The Premier League game between Liverpool and Stoke City at Anfield on Wednesday, Aug 19 2009.
After a false start at White Hart Lane, Liverpool got their season’s show on the road with a straightforward victory over ultra-cautious Stoke City. Goals from Fernando Torres, Glen Johnson, Dirk Kuyt and David Ngog secured the three points and Liverpool fans left Anfield also warmed by the memory of one of the most magical pieces of technique imaginable.
When Javier Mascherano lifted the ball forward in the run-up to Kuyt’s 78th-minute goal, Steven Gerrard controlled the ball at speed and turned at the same time. It was like Usain Bolt impersonating Johan Cruyff. After eluding Danny Higginbotham, Gerrard slid the ball across for Kuyt’s goal. Stoke were vanquished, although nothing could silence their fans.
After an afternoon of speculation about Rafa Benítez, of rumours of a disagreement with the managing director Christian Purslow over transfer funds, Kopites were soon able to relax. Two Spaniards ensured that either side of the opening whistle. First Benítez appeared in the dug-out, and then Torres materialised in the penalty box.
Torres’s fourth-minute goal was superb, another reminder of his uncanny positioning and nerveless finishing, another moment when his understanding with Gerrard seemed based on telepathy. Gerrard charged down the inside-right channel as Torres made his run, his stealthy movement foxing Stoke.
Gerrard instinctively knew where Torres was heading, instantly picking him out with an accurate cutback. Torres’s right foot did the rest, despatching the ball low past Thomas Sorensen.
Torres’s strike was just the tonic Liverpool needed. Their defence was patched up, Jamie Carragher wearing a bandage on his head after recent stitches, while Daniel Ayala made his full debut alongside him.
The young Spaniard had little to occupy him in the first half, barring manning the barricades when Rory Delap launched his long throws. Stoke’s 4-1-4-1 formation hardly signalled great ambition, with James Beattie isolated at times. Occasionally physical, such as when Dean Whitehead clattered Mascherano, Stoke also had to resist the range of Liverpool attacks, high and low.
Johnson kept pushing forward, playing almost as a winger, and he was nearly snapped in two by Richard Cresswell as he threatened the Stoke area. Johnson’s endeavour was rewarded just before the break. When Gerrard swerved in another corner, Beattie managed to clear Kuyt’s header off the line but Johnson metamorphosed into Gerd Muller 1970 vintage, catching the follow-up with the neatest of volleys, almost breaking the net such was the ferocity.
Liverpool’s other full-back, Emiliano Insua, also enjoyed a lively half, putting in one crunching tackle on Andy Wilkinson. Anfield held its breath when Torres fell to earth, his head cut open after an accidental clash with Ryan Shawcross. Stitches staunched the bleeding and the Spaniard was soon leading the charge again.
For all the good cheer sweeping through Liverpool, it was impossible to be deaf to the noises off the pitch. If speculation about Benitez’s future was promptly dismissed by the club as “2,000 per cent untrue”, the reality of another Spirit of Shankly-organised fans’ demonstration against the club’s deeply unpopular owners, Tom Hicks and George Gillett, highlighted enduring problems.
Reports that the Americans have restricted Benítez’s spending might explain why he is shopping for £1.5 million centre-halves such as AEK Athens’ Sotirios Kyrgiakos.
Stoke almost exploited bouts of uncertainty after the break, but despite minor set-piece scares, Liverpool remained in control. And then came Gerrard’s turn, and Kuyt’s finish. More good work by Johnson brought a simple headed goal for Ngog.
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