FOOTBALL Live

Saturday September 20, 2008 Finished Anfield

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Liverpool

Stoke City

  1. Stoke frustrate Liverpool

    Stoke frustrate Liverpool

    Liverpool were held to a surprise goalless draw by Stoke in a Premier League game short on at entertainment at Anfield. More

  • Live Commentary

    Time:90'
    • Liverpool
    • Stoke City
    • - Thanks for joining us today… still Arsenal and Bolton to come, stay with us for that one.
    • 90'+4 There it is! All over at Anfield and Stoke win a big point, despite Liverpool's total domination!
    • 90'+2 Oooh! Gerrard! So close to the winner! The liverpool skipper hits one first time... .inches over the bar and that could well be it!
    • 90' Another corner to the hosts now... this really is squeaky bum time for Stoke! Headed clear again! And Gerrard fires wide moment later!
    • 88' Liverpool are piling forward in search of a late winner... but Stoke are holding firm - for the time being!
    • 84' Skrtel goes into the book for a poor challenge of Fuller... that one was borne out of frustration.
    • 83' Torres fires over the bar again! And increasingly it's not looking like Liverpool's day.... famous last words, no doubt.
    • 80' Another throw to Stoke! Delap to take... this time it's disappointing though and Skrtel is able to head clear.
    • 76' Stoke make another change... Fuller for Kitson.
    • 76' Fifteen minutes to go... can Stoke hang on... sensible money is on Gerrard popping up with a minute to go...
    • 75' Gerrard unleashes another drive from 25 yards! Corner given!
    • 71' Robbie Keane is hauled off - he'll have to wait a little longer to notch his first goal in a Liverpool shirt - and Yossi Benayoun comes on to replace him.
    • 69' Gerrard unleashes another cross-cum-shot from a free kick! It's almost identical to his effort in the second minute, except this time the ball flies just the other side of the post!
    • 66' Kuyt sees an effort saved at the near post by Sorensen before he flashes a shot just wide of the upright!
    • 65' And Stoke make their first change of the day... Cresswell for Lawrence.
    • 64' Liverpool make a change... on comes Babel to replace Riera.
    • 63' MUST BE! TORRES! NO! Superb block from Faye to deny the Spaniard from the edge of the box!
    • 62' Super take from Sorensen from Kuyt's driven ball into the box! And still no breakthrough for Liverpool...
    • 60' Straight back down to the other end and Arbeloa wins another Liverpool free kick. But again, the hosts cannot make anything from it and in the end Sorensen claims.
    • 59' Lawrence takes it to the back stick... Olofinjana is there to nod back into the dangers zone but Reina gets there first to claim.
    • 58' Delap gets down the left flank again and wins a rare corner for Stoke! The visiting fans love that one!
    • 54' But this really is a terrible game... Liverpool can't hit a barn door with a banjo at moment, and Stoke's lack of ambition is startling.
    • 53' Oooh! Torres heads wide of the mark from Arbeloa's ball in! Liverpool getting closer...
    • 52' Delap wings it into the mixer! Lawrence might get on the end of it... no, he can't and the 'chance' goes begging.
    • 51' Stoke break down the other end and win a throw... and you know who's going to take it... that man Rory Delap.
    • 50' KEANE! Oooh! Arbeloa crosses and this time Keane is there to direct the ball goalwards! Sorensen makes the save!
    • 47' Chance for Stoke! Kitson flicks on for Lawrence, but he can only stab wide of the mark! The offside flag is up anyway, so it wouldn't have counted.
    • 46' Back underway at Anfield! How long can Stoke hang on?
    • 45'+2 And there goes the half time whistle to bring an end to a frankly dire half of football...
    • 45' Chance for Stoke at the end of the first half with a throw in, which Delap will haul into the box... Reina does well to claim it though!
    • 43' Liverpool still on the attack... they win another corner... how many is that now? But every time the outcome is the same... a Stoke header clear.
    • 42' Headed clear by Higginbotham... and still Liverpool cannot find a way through the Stoke defence.
    • 41' Free kick now to Liverpool as Riera's cross strikes Griffin on the arm... this could be dangerous now..
