Liverpool SCM 2 Asterix Reds 0 (League)

In a tight encounter, Asterix Reds went down 2-0 to a resilient Liverpool Supporter's Club.

The game started as it was to continue, with Liverpool putting men behind the ball whenever we had possession.  This made it hard for us to pass our way through their defence as we like to.  Liverpool set up to hit us on the break using their best players - a sharp and skillful centre forward and wide midfielder - to good effect whenever they got the ball.  We had the first clear cut opportunity after about 15 minutes:  Shashi was clean through on goal, only to cut back in be thwarted by a tackle by their last man.

But it was Liverpool who were to open the scoring.  A short diagonal ball over the top found their striker who had gotten away from Anthony.  He made no mistake, taking just one touch to knock the ball into the back of the net past Jonesy who was coming off his line.  

Jonesy was in action again shortly after, as he dived full stretch to push a shot on to his left hand post.  It was a great stop that any 'keeper would have been proud of.  Asterix Reds had been quite flat up until this point but this save seemed to get the rest of the Asterix Boys going and we played the last 15 minutes of the half the much better side.  

The centre midfield pairing of Andy and Ian began to get a better share of the ball.  Shashi on the right, was a constant threat, using his pace to get behind his full back at every opportunity.  We put a few good balls into the box and won a fair share of corners but didn't create anything in the first half worthy of a goal.  We came in at half time in good spirits, albeit a goal down, but full of confidence that - as long as we shut down Liverpool's attacking threat - we'd have enough of the ball to create good opportunities to score.  

The second half started as the first had ended.  We continued to win the midfield battle and earn more than our fair share of possession.  Again, Shashi caused problems down the right.  We played the game at their end of the pitch but the number of men they had sitting deep made it difficult for us to find the space to create quality goal scoring opportunities.  We were restricted to half chances, shots from distance and several (wayward) free kicks from just outside the box.  Shashi had one great chance to score but his shot sailed over the goal.  The goal hadn't come in the first 20 minutes of the half but as the game wore on, I thought - given our pressure - a goal was inevitable.  But, Liverpool sealed the win with a fine breakaway goal.  

A ball from deep released their winger down our left.  The winger did well to beat Mark  and then passed inside Anthony as he closed him down.  The ball found their centre forward who jinked from side to side to evade a couple of challenges as he moved into the box.  And, as he had done all day, he cut inside and then slotted a shot into the net to make it 2-0.

We still had 15 minutes left to play and I felt we could go on and get something from the game.  We pushed men forward and threw the ball into the box regularly.   Adam had a great chance to get on the score sheet but hit his close range shot straight at the 'keeper.  The game ended with lots of action in the Liverpool goal mouth, some desperate defending and a couple of good stops by their keeper.  But our reward was not to come and 2-0 is how it ended.  

This wasn't our best performance and a MOM is hard to pick as few of us played to our full potential.  I'm going to give it to Mark Jones in goal for a tidy performance in goal, but mainly for one great save in the first half. 

For us, we need to learn our lessons, look at the positives and refocus on the league.

We had more of the ball and more shots today but didn't create enough good chances to score.  This is partly because Liverpool defended with men behind the ball.  This meant there was little space to pass our way through them.  But we continued to try and look for the killer ball and press whilst they were deep.  I'd like to see us play with more intelligence and, more important, patience when teams set up like this against us.  We need to have the confidence to pass the ball around the team, move the ball in and out, and draw teams out of defence to create more space in the final third for our strikers.  Second, when they did play a high line, we didn't capitalise with good balls over the top.  In this situations I want to see the midfielders make their passes early to give the strikers a chance to time their runs.   Not once did I see a midfielder run from deep to beat their offside trap on Saturday.  This could have made a massive difference.  

We now sit 4th, 4 points off the top of the table.  All teams have 6 games to play and all the top 4 teams have to play each other.  For sure, all the teams above us will drop points during the next 6 games.  In this sense, our fate is still effectively in our own hands.  I'd like to see us get back on track with a win against Kepong Chinese who we play at home in the league next week.

POW were all those that didn't turn up for the after match drinks at the Social.  It was a very good night out.  Adam and I ended the night dominating affairs on the pool table, eventually calling it a day at 4am and using a rather unconventional means of transport to get home.  Bring on the next night out!