A trip to Stoke in the mists of a dark, rain soaked January evening is never one likely to evoke a great love of football. Resilience and attritional combat are the themes that usually spring to mind on mid-winter evenings like this one. Eight goals and an end to end battle, that saw the balance of power shift back and forth over 90 minutes, was a welcome tonic to the gloom. A 5-3 win, and the returns of both Daniel Sturridge and Steven Gerrard – with a goal apiece – were the ingredients of a very good day’s work for Liverpool.
Stoke are due the lion’s share of credit for igniting the game’s free scoring trend; however little they might appreciate it. The home side were guilty of self-sabotage early on at the Brittania Stadium, offering up two goals as a welcome gift for their visitors. Liverpool full back Aly Cissohko shot from 35 yards out after 5 minutes. The shot offered no threat to the Stoke goal until it deflected heavily off Ryan Shawcross and skipped past the stranded Jack Butland.
Liverpool’s second was an ever greater act of benevolence from the Stoke defence. A long ball forward seemed to stump the Stoke defence, with Marc Wilson’s under hit header towards Butland drawing both the goalkeeper and Shawcross into no man’s land, wherein they were upstaged by Luis Suarez. Shawcross stretched to reach Wilson’s header but he could only poke the ball to Suarez. The striker pounced on the mishit clearance to finish past Butland. Liverpool looked to be cruising and the first away league win against Stoke since 1984 seemed a formality.
Then, in the 40th minute, Peter Crouch pushed off Kolo Toure in the Liverpool box, leaving the centre half stagnating in front of his own keeper while Crouch moved away with purpose. With a foot of space and a split second of isolation Crouch was able to crane his neck to connect with Marko Arnautovic’s cross and send the ball, with a gentle curl, into the bottom corner of Simon Mignolet’s net.
Just 5 minutes later it was the turn of another ex-Anfield man, Charlie Adam, to inflict pain on his former employers. A punted ball from Simon Mignolet was left entirely unattended to by Liverpool’s forward players and came bounding back into the Liverpool half. From there a misplaced Jordan Henderson lay-off to Steven Gerrard saw the Liverpool captain slip and sprawl on the Brittania turf as he scrambled to change direction to reach the wayward pass. Charlie Adam raced onto the loose ball. The former Liverpool man took a minor stumble of his own but rambled forward, with Liverpool players backing away from him all the while, before hitting a pristine left footed strike past Mignolet from 20 yards out.
Despite Stoke’s resurgence and apparent upper hand at the break, Liverpool were ahead again early in the second half. Marc Wilson played a careless pass across his backline on the halfway and, with a hint of handball, Raheem Sterling intercepted and surged forward. Wilson got back to cover his mistake, but only enough to barge the young winger to the floor and grant Liverpool a penalty. Steven Gerrard stepped up and with characteristic efficiency sent the spot kick home.
Daniel Sturridge made his return to the Liverpool first team in the 65th minute. The striker replaced Philippe Coutinho and it took just 5 minutes until the renewal of the partnership with Suarez was announced with a goal. Sturridge took the ball forward, to go with the three Stoke defenders drawn to him, before laying the ball off to Suarez. Sturridge had done the work but Suarez applied an exquisite finish with a low curling shot around Butland.
Liverpool looked home and safe, with the 3 points and a timely morale boost a perfect return on their day’s work.Then, with 5 minutes left, Jonathan Walters collected a loose ball on the edge of the Liverpool box, stepped inside Toure and drove the ball under Mignolet. It was a poor shot and Mignolet’s attempt at a stop was inept, at best.
And just as you imagined you could see Liverpool begin to mentally crumble before you - as those Liverpool stereotypes of recent years began to come into view through the chaos on the pitch - they broke forward. Suarez played the ball to Sturridge at the back post, where the England striker drew a great reflex save from Butland before some neat juggling of the rebounded ball and the follow on volley made it 5-3. A fine goal from Sturridge, the confirmation of the renewal of the league's most potent strike partnership, and the final word on a game to banish the winter gloom.
