captain stevie g returned to the starting line-up and a surprised inclusion of danny wilson by the manager. liverpool didn't do too bad for the first 30 minutes but they hadn't really troubled the opposition keeper rob green either.
it was a quite balance match with both teams tried to have a peak on the oppositions goal but nothing really happened. kuyt and suarez had a quiet game. gerrard after a couple of weeks missing from football doesn't look much like his old self yet.
there was no link-up play upfront between suarez, kuyt and meireles. johnson was busy down the left flank though. most of liverpool moves were initiated there.
scott parker's goal on the 22' was a typical opportunist's goal. after a good one two he just toe poked the ball to pepe's far post. the ball didn't really travel with high velocity but it just swerved and went into the back of net. liverpool tried to respond with a quick counter attack and they managed to get a corner but nothing happened.
after a goal down, liverpool had to deal with another blow when right back martin kelly had to be withdrawn due to a hamstring injury. this will be a big blow to manager kenny dalglish as kelly has been performing really well.
right at the stroke of half time west ham's demba ba scored with a strong header from a cross. liverpool was down 2 - 0 at HT.
the hopes of a liverpool fightback didn't really come until the very end of the game. a wonderful work by luis suarez in a very congested area inside the box, he managed to fool a couple of west ham's defenders and sent in a low cross across the goal where johnson was there to tap the ball in. with less then 5 minutes there was hope for a draw when carlton cole, the late substitute killed the game with a third goal.
a second loss for dalglish and at the same time losing 2 of his best players, kelly and meireles before the big game against manchester united next weekend. meireles got a knock on his knee and it doesn't look too serious but will be expecting kelly to be sideline for quite some time.
the team didn't really managed to get their game plan going. overall the lads did put on a show. they managed to get a consolation goal on the 84' minute. 6 months ago, if the team was down 1 - 0 at half-time everyone knows that it's finished.
with agger missing, gerrard and suarez still not match fit, carroll is still yet to make his debut, mid-week european fixture and were up against a team who is fighting not to get relegated, it is just too much for the boys. it's not an excuse for losing but all of this have to be taken into consideration. liverpool deserved to be beaten because they didn't play the kind of football that they can.
like i have always said and will continue saying it, with king kenny we never know. next is manchester united ... bring it on ! YNWA !!
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