Raul Meireles furthered his newfound scoring touch with the first goal of the game, but Steven Gohouri’s controversial second-half goal is the reason this one ended up in a draw.
While Gohouri may or may not have been offside, the Reds certainly had their chances in the second half on a number of free kicks. No chance was better, however, than the free kick off of the right foot of Luis Suarez. Playing in his first game at Anfield as a Red, Suarez gave the fans temporary excitement, but just couldn’t squeeze the ball in below the crossbar.
In the end, Pepe Reina’s streak of clean sheets comes to an end, but more imporantly, so does the nice little streak of wins Liverpool had built.
91′, 1-1: Martin Skrtel narrowly misses the go-ahead goal.
90′, 1-1: All squared after 90 minutes. We’re looking at three minutes of stoppage time.
88′, 1-1: Liverpool certainly getting their chances. This time, it’s Fabio Aurelio firing from just outside the box. His shot, while closer than Suarez’ last offering, still sails high.
84′, 1-1: Glen Johnson all of a sudden making his presence felt. A textbook pass up to Maxi Rodriguez turns into a scoring chance for Suarez who one-times a touch pass, but does so well over the goal.
82′, 1-1: Lucky break here for LFC. Glen Johnson is able to get off a blast from inside the box that sails way over the net, but it’s ruled that it was deflected.
Replays show that it wasn’t touched, but Liverpool can’t convert on the ensuing corner regardless.
77′, 1-1: Caldwell, the masked avenger, picks up another foul, again on Suarez.
Suarez takes the free kick and beats the keeper, but ends up hitting the crossbar.
Tough, tough break for LFC.
74′, 1-1: Milan Jovanovic replaces Dirk Kuyt in the Liverpool lineup.
73′, 1-1: Louis Suarez shows off another impressive individual effort, but he runs out of real estate, resulting in a Wigan goal kick.
He’s rewarded for his effort — both on that play and for the day — with a nice round of applause from the Anfield faithful.
71′, 1-1: Gary Caldwell is called for a foul, resulting in a Liverpool free kick. Caldwell insisted he was innocent, but it’s tough to hide — and to take him seriously — when he’s wearing the mask he’s got on to protect a broken cheekbone.
Maxi’s free kick sails high and wide.
65′, 1-1: Things just got real quiet at Anfield and for good reason. Wigan, seemingly out of nowhere, has tied it up.
N’Zogbia makes his presence felt again, this time with a cross from the right side through the box, that is just barely gotten to by Steve Gohouri who is able to get just enough on it before reaching the goal line to re-deflect it. Pepe Reina couldn’t do anything about it.
Gohouri was able to sneak in behind the defense there, with the key word being sneak. It looks like he may have been offside, but there was no flag for it, and the goal will stand.
Reina’s streak of clean sheets is gone, but more importantly, so is Liverpool’s lead.
60′, Liverpool 1-0: Antolin Alcaraz picks up a yellow card for a foul on Suarez, but Liverpool can’t capitalize on the ensuing kick.
58′, Liverpool 1-0: Gorgeous touch pass from Ngog to Maxi Rodriguez, but his shot attempt is deflected out resulting in a corner.
After securing possession on the corner, any offensive hopes for Liverpool are dashed.
54′, Liverpool 1-0: The day is over for Meireles. Kenny Dalglish switches up his lineup, going to David Ngog to replace Meireles.
52′, Liverpool 1-0: Great chance early on for Wigan, but the timing was just off, and it’s pushed away. They’ve come out to start the second half playing particularly strong.
It’s amazing what one goal can do for you. If LFC wasn’t sitting on that lead, things would be getting pretty tense right about now at Anfield.
Halftime, Liverpool 1-0: So far, so good for Liverpool in their quest for a fifth straight win.
It hasn’t been an overly dominating performance for LFC, but they have had their chances.
The Meireles goal was proof enough of that, but there were a few times in the openeing half in which Liverpool sustained some pressure.
