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LIVERPOOL v MIDDLESBROUGH FULL-TIME REPORT
'Keep it tight at the back' was the instruction from the Boss. Boro started with a 4-4-2 formation and with no Stuart Parnaby, the options for change were limited.
Mark Viduka started up front with Yakubu with Mad-Dog Pogatetz on the bench with Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink.
Schwarzer, Bates, Southgate, Riggott, Queudrue, Morrison, Doriva, Boateng, Rochemback, Viduka, Yakubu
Jones, Ehiogu, Pogatetz, Johnson, Hasselbaink
THE FIRST HALF
Sloppy play from Rochemback in the very first seconds could have allowed Morientes in for a chance but Boro stayed safe and remained so when Skippy plucked Gerrard's shot out of the air with the game just minutes old.
That was Liverpool's third shot on goal but the first one that was on target. Boro were chasing the game from the off and needed more control in the midfield area to have a chance of getting anything from this one.
With twelve minutes played, Boro started to grow in confidence with Rochemback looking lively and Viduka stalking the Liverpool defence and making them look a little shaky, surprising for a team who had not conceded a goal for nine matches.
Boro continued to get their game together as the minutes ticked by but to whatever degree we felt like we had a grip on the game, Liverpool were always going to remain a threat. Despite looking ever so slightly the more assured, we would have been a goal down on twenty minutes but for Skippy's great save from Morientes.
Boro were consistent in trying to create striking chances and almost forged out several openings for Mark Viduka. George Boateng fluffed a half chance and the feeling that Boro could achieve a breakthrough before half time was quite realistic.
What Boro could have done with was attempting to up the pace. This was something that Liverpool were obviously capable of doing at any time and it would spell danger each time they pushed forward at pace. Boro's defence were in very good form up to now and the threat from Crouch had so far been easily checked.
The scoring was almost opened from an unlikely source with eight minutes to go before the break when Captain Gareth upended the Liverpool midfield and sent a driving shot in that almost had the better of Reina.
Literally a minute later, the play went straight down the other end as Peter Crouch brilliantly set up Sissoko for the best chance of the game so far but his header was directed straight at Skippy who had no trouble collecting.
The game was wide open at half-time and was there for whoever wanted it the most in the second half. It was a decent enough performance from Boro more chances up front after the break could see us do very well today.
FIRST HALF FAN REACTION
"It's a bit dull but we are capable of collecting points here. We need to keep possession in midfeild though becasue we'll get punished if we keep losing it like we have been doing."
Harry Haverton
THE SECOND HALF
Boro nearly got the dream start in the second half as Rochemback played a dream ball to Viduka who crashed a shot into Reina's legs. It was the type of chance that he usually thrives on and the disappointment was immense.
Boro had started the second half at a storming pace and were clearly intent on grabbing an early lead. But Liverpool matched us in all departments and twice nearly got the breakthrough themselves within a couple of minutes.
Yet another great save from Skippy had kept the score level and it wasn't long before Boro lost the adrenalin that had been evident in the very early stages of the half.
Instead, it was Liverpool now forcing the pace with both Peter Crouch and Harry Kewell taking potshots at the Boro goal for fun.
Play was interrupted on sixty-three minutes as Sissoko went in for a challenge on Bates and hashed it up, fouling the defender in the process. Bates gave him a little shove with the palm of his hand and the six foot two Sissoko went down as though he had been smashed with a breeze block. Both players were booked, Bates for bullying the bigger man and Sissoko for being soft.
Peter Crouch was taken off just after the Bates' incident and looked incredibly disappointed at his substitution. It paid almost immediate dividends as Luis Garcia took over the striker's role and played in Morientes who made no mistkae in finally beating Skippy.
LIVERPOOL 1 MIDDLESBROUGH 0 (Morientes 71)
Boro went straigt for the throat after going behind and produced a great move from defence which culminated in James Morrison playing Mark Viduka in for a glorious chance that he narrowly failed to put away. The game was not over just yet...
James Morrison was taken off for Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink as Boro continued to press on in search of the equaliser with a three pronged attack. You can't get much more positive then that.
But you can't get much more negative than going two down at Anfield and that's exactly what happened immediately after the substitution as Morientes broke though again and found himself with little to beat as the defence went missing and Liverpool finished the game off.
LIVERPOOL 2 MIDDLESBROUGH 0 (Morientes 77)
It was a case of damage limitation now as Liverpool went looking for their third. Boro, with next to no chance of winning this one were on the back foot as the crowd urged Liverpool on to yet another victory without conceding.
INTO THE RED ZONE
It really was the red zone for Chris Riggott as Boro's afternoon went from bad to worst. Steven Gerrard was looking to break forward and Chris mistimed his tackle and brought Gerrard down. It was his second bookable offence and there was only one course of action that the ref could have taken. Chris' first bookable was so innocuous that I can't even recall it happening.
Boro reshuffled, Ugo coming on for Yakubu and Boro reverting to 4-4-2 again. The last time we played Liverpool, on the opening day of the season, Ugo was sent off, for a foul on Gerrard.
Liverpool played a game of keep possession in the last seven or eight minutes, which is exactly what we do when we are ahead with time running out. But there was no chance of that happening after the first goal went in today as Boro are not particularly adept at making startling comebacks.
Another defeat sees us almost certainly drop out of the top ten and we can be thankful that our next game sees a return to cup action becasue we are just not cutting it in the league at all. A bit like Liverpool last season.
FULL TIME FAN REACTION
"What a huge disappointment that was. We never went for them when we had the chance to. A goal in the first ten minutes of the second half would have changed everything but we are just not capable of killing teams off. We've gone back to being distinctly average."
Harry Haverton
Final Whistle: 1438 - Report Online: 1442
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