Liverpool held away at Stoke
Steven Gerrard hit the woodwork twice
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Saturday, 10, Jan 2009 09:12
Liverpool wasted the chance to increase their lead at the top of the Premier League as they were held to a goalless draw away at Stoke City.
The Reds were actually lucky to come away with a point as Stoke were much the better side and deserved to take the points. The Potters came close to scoring through Rory Delap who saw his close range effort come back off the bar.
Captain Steven Gerrard was as usual the shining light for Liverpool and could have stolen the points for his team, but he saw two efforts kept out by the frame of the goal.
After his rant at Sir Alex Ferguson yesterday, Liverpool manager Rafael Benitez would have been desperate for his team to increase their lead over title rivals Chelsea and Manchester United before the pair faced each other tomorrow.
But while United came to the Britannia Stadium on Boxing Day and managed to grind out a win, Liverpool were very poor and never looked like potential title winners.
They should have been a goal down after only four minutes, but Delap saw his thumping shot from eight yards out come crashing back off the bar. Stoke also had a goal disallowed after a Ryan Shawcross header was ruled out for off-side.
Liverpool left strike duo Robbie Keane and Fernando Torres on the bench and as a result they posed little threat in the first-half.
They were fortunate not to concede at the start of the second period when a poor kick from Pepe Reina clearance fell to Dave Kitson, who rounded Reina but could only find the side-netting with his shot.
Unsurprisingly Liverpool threw everything at Stoke in the final stages of the game in search of the winner and it was Gerrard who led the charge. The England star first saw a free-kick come back off the bar and had a late shot hit the post.
But a Liverpool win would have been very harsh on Stoke who deserved the point they got against the league leaders.