Premier League - Liverpool held by Spurs on Suarez return
Liverpool missed out on the chance to move up to sixth in the Premier League table after they were held to a 0-0 draw by Tottenham Hotspur at Anfield.
Not even the return of Luis Suarez was enough to stop the Reds sharing the points on their own turf for an eighth time in 12 league games this season.
The stalemate means that Liverpool remain in seventh place, where they are now one point behind Arsenal. Tottenham remain in third following their first goalless draw of the season, five points behind Manchester United and seven short of leaders Manchester City.
This match had been circled in the calendar for many weeks by Liverpool fans because it marked the return from suspension of Suarez. The Uruguay forward was eligible to play for the Reds for the first time since Boxing Day after he completed his eight-match suspension.
However, it looked for a time as though he would again be denied the right to play as a thick fog settled over Anfield which threatened to see the match postponed. Referee Michael Oliver ruled the game could go ahead, but the conditions on a wintry evening in England were enough to make Tottenham manager Harry Redknapp miss the game as his flight from London was cancelled.
Mercifully the fog lifted as kick-off approached, giving all of Anfield a better chance to catch a glimpse of Suarez on the bench and for a phalanx of photographers to snap England manager Fabio Capello in the stand.
Spurs came into this fixture with a host of key players missing, although they were least affected by their absentees at the back as Michael Dawson and Ledley King started together for the first time this season.
Dawson had the Anfield crowd on their feet in the opening five minutes when he felled Andy Carroll with a sliding tackle inside the box after a weighted pass from Steven Gerrard, but Oliver correctly saw that it was a fine challenge from the Spurs defender.
Last Tuesday saw Everton's match with Manchester City at Goodison Park stopped due to a man handcuffing himself to a goalpost, and less than a week later another match on Merseyside was halted by a pitch invader when a cat ran on to the field. The ash grey feline scampered across the turf and past a bemused Brad Friedel before a steward calmly gathered it up.
That intrusion proved to be the main talking point of a first half in which both sides passed the ball around well in midfield but were largely unable to trouble the opposition keeper.
Jay Spearing had one fearsome strike from range but the ball swerved wide and struck the stanchion behind the net. The Liverpool midfielder still awaits his first goal for the club.
Glen Johnson forced a save from Friedel's legs just before half-time, but there was little to separate the two teams at the break.
The home crowd were made to wait for Suarez to be introduced as neither side made a change at the break.
Martin Kelly stung the palms of Friedel from range near the hour mark, but the game was given a big lift when Suarez did eventually make his entrance on 66 minutes.
He appeared to have lost none of his livewire movement or cunning guile during his absence as he was immediately involved, though the more infamous side of his game also emerged soon enough as he earned a booking for a boot to the midriff of Scott Parker less than five minutes after coming on.
Another Liverpool booking soon afterwards went to Martin Skrtel when the Slovakian defender lunged in with a challenge that caught Gareth Bale on the shin. Other officials may have seen that incident differently.
Carroll fired over the bar when he should have at least tested Friedel before Suarez was the most striking example of a Liverpool player who failed to meet a good delivery with a dangerous header.
Bale - who had earlier earned a booking for an act of simulation - could have won the game for Spurs when he beat the offside trap with five minutes remaining. The Welshman was one-on-one with Pepe Reina but the decision to finish through the Spaniard's legs was the wrong call.
With Suarez back among their ranks Liverpool can have fresh cause for optimism, but the fact they had 15 shots against Spurs and were once again unable to find a winner will be of great cause for concern.
Comment 434 - 453 of 453
Carroll CANNOT play well in this hotch-potch of a team.BUT-WHEN HE ESCAPES DALGLISH'S INFLUENCE, he WILL become a superstar.
ref-plonkmorton item.fully agree-and also their murderous fans
Harrysingleton that's exactly what they did do..They said in their opinion Evra's version was more reliable than Suarez's.as for your prediction we wil see.But I will also make a prediction if Suarez plays on Saturday against Man/U he will be chopped down within the first 5 Min's and every time he gets the ball.Simply because whether you admit or not you know that United's defence will not be able to stop him any other way.Your last comment relating to the Press let me inform you and everybody else..There is no press in Liverpool.Even the Liverpool Echo is printed in Greater Manchester.
Firstly MAN/U were extremely lucky to get away from Anfield with a point this season..We hit the bar and a post..SAF said we got out of jail on that one..Man/U had to come out at Anfield in the cup they got beaten..man city the same had to come out scored two so did we..They went out of the cup..Add liverpool's goals to the shots against the woodwork..And there have been 5 opposition goalkeepers who have received the man of the match awards.,,Yes we know what our problems are and as for what Kenny did at Newcastle.That does not have any bearing on what he is doing now..Are you suggesting Parker and Bale shouldn't have walked also?.If you are, take another look at the video.And as for the mop head he should have been red carded last week.Should Adebayor have walked for the tackle on Bellamy?.Now as for Shreck tweeting Suarez should have been sent off.Pity his tweeting didn't include the Kung Fu Kick by Scholes on Davies rib cage.Yes Man/u have scored all those goals and we have missed them but have a look at goals conceded and that defence is like a creaking gate.
