shelvey, Who Scored an Own Goal
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Jonjo Shelvey has rarely been as popular at Anfield.
The former Liverpool midfielder departed the club in 2013 but on Monday returned to score for the team for which he made 69 appearances.
With 21 minutes remaining, and with the Reds leading 3-1, the 22-year-old fought off Adam Lallana to get a head to Jordan Henderson's corner, which he proceeded to nod into the back of his own goal.
"That sums up his night just about," tweeted talkSPORT's Ian Danter.
Winner: Adam Lallana, Who Bagged a First Premier League Brace
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Adam Lallana bagged his first Premier League brace on Monday, and both goals came within 10 minutes of one another in the second half.
In the 51st minute, with Liverpool already 1-0 up through Alberto Moreno's opener, Lallana lurked in front of Swansea goalkeeper Lukasz Fabianski, who was about to kick the ball downfield, and will have only felt the 'keepers clearance deflect off his body before rolling into the back of the net.
Then, shortly after the hour-mark, he accepted Philippe Coutinho's back-heeled pass before beating Fabianski from a tight angle.
As the Liverpool Echo's Neil Jones remarked via Twitter, Lallana had his name sung by the Kop as he made way for Lazar Markovic in the 77th minute.
Loser: Andre Marriner, Who Should Have Presented Two Red Cards
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In the 41st minute, Swansea midfielder Jonjo Shelvey should have been ejected after putting his arm into Emre Can's face.
Late in the second half, Liverpool forward Raheem Sterling should have been shown a straight red card for slapping Federico Fernandez just below the eye.
Neither player, however, was shown even a yellow card by referee Andre Marriner, whose Monday performance was notable for its consistency in poor decision-making.
"No red cards shown for two clear red card offences," remarked Bleacher Report's Sam Tighe via Twitter.
Winner: Philippe Coutinho, Who Put in a Masterful Performance
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At least one pundit felt Philippe Coutinho was worthy of Man of the Match honors.
"Coutinho easily Man of the Match today," tweeted journalist Cristian Nyari.
Liverpool Echo's Neil Jones, meanwhile, referred to the Brazilian as "brilliant."
While he didn't create a goal in the first half, Coutinho quite nearly put Raheem Sterling through to score with a cute clip the England international almost certainly wasn't expecting.
But in the 61st minute, his delightful back-heeled pass found Adam Lallana, who took a few steps on the dribble before finding the back of the net at the far corner.
According to Squawka, Coutinho completed five take-ons, contributed an interception and had three shots on target.
Loser: Steven Gerrard, Who Watched from the Bench as Liverpool Won Big
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Steven Gerrard was notable by his absence on Monday.
The Liverpool captain spent the entirety of the match on the bench, where he was reduced to watching his team beat Swansea 4-1.
It was, as Goal writer Peter Staunton tweeted, the Reds' "best performance of the season" and it came, he added, "on a night they drop Steven Gerrard."
The hosts certainly looked sharp in their passing, bright in their ideas and fluid in their buildup play at Anfield, and that they put in such an impressive display without Gerrard is, perhaps, more than a coincidence.
In any event, it's something manager Brendan Rodgers will surely have on his mind as he prepares for upcoming matches against Leicester City, AFC Wimbledon, Sunderland and Aston Villa, after which Liverpool face Chelsea in the semi-finals of the Capital One Cup.
