vs Burnley@Anfield

It's 4-0. 4 is officially my favourite number now.. ^_^

We started a bit slow. Burnley had the first chance on goal. In the first 20minutes or so, frustrated Liverpool were restricted to long range shots by Torres,Kuyt and Gerrard. Then Benayoun found a space in between Burnley defenders and gave Jensen no chance. A fine starting goal. After that goal, everything clicked into place. Benayoun could have had 4 if it's not for the dubious offside call. He was onside ref, only Torres and Kuyt were offside. Black hair, blonde hair, see the difference? Didn't matter, he got his hatrick.

Well, we started with Stevie and Lucas in the central midfield, Benayoun and Riera on both flanks, Carra ad Skrtel at the heart of the defence and Insua and Johnson at full backs, with Torres and Kuyt leading the attack. Then halfway through the 1st half, Rafa signaled for a tactical change. Kuyt moved more toward the right side and Benayoun was given the license to roam. A decision proved worthy. Gerrard started from deeper and was quiet for the first 20 minutes or so, but then ran the midfield and his usual forward bombardings.

Benayoun was exceptional. I'd give him 9/10. But what's more impressive is that Lucas performed well. He bulked up in the summer and definitely looked stronger. There was a scene in the 2nd half where we displayed a sloppy defensive play, and it was Lucas who finally managed to bring the ball out of the area. He used his body to block a bigger Burnley player and got the ball out of dangerous area,an impressive strength for a man of his size. He passed well too albeit some of his trademark sideways and backward passing, but he kept the ball flowing and gave chance to Stevie to get forward often. We need a player like this,like how Alonso used to do for us,the reason Gerrard-Torres partnership was so successful.

Benayoun the picked up the ball at the edge of the area and shot. Jensen couldn't handle it and Kuyt,always the opportunist punished him from the rebound. Half-time break came at a wrong time,we were on fire.

Nice team play for the 3rd goal between Torres,Gerrard and Benayoun. Torres picked up the ball at the right side of the area and passed to Gerrard, Gerrard with his timely run picked up the pass perfectly, got past defenders, feigned a shot and passed the ball to Benayoun for a simple tap-in with the keeper already defeated.

Then Liverpool got a freekick after Gerrard was fouled at the left side of the area. Gerrard took the freekick, Benayoun scored but he was deemed offside when he was not.Ughh. Nevermind, his treble came with a smart assist from Voronin. The funny thing is that everyone thought he was offside,and even he took a second longer before taking a shot. A thoroughly deserved hatrick.

Gerrard was guilty of not scoring. He got past 4 defenders, rounded the keeper, but then the angle was so acute he only managed to hit the post. Frustration and disappointment were evident on his expression. The other chance was the Voronin's backheel, but he only managed to shoot straight to Jansen. And if it wasn't for Jansen, we would be having a Gerrard special last night in the form of a wicked twisted ball in the upper right corner of the net.

Torres didn't have the brightest night, but with he present on he field, he was sure to drag at least 2 defenders alongside him, thus opening the space and opportunity for his teammates to do the job. Riera was quite disapointing in the 1st half, but he must be in the receiving end of Rafa's halftime break verbal abuse that he upped his performance in the 2nd half.

Johnson wasn't able to go forward as much as he liked initially in the absence of Mascherano to cover his defensive track but as the game progressed he got more forward and helped with the attack.Generally an okay performance for someone who was being put under scrutiny for his England performance. Insua gave a solid defensive display too. That was a good cross for Benayoun to head in. Reina was a mere spectator for a large part of the game but not disappointing when called upon. His distribution is the best in business. Sktel who has just returned from injury didn't have a great night,the physical presence of Burnley players seemed to bother him a bit.Oh how I missed the bitchface.Haha.Carra was as rock solid as always.

Oh, and does Rafa have a varicose vein over his forehead? I could see the dilated, tortuous vein during his after-match press conference. Too much to think,eh? Think well Rafa, for we want to win EPL this year.