The one thing I find incredulous is that Rooney Tweeted that he thought Suarez should have gotten a straight red card. Does he think that we (the footballing public) would forget the obviously malicious elbow/forearm smash that he used on another player, James McCarthy of Wigan, which was totally 'off the ball', but which the referee allegedly saw and decided to take no action. Rooney is a proper thug as has been proved when he kicked a Montenegro opponent wearing an England shirt. ROONEY! Think before you tweet, 'People in glass houses etc' readilly springs to mind.
Peter Totally wrong.United and City have had teams playing defensively against them all season and look at how many they have scored.Teams are not feared of Anfield this season they are confident.As for Suarez it was a long enquiry and do you think they are so stupid to believe one person against another Liverpool knew the evidence was stacked against him otherwise they would have appealed.Suarez has had a terrible record prior to Liverpool and even after the Evra incident he does a stupid obscene gesture.Then he comes back last night and gets a yellow card.Some players are just problem players and Luis Suarez is one.Let me make this prediction.In the next few months he will become involved in another incident and of course he wont be guilty ! Dont believe what Liverpool and the Merseyside Press tell you because the outside world doesnt believe them and you are naive if you do
Liverpool have had a poor record at Anfield this season.Kenny Dalglish has got a reputation as a defensive Coach and there is ample proof of this.Liverpool have scored 28 goals in the Premier this season.Compare this with manchester United who have scored 59 goals.Kenny has got to find a way of creating a team who can score goals as well as defending well.At Newcastle he was called Dullgleish at that 28 goals is the reason why Liverpool have had a relatively poor season besides the Cup Competitions
Liverpool were very lucky to have more that 9 on the pitch after those two dreadful descisions by the referee.
It was clearly a Red Card for Suarez after he had firstly shoved Parker in the back then immediatly kicking in the stomach - the ball was at least 10 feet up in the air at that time. The studs up challenge (if you could call it a challenge) by Skrtel was a certain Red Card, for the very first time in my life I agree with Wayne Rooney on this! I am a Spurs fan but any decent honest football fan would have to agree that Suarez and Skrtel deserved to be sent off!
Where has this Liverpool where going to win the league this year come from?.Certainly not from Anfield.The only thing that was said was we would progress and aim for a top 4 finish.We have certainly progressed simply because..EVERY team that has played at Anfield this season has been terrified and parked the bus across the goal area..Yes we have not done as well as we had hoped but we are still in there for a top 4 finish..Also we have hit the woodwork on 23 occasions.That does not help our league position in any way whatsoever but what it does say is we are one of the most attacking sides in the league..As for Suarez had he have denied saying what he said it would have been his word against Evra.."No case"..Even the most brain dead cretin on here can not believe Suarez would deny saying what he said, had he known then what he knows now
its amazing the police have been investigating the suarez evra incident as long as F.A have and have found nothing obviously no evidence but Everyone knows the F.A will do anything for Man utd or any of the utd players.
If suarez was thought to be guilty by the police they would have to give him the same treatment as Terry and make him go to court.
Just amazing how F.A took evras word with NO real evidence.
If any evidence does come out of Suarez being racist, LFC should get rid of him (evidence from the police) not F.A. As I said before the F.A will do anything for M.U or any M.U player.
the fa are the racists.not a one match ban for terry.
he is free to lead his players into poland, just like his hero did.
Sign on, Sign on with Hope in your heart.
I only have a short comment...WELL DONE U SPURS!!!!!
re 445....what a prick you are !!!!!!! probably never been to a game.....TELLY CLAPPER.
Anyone else think Daiglish has lost the plot ! He just waits to attack reporters when they ask him questions. He seems to become as deluded as most Liverpool fans. Good defensive display when we had lost so many players and manager and forced into playing a different shape, first King and Dawson partnership of season...imense.....Parker was everywhere again, just how many saves did Friedel have to make??? 2 or 3?? closest Liverpool came was when the cat was through on goal. Yep even with the racist back, even with Gerrard (stuck in Parkers pocket all night) and Andy (35million crappy) Carroll you still couldnt beat us. COYS !!
Accept we are not in the 80's LFC
441..GORDON IS A MORON..Your correct in the quote weve enough thugs,low lifes and scum in the uk..but most of these people are at old trafford ...on the pitch and in the stands.....GORDON IS A MORON....
Hmm! 4-0 and 0-0. How come Liverpool couldn't score a single goal against Spurs in 180 minutes of football?
442 you sound like a racist yourself ,,deciding who should be in the uk or not! Anyone remember that song "Gordon is a moron!"?
I love reading comments from rival fans. it makes me feel my education was worth it. Seriously, were they all playing football when spelling class was on? When you're that thick your analytical skills are nothing to brag about.
Didn't the bin dippers swear they'd win the title this year? Losers.
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