Final, 3-1 Liverpool: It’s over at the King Power Stadium. Liverpool defeats Leicester City.
Liverpool is back to its winning ways, following a road victory over 10-man Leicester City. Gerrard scored the game-winner nine minutes into the second half, and Leicester made it harder on itself when Morgan was sent off 10 minutes later. Henderson’s late goal sealed the result for Liverpool, which now has won two-straight Premier League games.
Both sides delivered battling performances full of energy and commitment. Lallana’s first-half strike canceled out Leicester City’s opener. Leicester City had the better of play in the first half but didn’t turn its advantage into goals. Liverpool punished Leicester City’s mistakes in the second half, scoring goals after defensive miscues.
Liverpool showed good resilience and discipline in the win, and three points take the Reds up to eighth place in the Premier League standings. Liverpool returns to action Saturday when it hosts Sunderland in league play.
That’s all for now and thanks for joining us. Let’s discuss this one on Twitter @NESNsoccer and Facebook. Be sure to keep an eye out for some news, fan reactions, analysis and opinion that is on the way on NESN.com.
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90th minute +6, 3-1 Liverpool: Ulloa heads a shot on goal, but Mignolet saves it.
90th minute +5, 3-1 Liverpool: Rodgers makes his final change, replacing Sterling with Lovren.
90th minute, 3-1 Liverpool: Skrtel is back on his feet and he’ll return to play.
There will be a minimum of six minutes of added time in the second half.
88th minute, 3-1 Liverpool: Skrtel is down after James’ powerful shot hits him in the head.
88th minute, 3-1 Liverpool: Mahrez dribbles around Johnson and shoots, but his effort is blocked, and Liverpool clears it.
83rd minute, 3-1 Liverpool: Henderson scores and Liverpool has its hands on all three points.
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The goal came from a goalkeeping error. A defender deflected Gerrrard’s cross into Schmeichel’s hands, but the Leicester City goalkeeper spilled it into Sterling’s path. Sterling then back-heeled to Henderson, who shot into the open goal.
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81st minute, 2-1 Liverpool: Albrighton sends Mahrez into the Liverpool penalty area, but Mahrez’s first touch abandons him, and Mignolet collects the loose ball.
80th minute, 2-1 Liverpool: Leicester City makes a substitution, replacing Konchesky with Albrighton.
78th minute, 2-1 Liverpool: Vardy’s shot from the edge of Liverpool’s penalty area takes a deflection and goes out for a corner kick.
Leicester City is putting Liverpool under pressure.
75th minute, 2-1 Liverpool:Â Schlupp is cautioned for a foul on Henderson.
74th minute, 2-1 Liverpool: Mignolet saves Mahrez’s initial shot. The rebound comes to Cambiasso, who shoots, but it hits Vardy.
74th minute, 2-1 Liverpool: Gerrard beats Leicester City’s offside trap, and Henderson sends him in on goal. Schmeichel charges off his line, collides with Gerrard and ends the threat. Gerrard can’t believe that the referee hasn’t awarded him a penalty kick.
72nd minute, 2-1 Liverpool: Leicester City is increasing the tempo of its attacking play and its defensive intensity as it searches for the game-tying goal.
71st minute, 2-1 Liverpool: Lallana exits, and Allen comes on, as Liverpool makes its second substitution.
65th minute, 2-1 Liverpool: Gerrard is cautioned for tripping James in the midfield.
64th minute, 2-1 Liverpool: The referee dismisses Morgan after he drags down Lambert.
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Leicester City is down to 10 men. Morgan made a mistake that led to a goal and was sent off in his last 10 minutes of action.
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63rd minute, 2-1 Liverpool: Sterling dribbles from Liverpool’s third of the field into Leicester City’s and shoots, but it misses the target.
59th minute, 2-1 Liverpool: Gerrard tries to curl a loose ball on target, but his effort floats wide of the Leicester City goal.
56th minute, 2-1 Liverpool: Cambiasso misses with a speculative shot from the edge of Liverpool’s penalty area.
54th minute, 2-1 Liverpool: Gerrard reacts quickly and slots the Reds in front.
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Morgan clipped Sterling’s attempted cross into Garrard’s pass, and the Liverpool captain side-footed his shot past Schmeichel from 15 yards out.
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It was Gerrard’s third league goal of the season and fourth in all competitions. Here are a few more fun facts:
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48th minute, 1-1: Leicester City has shown more energy than Liverpool in the opening minutes of the second half, earning themselves a pair of corner kicks.
46th minute, 1-1: The second half of Liverpool-Leicester City is underway.
Liverpool made a substitution at halftime, replacing Manquillo with Moreno, who will play at left back. Johnson will move to right back.
Halftime, 1-1: That’s the end of the first half. It’s tied at the King Power Stadium.
Mignolet’s struggles continued in the first half, as the Liverpool goalkeeper scored an own goal, which put Leicester City in front after 21 minutes. Thankfully for Liverpool, Lallana reacted quickly and confidently six minutes later when he blasted Lambert’s knock-down past Schmeichel into the Leicester City goal.
The first period was fast, open and competitive, as neither team asserted its dominance over the other. Both sides have been dangerous on the counter-attack, but their build-up play is lacking speed and invention.
The teams’ respective defensive vulnerabilities are apparent. There have been two goals so far. There could be more, as Liverpool and Leicester City have found and exploited spaces in the opponents’ defense.
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45th minute +2, 1-1: James half-volleys a shot from 30 yards out, but his effort sails over the goal.
45th minute, 1-1: There will be a minimum of two minutes of added time in the first half.
41st minute, 1-1: Lallana is down receiving treatment following a collision with Wasilewski. It looks like he’ll be able to continue.
