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LIVERPOOL FC: REDS JOY AS RIISE STRIKES

/noticias.info/ Lee Brown

Liverpool have continued their excellent recent form after a 60th minute John Arne Riise goal gave them a second away win of the season against Manchester City at the City of Manchester Stadium today.
The win stretches Liverpool's unbeaten run to six games and they will leap frog City in a Premiership table that is beginning to make happy reading for the Anfield faithful.

And Rafa's men will now travel to Sunderland on Wednesday night with the Champions League places firmly in their sights.

This was the first of three games in eight days for the Reds and while they came here in good form, they will have expected a tough task against a City side that has lost only once at home this season.

And it wasn't just Pearce's side's home form that they had to overcome because they had yet to win at the City of Manchester Stadium in the short time it has been City's home.

It was City who would start the game better and they came close to scoring in the 13th minute when Vassell headed wide when well placed. But Liverpool soon managed to wrestle control of the game and they would finish the first half in the ascendancy.

The first half wasn't really one for the purists though because both sides failed to create much in the way of goal mouth action.

Rafa had to shuffle his pack before the game after hearing that Zenden would miss the next three or four weeks with a knee injury, but he still had his inspirational Captain Steven Gerrard to call on and it was he who came closest to scoring for the Reds before the break.

It was a chance all of Gerrard's own making as he cut in from the left and unleashed a great shot that brushed the outside of the post with David James beaten.

Rafa made a tactical change at the start of the second half when he brought Harry Kewell on to replace Djibril Cisse. And it was a move that appeared to bring instant results as his side began to pose a greater threat to James' goal.

Whether it was Kewell's introduction or Rafa's half time instructions, Liverpool were now firmly in control and they took a deserved lead in the 60th minute when Riise finished a fine move with a low shot beyond James and in to the net.

The Reds might have had the lead, but as I've said, City have a good record at home and they weren't about to give the game up without a fight and adopted a more direct style.

But as City began to sweep forward in search of an equalizer Liverpool looked like they might exploit the gaps left and Rafa replaced goalscorer Riise with Garcia in the 76th minute.

We would see no further goals, but who's complaining? Rafa's men have proved today that they're not just coming up the hill, they're running up it.
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