Meireles has had a couple of looks at the net and is seemingly playing with a ton of confidence following his recent rash of goals. In addition to that, Luis Suarez is impressing the Anfield followers in his home debut by setting up a couple of chances.
Liverpool’s most effective player in the first half, though, may have been Martin Kelly. It was his cross that set up the game’s lone goal, but it’s been his work on the other end of the pitch that’s been most impressive. He’s knocked a couple of Wigan players off of the ball and is just contributing with a solid effort thus far.
43′, Liverpool 1-0: Charles N’Zoghbia is awarded the free kick from the right side and roughly 10 yards outside of the box. His attempt is on goal, but it’s a relatively easy stop for Reina, who gathers it up and quells arguably the best scoring chance thus far for Wigan.
36′, Liverpool 1-0: Mohamed Diame works a Liverpool defender off of the ball inside the box, but as he’s doing so, Pepe Reina comes out to make end any Wigan scoring threat.
Reina has done everything necessary thus far to ensure his streak of clean sheets is continued, and for the most part, the unit in front of him is doing their part as well.
30′, Liverpool 1-0: Steve Gohouri fouls Luis Suarez and ends up with the yellow card.
24′, Liverpool 1-0: Goal Liverpool
Raul Meireles is red-hot right now, as evidenced by his fifth goal in six games.
After a long cross from Martin Kelly, that wasn’t quite on-target, Fabio Aurelio makes a determined to effort to control possession. His offering is turned away by a Wigan defender, but Meireles is there waiting just inside of the 18-yard box to cash in for the early lead.
20′, 0-0: Liverpool starting to pick things up a little bit, and they’re starting to look the club that’s been on a roll lately.
Suarez is fitting in nicely, doing his best to set up his teammates, and he showed that just now.
It was the play of Suarez that eventually led to a Dirk Kuyt blast from just outside the box.
However, the shot headed directly toward the midsection of Wigan goalkeeper Ali Al Habs who gathered it easily.
16′, 0-0: Liverpool has been a bit out of sorts early on. Their passing lacks much in the way of crispness, even when they’re controlling possession.
Right on cue, of course, Dirk Kuyt show some impressive chemistry already in the Wigan end.
Kuyt’s footwork following a nifty pass from Suarez leads to a free kick. It’s a free kick that’s read brilliantly by the Wigan defense, and they head back up the pitch with possession.
10′, 0-0: Liverpool dominated pace and possession early on, but in the last couple of minutes, Wigan has responded with a couple of decent chances.
They’ve dominated possession for a bit now, and LFC has struggled to clear.
Pressure aside, no surefire scoring chances for either side yet.
4′, 0-0: Underway at Anfield, underneath bright, sunny skies.
Both teams have exchanged free kicks already, with nothing doing.
Strong defensive effort for Liverpool on a Wigan corner that results in a rush for Liverpool.
An ensuing LFC corner is for not as well.
9:30 a.m.: Curiously, Luis Suarez was absent from last week’s lineup, but he’ll get the starting nod on Saturday.
He’s running up front with Dirk Kuyt against Wigan.
Steven Gerrard’s out Saurday nursing an injury, and not surprisingly, Jamie Carragher will sport the captain’s armband.
6 a.m.: If Liverpool wants to truly keep working their way up the Premier League table, Saturday’s match against Wigan Athletic is one they’re going to need to win.
LFC, winners of their last four Premier League matches are hoping to keep the good times rolling against a Wigan club that is at the bottom of the table.
Raul Meireles has been red-hot as of late, scoring four goals in his last five Premier League matches. It will also be interesting to see what recently acquired Luis Suarez and Andy Carroll can do with a little bit more time with the club under their belts.
It’s a match that LFC should win. They’ve proven over the course of their schedule this season, though, that there are no such things as a sure thing. They can’t afford to let this one get away.
This one’s set for 10 a.m. ET at Anfield, so check back then for updates.