With the international break come and gone, Rafa Benitez fielded a squad missing Javier Mascherano after picking up a knock during Argentina’s midweek fixture, as well as long term injuries to Alberto Aquilani, Fabio Aurelio and Daniel Agger but welcomed back Martin Skrtel from injury after recovering from a cracked jaw.
Ryan Babel’s long term future at the club was further put into question with the Dutchman being left out of the squad altogether.
Heading into the match, the Reds had been shaky at best in their previous four matches while Burnley stunned Manchester United and Everton. The first period saw Burnley peg the Reds back with some neat football and sloppy play from their opponents.
That soon changed as the midfield slowly gained control in the centre of the park with Steven Gerrard playing alongside Lucas. Yossi Benayoun was given a license to attack playing behind Fernando Torres in a familiar lone striker role and it was the Israeli international who struck first blood.
Benayoun picked up possession deep in Burnley’s half and neatly weaved past the Clarets’ skipper, Graham Alexander, before slotting past Jensen with aplomb.
The goal seemed to spark a Reds side stuck in second gear and they set out to put their new divisional rivals to the sword. Benayoun, again at the heart of a Liverpool attack, saw his diving header blocked by Jensen, while Dirk Kuyt was denied from a rebounding effort.
Kuyt again showed his poaching skills on 41 minutes as a swerving shot from Benayoun was parried into Kuyt’s path and the unmarked winger was on hand to slot home from the six yard box, sending the Anfield faithful into raptures
It could of been three before half time as Captain Fantastic had a superb 20 yard shot saved by an equally impressive save from Burnley shot stopper, Jensen.
A penalty shout came from the Reds just after the interval but it was adjudged to be a free kick only. The resulting effort saw Albert Riera have his effort blocked.
A largely ineffective Fernando Torres was finally in the limelight as he latched on to a long ball from Kuyt but former Derby defender Tyrone Mears sensed the danger and defused the situation with a fine tackle.
Torres was at the heart of another fine move from Liverpool as he picked the ball up on the right hand side of the penalty area and found a surging Gerrard with a neat little pass who then burst into the box and teed up Benayoun for a much deserved second.
The No.15 thought he had another Liverpool hat-trick but was harshly ruled offside.
A rampaging Gerrard found himself one-on-one in the 74th minute after some immense pressure on the Burnley defence but his heavy touch put him in an obscure position, his resulting effort however nearly snuck in but was denied by the post.
Benayoun ensured he would go home with the match ball after a neat run and pass from Riera found Voronin in the middle of the park and his superb slide-rule through ball found Benayoun who took his time in delivering the killer blow.
Voronin could of got on the scoresheet himself to inject some confidence into his game but he shot wide.
It didn’t matter too much, however, as the Reds ran away with a much needed 3 points. Our first back-to-back win for the new campaign.
The boys now play Debrecen in the Champions League midweek, hoping to start their European campaign on the right foot.
Post Match Comments
Rafa Benitez:
“Yossi had been away on international duty and done a lot of travelling, but he wanted to play.
“It is important to him to show his quality in every training session and every match.
“Over the seasons he has shown his value coming off the bench, but now he is showing how important he can be with movement and passing from the start.”
Teams and Match Stats
Liverpool: Reina, Carragher, Insua, Skrtel, Johnson (Degen 64), Gerrard, Leiva, Benayoun, Kuyt (Voronin 69), Torres (Ngog 75), Riera
Unused Subs: Cavalieri, Dossena, Spearing, Kyrgiakos
Goals: Benayoun (27, 61, 82), Kuyt (41)
Possession: 59% – Shots 27 (On target 16)
Burnley: Jensen, Alexander (Gudjonnsen 75), Carlisle, Mears, Bikey, Jordan, Elliot, McCann, Fletcher, Paterson (Nugent 70), Blake (Eagles 58)
Unused Subs: Penny, McDonald, Guerrero, Thompson
Booked: Jordan, Eagles
Possession: 41% – Shots 6 (On target 3)
Referee: Lee Mason
Attendance: 43,817
Of course Yossi will get the plaudits following his hat-trick and rightly so. I’ve long felt Yossi is a top player and those that have criticised him have often been too quick to knock him. He can add a hell of a lot to this team and is more than just a squad player in my opinion.
Something else few people have mentioned is the fact that we reverted to a 4-4-2 with Gerrard playing alongside Lucas. although our captain didn’t score, he got forward like a man possessed and could easily of grabbed a couple of goals. I feel Gerrard may have greater impact this season playing in the middle. Decent teams will shackle hm if he plays in the hole behind Torres as we saw agaisnt Spurs and Villa. On that note, Torres didn’t score either but in many games this season he has been closely marked by 2-3 players and has often received some rough treatment. Putting Kuyt up next to Torres may help him find a little more space to work is magic and at least take some physical pressure off him.
Great to see our 2 man team win so comfortably without a goal from either of the men in question. This team has goals in it. This team has perfromances in it and will only get better. We can look forward to the returns of both Agger and Aquilani and go into the Autumn in a positive frame of mind. we may not have the strength in depth of the likes of Chelsea, Utd or even Man City, but the strength of our squad is not the reason we came second last season. Silly draws agaisnt teams we should’ve beaten cost us and that had more to do with our approach to those games than the players in our squad. It was more a case of us losing the title last year than Utd winning it. Things are looking up though.
Play Yossi every week!
yossi benayoun is a gr8 player.ppl around me refuseto support liverpool becuz of him.since yossi is israeli.i just hope that his skill and football can show that he has nothin 2 do with his country
I watched the game live knowing the star player would be yossi… and it happend so!! well, its up to rafa to give yossi a green lightl! he is a superb player just you”ve got to trust in him!
Benayoun again proved what an underrated player he his by scoring a hat trick that should have been four.A good win against a team that we’d previously struggle against.
we played very well in a comfortable game, Rafa will change for the champions league but keep the same team just swap Mach for Lucas if he is fit against West Ham and we should get a victory there.
Hear, hear! I thoroughly enjoyed the game from start to finish.
Great to see the Reds back in action and back to winning ways. Now time to build on it.