It was an exciting day at Anfield today. Liverpool demonstrated good form and was able to defeat Swansea 4 to 1. Liverpool controlled most of the match and saw Adam Lallana give a breakout performance and prove why he deserves to play for the Reds.
The first half of the match was as expected. Liverpool were dominant and they controlled the tempo of the match. There were a small number of Swansea counterattacks but none of them yielded any real effectiveness. Martin Skrtel and Mamadou Sakho were a brick wall in the back and prevented any serious threats from the Swansea side. The first piece of action came in the 33rd minute when a Swansea attack was denied by the Liverpool defense. Liverpool quickly pushed forward on the counter attack and Lallana was able to put Jordan Henderson forward into an attacking position with a through ball forward into the right side of the pitch. Henderson then placed a low cross into the Swansea 6 yard box that was met by left back Alberto Moreno. Moreno tapped the ball towards the goal and was able to score after the ball ricocheted off of Swansea goalkeeper Lukasz Fabianski.
The rest of the half was played timidly by both sides and both teams went back to the locker rooms for half time after mediocre performances.
The second half was played on a totally different note. Both teams appeared to be more aggressive and both teams came out of the locker rooms with the ambition to win. This led to the action beginning early on in the second half. Swansea dared to attack early on and saw a cross find Wilfried Bony. The cross ended in Simon Mignolet making a save to his right after Bony headed the ball with very little force. During the 50th minute, Swansea left back passed a ball back to Fabianski. Fabianski held the ball and attempted to swing the play to the right side of the pitch instead of clearing it, this was when Adam Lallana seized an odd opportunity and jumped in front of the cross. The cross, oddly enough, hit Lallana and flew into the air, only to come down inside the Swansea goal and put Liverpool up 2 to none.
One minute later Swansea pushed forward and Wayne Routledge placed a cross into the Liverpool box that Bony was unable to reach but ended up at the feet of Sigurdsson who placed the ball easily past Mignolet.
In the 52nd Swansea’s Bony once again stole the ball in the Liverpool defensive half and took a shot from outside the 18 yard box that once again tested Mignolet but was unable to beat him. To wrap up an action packed 5 minute tug of war between the clubs, Liverpool pushed forward in the 53rd with Moreno leading the charge. Moreno played the ball back to Lallana who crossed it to Raheem Sterling at the left side of the box. Sterling crashed the ball into the far post and outward for Swansea to clear it. The matched slowed down for a few minutes but in the 61st minute Liverpool was once again on the attack. Lallana played the ball to Philippe Coutinho who flicked it backwards back to Lallana outside the 18 yard box. Lallana then proceeded to make a diagonal run toward the left side of the 6 yard box and past two Swansea defenders. Lallana then took a shot that went low on the ground and crossed Fabianski and beat him at the right post to put Liverpool up 3 to 1.
The final goal came from a corner kick by Jordan Henderson. The cross made its way near Lallana at the first post but Jonjo Shelvey beat the Liverpool midfielder in the air and headed the ball backwards and over Fabianski and into his own net.
The match ended with Liverpool being victorious over Swansea 4 to 1. Lallana had a wonderful match and was able to demonstrate to the Liverpool fans why he was one of the most important signings of the last transfer season. Liverpool pieced together their second consecutive win in the premier league and squeeze into the 8th place position on the league table. The Reds remain hopeful coming into 2015 and look to continue a successful run in the second half of the season.
photo credit: Clive Brunskill/Getty Images
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