Today’s Conradesque trip up the Merseyside felt troubling for reasons well beyond the immediate task at hand and result. Worries arise from unwanted consequences that will linger: Liverpool’s cathartic release and subsequent confidence boost, Carrick’s injury, and Vidic’s impending one-match suspension against Chelsea.
And it all started off with so much grace and ease.
Berbatov looked brilliant early, setting up Tevez’ 3rd-minute strike and giving the hosts a here-we-go-again sense of dread. The supposed 4-3-3 formation appeared at times more like the 4-3-2-1 Christmas tree of old, except it worked fabulously. Tevez, Rooney, and the midfield three – Carrick, Scholes, Anderson – all appeared buoyed by their new duties, with passes pinging around the pitch and Berbatov looked every bit the head of the spear. My God, what will this team look like when Ronaldo returns next week?! Confidence and expectations rise.
Ah, but these were the early minutes.
Soon thereafter you could sense a drop in Red Devil concentration with each miscue. Liverpool then played with width and whipped in a few dangerous-looking crosses, as Kuyt all-too-predictably hit a point-blank chance directly into Van Der Sar. Nothing too alarming with a Torres-less front line. Confidence remained high.
The game took a serious twist in the 26th minute, when a deflected shot caught everyone off-balance and Van Der Sar’s subsequent punch rebounded straight off Wes Brown's leg for a heartbreaking own-goal leveler. “Maybe, just maybe, this is our day after all” were the collective thoughts running through Anfield. Momentum swung fast.
I’m not certain a well-worked goal would have merited the same impact and weight, given the insecurity complex around Benitez’s side. Something unexpected, something fortuitous needed to occur to signal the jinx’s end. They got their bit of luck and flashbacks to the past – Mascherano’s red card, O’Shea’s late-goal-thievery – seemed to disappear. Liverpool was free.
For the rest of the match, Liverpool closed-down, outhustled, and outplayed our beloved Red Devils. We cannot feel hard done by the result, and in the end, we understand newly that you can indeed score too early in a match, especially if its one up on Merseyside.
Ah, Mistah Jinx, he dead.
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