    • 39' Every time Stoke clear the ball, a huge cheer goes up from the visiting support... they're under no illusions about what they wantfrom this game... a point will clearly be a great result.
    • 37' This is a walk in the park for Liverpool... yet they still haven't found a way through and the longer Stoke hold out, the more frustrated the crowd are going to get.
    • 35' This is rapidly turning into shooting practice for Liverpool... and judging by their efforts so far, they need it!
    • 34' Gerrard lets fly from distance after the Stoke defence backs off for a moment... but he's not going to beat Sorensen from that distance.
    • 33' Riera lays the ball off to Kuyt... but that's poor from the Dutchman and his first time drive is dragged well wide.
    • 32' Liverpool are dominant at the moment... not a sniff for Stoke so far.
    • 31' Kuyt plays a cute pass through for Riera to run onto in the box... Faye stands his ground well though and the danger passes.
    • 29' What an effort from Alonso! He hits it first time and Sorensen is forced into making a flying save at his near post! Liverpool getting closer...
    • 29' Riera's proving to be a difficult customer for Stoke to deal with... another cross from the Spaniard and Liverpool have another corner!
    • 28' Riera now fires a shot into the Stoke contingent assembled behind Reina's goal... not a bad strike, but always drifting wide.
    • 26' Torres threatens once again... but that's solid defending from the sub Cort...
    • 24' Super stuff from Riera... great ball in... cleared only as far as GERRARD! Oh dear, that's not his best effort ever... he slips as he strikes the ball and it rolls through tamely.
    • 21' Sonko can't continue and that will be the end of his day... Leon Cort comes on to replace him.
    • 20' Two injury concerns for Stoke now... Sonko limps off while Diao receives some attention for a cut to the eye. Stoke down to 10 men for the time being.
    • 19' Alonso tries his luck from distance... but that's not the Spaniard's best effort... sliced and well wide.
    • 18' Headed clear at the near post and Stoke can breathe again...
    • 17' Delap piles into Kuyt and Liverpool will have another free kick... Alonso over it.
    • 16' There seems to be a problem with updating of comments… just to confirm, Steven Gerrard's second minute strike did not count and the score is still 0-0.
    • 16' Riera fires in a low cross, driven across the face of goal! But there's no one to meet it...
    • 15' Here comes Torres on a burst forward... but the Spaniard is muscled off the ball by the commanding figure of Sonko...
    • 13' Stoke need to settle a little here... they're really not enjoying any kind of possession at the moment.
    • 11' It's on target again from the Liverpool skipper, but it's straight at Sorensen who deals with it without any fuss. Still looking for his 100th goal.
    • 10' Here's another free kick for Liverpool now... Gerrard's over it again...
    • 8' Liverpool are unsurprisingly enjoying the better of possession so far... although Kuyt gives it away cheaply here...
    • 6' Keane now fires straight at Sorensen! This time it's easy for the Stoke keeper.
    • 4' Kitson fires over for Stoke... the visitors first meaningful effort of the day.
    • 2' GOAL! Gerrard puts Liverpool ahead direct from the free kick! What a start for the hosts! The skipper delivers a wicked cross shot which evades everyone and nestles in the corner! And that's 100 for the Anfield legend! NO! The referee disallows it! Kuyt's in an offside position!
    • 2' Liverpool on the front foot right from the off! Free kick to the hosts...
    • 1' Here we go! Underway on Merseyside!
    • - Referee: Andre Marriner (W Midlands)
    • - Stoke: Sorensen, Griffin, Abdoulaye Faye, Sonko, Higginbotham, Lawrence, Olofinjana, Diao, Delap, Kitson, Sidibe - Subs: Simonsen, Cort, Whelan, Cresswell, Fuller, Tonge, Wilkinson
    • - Liverpool: Reina, Arbeloa, Carragher, Skrtel, Dossena, Kuyt, Gerrard, Alonso, Riera, Keane, Torres - Subs: Cavalieri, Agger, Benayoun, Babel, Mascherano, Leiva Lucas, Degen
    • - Hello and welcome to eurosport.yahoo.com's LIVE coverage of today's big game at a sun drenched Anfield!

