We saw the best and worst of Luis Suarez at Anfield today. A sublime pass for Daniel Sturridge’s goal. A brillant header with literally the last kick of thee game to rescue a point for Liverpool. And a completely inexcusable biting of Chelsea defender Branislav Ivanovic. Yes, that was biting. Suarez bite Ivanovic.
No defense for Suarez on this incident. The big question is what wil Fenway Sports Group say and so? Unlike the racial case between Suarez and Evra, I expect a message from Liverpool FC tonight apologizing for the incident and the club proactively suspending Suarez for the remaining games this season. Once again this is a worldwide incident and Liverpool need to get in front of the story this team, which they didn’t do last season.
The Suarez bite overshadowed a good performance by Liverpool today. For periods at the beginning of both halves Liverpool totally dominated Chelsea today, especially at the start of the second half.
Liverpool were much better when Rodgers replaced Coutinho with Sturridge at half-time. Sturridge made an immediate impact and hit the post for tying the game up in the 52nd minute. Sturridge’s performance makes me ask didn’t Rodgers start him instead of Coutinho in the first place.
Liverpool’s play in the second half was helped by Gerrard playing slightly further forward, and linking better with Suarez and Sturridge. Rodgers had him play in more of a defensive role in the first half and he wasn’t as effective as in the second half.
In the early game Tottenham Hotspur staged a vibrant second-half fightback to beat Manchester City 3-1 and keep their Champions League hopes alive.
City took an early lead when Carlos Tévez and James Milner combined to set up Samir Nasri for a fifth-minute opener.
City dominated the first 70 minutes of the game, but AVN made some tactical substitutions that turned the game around. First, the returning Gareth Bale set up Clint Dempsey for a simple tap in to make it 1-1. Substitute Jermain Defoe then made it two with a clinical finish and Bale completed a brilliant seven-minute purple patch by Spurs when he clipped the ball over Joe Hart after being sent in one-one-one.
Sunday’s results mean that Manchester City can clinch a record 20th English championship on Monday night by beating Aston Villa at Old Trafford.
As for the race for the final two champions league places the standings look like this:.
3: Arsenal P34 Pts 63
4: Chelsea P33 Pts 62
5: Tottenham Hotspur P33 Pts 61
The game that Chelsea and Spurs have in hand is against each and will be played at Stamford Bridge later this week. Just like their two games with Man City decided who played in the Champions League a in 2010 and 2011, the match at Stamford Bridge will go a long way towards deciding who will be in the Europa League and who will be in the Champions League next season.
