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Diziah
Starting Member
USA
33 Posts |
 Posted - Aug 27 2001 : 11:26:42 PM
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Heading for glory: Ricketts, the Bolton Wanderers striker, rises
through a gap in the Liverpool defence to score
the opening goal at the Reebok Stadium last night
BY KEVIN MCCARRA
A MISCARRIAGE of justice can be intoxicating. Liverpool did not deserve this fate but it was impossible not to respond to the rapture inside the Reebok Stadium last night when a speculative 20-yard shot by Dean Holdsworth slipped under the body of Sander Westerveld in the 89th minute. The goal sent Bolton Wanderers, with full points, back to the top of the FA Barclaycard Premiership. Sam Allardyce, their manager, did remind everyone gently afterwards that the moment of good fortune had only arisen because his forward, at least, had hit the target.
Perhaps Liverpool, when not denied by Jussi Jaaskelainen, the Bolton goalkeeper, were wasteful with their openings. They are good enough to shrug off this galling experience but they may push aside their goalkeeper and buy Jerzy Dudek, from Feyenoord, for £4 million. When casualties were being considered beforehand, Westerveld’s name had not been uppermost.
There can only have been one person in the ground eager to see tackles shirked and enthusiasm lost, but there was no hope of Sven-Göran Eriksson getting his way. While he and his England team will attract obsessive attention when they play the vital World Cup qualifying tie with Germany, the Swede was irrelevant last night. Nicky Barmby was the only contender for the match in Munich to be rested.
Of the seven Liverpool players in the England squad, Jamie Carragher, Steven Gerrard, Danny Murphy, Michael Owen and Robbie Fowler were all in the starting line-up while Emile Heskey, initially among the substitutes, was introduced in the 63rd minute.
Eriksson expected that such duties would be pressed on his men, even welcomed the extra match practice for Gerrard, who made his first Premiership appearance of the season. The England head coach must also have been cheered by the outstanding display from the dynamic midfield player as well as by an encounter in which the only injury was to Liverpool’s pride.
If there was an adverse factor for Eriksson it lay in Fowler’s lack of sharpness but there was great compensation in the forcefulness of Heskey, who pulled the visiting team level in the game. If it were possible to push a result to the fringes of the mind, Gérard Houllier, the Liverpool manager, would also have been happy. “It is rare to play such a good game away from home,” he said. “The players did not deserve the blunder but maybe Sander will make the saves in a match in the future that get a result for us.”
Bolton, no matter their handicaps in technique, are in irrepressible mood. Promotion, by definition, takes a club to a new level, but, in another sense, puts its players on a high as well. Despite being outplayed, Bolton were always intrepid and took advantage of loose marking in the 27th minute. Ricardo Gardner worked a short corner kick with Bo Hansen and curled a cross deep to Paul Warhurst, who leapt to turn the ball back across the six-yard box.
Michael Ricketts, unmarked, headed into the net from close range and has now scored in all three of his Premiership matches. Bolton, nonetheless, were often beleaguered and quaked when they thought a penalty, wrongly, would be given against them.
Fowler, the Liverpool captain, has the sort of fame that is always mingled with controversy and, occasionally, notoriety. Having apologised to Phil Thompson, the club’s assistant manager, he may be back in his employers’ good books but he also made his way into the referee’s black book last night. Graham Poll showed him a yellow card in the 29th minute for diving as he chased a through pass from Murphy.
In addition to being unsporting, the behaviour was also ill-advised while Liverpool appeared capable of pulling level through law-abiding means. Jaaskelainen had to save an attempt by Murphy and, in the 38th minute, Fowler was taken by surprise and could not respond when Anthony Barness miskicked Owen’s low cross in front of him. Soon, the Bolton goalkeeper was pushing away the diagonal drive from Gary McAllister that followed Gerrard’s raking pass.
For the second half, Houllier gave Liverpool a more enterprising look by introducing John Arne Riise at left back and switching Carragher to the right wing. Owen headed a corner by McAllister wide in the 49th minute, but, with no breakthrough in sight, the manager took further remedial steps and replaced Fowler with Heskey.
The captain looked disgruntled but he will have no grounds to challenge the decision. In the 66th minute, McAllister’s pass found the substitute onside by a small margin and Heskey took the chance with a decisive drive.
Bolton, so proud and so willing to challenge, dwindled as an attacking force against opponents of superior skill. Increasingly they had to apply themselves to defending and, as best they could, to disrupting Liverpool’s slick build-up.
Heskey was only prevented from giving Liverpool the lead by Jaaskelainen’s save. “When we needed him, he was there for us,” a grateful Allardyce said of his goalkeeper. Watching Heskey in such form might even have helped Eriksson to enjoy this fine game, but the ecstasy belonged to Bolton.
BOLTON WANDERERS (4-3-2-1): J Jaaskelainen 8 — A Barness 6, G Bergsson 7, M Whitlow 7, S Charlton 6 — P Frandsen 5 (sub: G Farrelly, 69min 5), P Warhurst 6, K Nolan 6 (sub: D Diawara, 82) — R Gardner 6, B Hansen 5 — M Ricketts 7 (sub: D Holdsworth, 55 6). Substitutes not used: S Banks, A Nishizawa.
LIVERPOOL (4-4-2): S Westerveld 4 — M Babbel 6 (sub: J A Riise, 46 7), S Henchoz 6, S Hyypia 6, J Carragher 7 — S Gerrard 8, G McAllister 6, D Hamann 6, D Murphy 7 — R Fowler 5 (sub: E Heskey, 63 8), M Owen 7. Substitutes not used: P Arphexad, I Biscan, J Litmanen. Booked: Fowler.
Referee: G Poll 8
Copyright 2001 Times Newspapers Ltd. This service is provided on Times Newspapers' standard terms and conditions. To inquire about a licence to reproduce material from The Times, visit the Syndication website.
Edited by - Diziah on Aug 27 2001 23:29:30 |
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