38th minute, 1-1: Lallana is cautioned for a lunging tackle on Vardy near the sideline.
33rd minute, 1-1: Skrtel directs a powerful header on goal, but de Laet blocks it before it can reach the goal.
30th minute, 1-1: Wasyl heads James’ corner kick over the crossbar.
27th minute, 1-1: Lallana brings Liverpool level with a well-struck goal.
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Lambert knocked down an entry pass into the path of Lallana, whose first-time shot beat Schmeichel.
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25th minute, 1-0 Leicester City: Johnson hits a shot from 30 yards out well over the goal.
21st minute, 1-0 Leicester City: The hosts take the lead after Ulloa’s shot hits the post, then Mignolet and ricochets of the Liverpool goalkeeper’s head into the goal.
The sequence started with a fine through-ball from Schlupp to Vardy, whose shot beat Mignolet, but Skrtel cleared it off the line. Ulloa collected the rebound and shot off the post. Mignolet was unlucky to concede under those circumstances.
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20th minute, 0-0: Mignolet passes directly to Cambiasso, who hits a first-time shot wide of the goal. Cambiasso should have scored but bailed out Mignolet instead.
16th minute, 0-0: Sterling receives a pass from Lambert inside the Leicester City penalty area, but Schmeichel forcing the Liverpool forward to dribble his way into traffic and end the threat.
Ninth minute, 0-0: Leicester City breaks forward on the counter-attack, but the move ends when Vardy shoots wide from the edge of Liverpool’s penalty area. He had other options.
Eighth minute, 0-0:Â Lallana looks to shoot from 20 yards out, but Morgan blocks the Liverpool midfielder’s effort.
Seventh minute, 0-0: Skrtel heads Gerrard’s free kick wide of the Leicester City goal. Skrtel was appealing for the referee to award Liverpool a penalty for an apparent hand-ball, but the referee wasn’t interested in doing so.
Fifth minute, 0-0: Neither team has taken control early on, but Leicester City has forced Liverpool to concede an early corner kick, which the Reds dealt with unconvincingly.
Kickoff: Liverpool-Leicester City is underway at the King Power Stadium.
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Pregame: Rodgers makes two changes to the back line, slotting in Manquillo at right back and moving Johnson from right to left. Having just returned from injury on Saturday, Jose Enrique doesn’t make the gameday squad.
Johnson is making his 150th Premier League appearance for Liverpool.
Gerrard starts in the midfield along with Lucas, Henderson and Lallana.
Henderson is making his 150th appearance (in all competitions) for Liverpool.
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Nugent fails to recover in time to play against Liverpool. Vardy and Ulloa will handle the striking duties. They have two league goals in 18 games between them this season.
2:15 p.m. ET: Here are the lineups:
Liverpool
Simon Mignolet (22), goalkeeper
Glen Johnson (2), left back
Martin Skrtel (37), center back
Kolo Toure (4), center back
Javier Manquillo (19), right back
Lucas Leiva (21), midfielder
Steven Gerrard (8), midfielder
Jordan Henderson (14), midfielder
Adam Lallana (20), midfielder
Raheem Sterling (31), forward
Rickie Lambert (9), striker
Substitutes
Brad Jones (1), goalkeeper
Alberto Moreno (18), defender
Dejan Lovren (6), defender
Emre Can (23), midfielder
Joe Allen (24), midfielder
Philippe Coutinho (10), midfielder
Lazar Markovic (50), forward
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Leicester City
Kasper Schmeichel (1), goalkeeper
Paul Konchesky (3), left back
Marcin Wasilewski (27), center back
Wes Morgan (5), center back
Ritchie de Laet (2), right back
Esteban Cambiasso (19), midfielder
Matty James (8), midfielder
Jeffrey Schlupp (15), midfielder
Riyad Mahrez (26), midfielder
Jamie Vardy (9), striker
Leonardo Ulloa (23), striker
Substitutes
Ben Hamer (12), goalkeeper
Liam Moore (18), defender
Danny Drinkwater (4), midfielder
Andy King (10), midfielder
Marc Albrighton (11), midfielder
Anthony Knockaert (24), forward
Chris Wood (39), striker
12:45 p.m. ET: Liverpool is back in Premier League action Tuesday, as it visits Leicester City at the King Power Stadium.
The Reds meet the newly promoted Foxes looking to start one streak and end another. A win for Liverpool would be its second in a row, while a victory or draw would end its two-game road losing streak in league play.
Leicester City presents a good opportunity for the Reds to pick up three, much-needed points. Nigel Pearson’s Foxes sit last in the Premier League standings with 10 points after 13 games. They are winless in eight league games and have earned just two points since their 5-3 triumph over Manchester United on Sept. 21.
Leicester City ended a 503-minute barren run by scoring in the 3-2 loss against QPR on Saturday. Striker David Nugent, who has been slowed by calf and ankle injuries, could play from the start against Liverpool.
Liverpool likely will continue trading style for substance. Manager Brendan Rodgers is expected to stick with the defensive unit that helped earn a 1-0 win over Stoke City on Saturday — its first shutout in seven games (in all competitions). Kolo Toure and Jose Enrique could join Glen Johnson and Martin Skrtel on the back line, and Lucas Leiva again could shield the defense as a holding midfielder. Steven Gerrard is expected to return to the starting 11, after sparking Liverpool from the bench Saturday.
The teams haven’t faced off since March 2004, when they played to a goal-less draw in Leicester. Their competition resumes Tuesday.
Liverpool-Leicester City kicks off at 2:45 p.m. Join us right here for all the action from the King Power Stadium.
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Photo via Twitter/@LFC