  • Team Stats

    Liverpool Stats Stoke City
    75% Possession 24%
    30 Shots 2
    6 Shots on target 0
    0 Saves 3
    19 Corners 3
    10 Fouls 8
    1 Offsides 3
    1 Yellow cards 1
    0 Red cards 0
    9 Tackles 15
    465 Accurate passes 92
    74 Bad passes 35

  • Player Stats

    G =
    Goals
    S =
    Shots
    SoT =
    Shot on Target
    F =
    Fouls
    FW =
    Fouls Won
    O =
    Offsides
    A =
    Assists
    AP =
    Accurate Passes
    BP =
    Bad Passes
    T =
    Tackles
    • Liverpool
      G S SoT F FW O A AP BP T
      25 Jose Reina 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 18 0 0
      37 Martin Skrtel 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 51 4 2
      2 Andrea Dossena 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 37 13 1
      17 Alvaro Arbeloa 0 0 0 3 3 0 0 46 1 2
      23 Jamie Carragher 0 1 0 0 1 0 0 59 15 2
      8 Steven Gerrard 0 7 1 0 0 0 0 68 8 0
      14 Xabi Alonso 0 7 2 0 1 0 0 84 14 0
      11 Alberto Riera 0 3 0 1 0 0 0 25 7 1
      9 Fernando Torres 0 3 0 1 2 1 0 12 2 0
      7 Robbie Keane 0 2 2 0 1 0 0 13 2 0
      18 Dirk Kuyt 0 5 1 1 2 0 0 36 6 1
      15 Yossi Benayoun 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 6 0 0
      27 Philipp Degen 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
      5 Daniel Agger 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
      21 Lucas Leiva 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
      1 Diego Cavalieri 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
      20 Javier Mascherano 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
      19 Ryan Babel 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 10 2 0
    • Stoke City
      G S SoT F FW O A AP BP T
      29 Thomas Sorensen 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 8 3 0
      33 Ibrahima Sonko 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 1 0 0
      3 Danny Higginbotham 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 6 5 1
      2 Andy Griffin 0 0 0 3 1 0 0 7 0 1
      25 Abdoulaye Faye 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 5 2 2
      4 Seyi Olofinjana 0 0 0 1 1 0 0 16 1 1
      18 Salif Diao 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 13 4 1
      7 Liam Lawrence 0 0 0 0 1 1 0 7 1 1
      24 Rory Delap 0 1 0 2 0 0 0 5 2 3
      11 Mamady Sidibe 0 0 0 2 2 2 0 10 9 1
      12 Dave Kitson 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 7 3 1
      5 Leon Cort 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 4 0 2
      28 Andy Wilkinson 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
      1 Steve Simonsen 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
      10 Ricardo Fuller 0 0 0 1 2 0 0 1 1 0
      23 Michael Tonge 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
      9 Richard Cresswell 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 2 4 1
      6 Glenn Whelan 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

  • Summary

    • - Thanks for joining us today… still Arsenal and Bolton to come, stay with us for that one.
    • 90'+2 Oooh! Gerrard! So close to the winner! The liverpool skipper hits one first time... .inches over the bar and that could well be it!
    • 75' Gerrard unleashes another drive from 25 yards! Corner given!
    • 66' Kuyt sees an effort saved at the near post by Sorensen before he flashes a shot just wide of the upright!
    • 63' MUST BE! TORRES! NO! Superb block from Faye to deny the Spaniard from the edge of the box!
    • 53' Oooh! Torres heads wide of the mark from Arbeloa's ball in! Liverpool getting closer...
    • 51' Stoke break down the other end and win a throw... and you know who's going to take it... that man Rory Delap.
    • 50' KEANE! Oooh! Arbeloa crosses and this time Keane is there to direct the ball goalwards! Sorensen makes the save!
    • 47' Chance for Stoke! Kitson flicks on for Lawrence, but he can only stab wide of the mark! The offside flag is up anyway, so it wouldn't have counted.
    • 29' What an effort from Alonso! He hits it first time and Sorensen is forced into making a flying save at his near post! Liverpool getting closer...
    • 6' Keane now fires straight at Sorensen! This time it's easy for the Stoke keeper.
    • 4' Kitson fires over for Stoke... the visitors first meaningful effort of the day.
    • 2' GOAL! Gerrard puts Liverpool ahead direct from the free kick! What a start for the hosts! The skipper delivers a wicked cross shot which evades everyone and nestles in the corner! And that's 100 for the Anfield legend! NO! The referee disallows it! Kuyt's in an offside position!

Live Team Line-Up

  • Referee: Andre Marriner

  • Liverpool

    Manager: Rafael Benitez

    Captain: Steven Gerrard

    Starting line-up

    • J. Reina
    • A. Arbeloa
    • J. Carragher
    • M. Skrtel Yellow Card
    • A. Dossena
    • D. Kuijt
    • X. Alonso
    • S. Gerrard
    • A. Riera Substitution Out (64′)
    • F. Torres
    • R. Keane Substitution Out (72′)

    Subs

    • Y. Benayoun Substitution In72′
    • P. Degen
    • J. Mascherano
    • R. Babel Substitution In64′
    • D. Agger
    • L. Lucas
    • D. Cavalieri

    Injured

    None

    Suspended

    None

  • Stoke City

    Manager: Tony Pulis

    Captain: Andy Griffin

    Starting line-up

    • T. Sorensen
    • A. Griffin
    • A. Diagne-Faye
    • I. Sonko Substitution Out (21′)
    • D. Higginbotham
    • S. Olofinjana
    • R. Delap
    • S. Diao
    • L. Lawrence Substitution Out (65′)
    • D. Kitson Substitution Out (77′)
    • M. Sidibe

    Subs

    • S. Simonsen
    • R. Cresswell Substitution In65′
    • M. Tonge
    • R. Fuller Substitution In77′
    • G. Whelan
    • A. Wilkinson
    • L. Cort Substitution In21′

    Injured

    • A. Davies

    Suspended

    • A. Faye