Seven Year Curse Is Broken

The toss was then taken and once the two teams had swapped ends the match began.  It was more or less immediately obvious that Liverpool were going to be in control of the game.  Their passing of the ball was fantastic and within seven minutes of the start Maxi had scored.  Birmingham seemed to be shell shocked and had not recovered enough to prevent Dirk from scoring a second on the 24th minutes.

This goal though seemed to make Liverpool rather complacent and it looked as though Birmingham might find a way through.  Thankfully though they didn't and a lot of the credit must go to John Flanagan and Jack Robinson for picking up some great balls and tackling well.  Lucas, Jamie and Skirtel were also on form and I suspect at times Birmingham felt they were literally hitting a brick wall.

Unfortunately for Birmingham, their goalkeeper Ben Foster was involved in a collision with one of his players and after struggling for a while was taken off shortly before half time.  By now of course, it meant that his replacement had a lot to prove. 

Having gone in at half time rather shell-shocked Birmingham came out and start the second half with a lot more purpose but the momentum was lost very quickly.  Liverpool were again running rings around them and although Jack Robinson found himself booked, he certainly did not let it bother him, as he continued to impress.   It was of course just a matter of time before Liverpool scored again and again it was Maxi, who once again proved that if you play in the right position, you do what you are paid to do.  His second goal was a beauty and a lot of players would have stopped there but Maxi managed to score his hat trick six minutes later.

With the match now entering its final stages, Kenny made the first of his three substitutes by bringing off young Robinson and replacing him with JonJo Shelvey.  Understandably the young man got a round of applause.  The next substitution was Joe Cole for Meireles.  Now Joe Cole has not really made his mark on the team but fate stepped in this afternoon.  Several minutes after coming on, he picked up a pass and flicked it straight into the goal. 

Liverpool were now 5 up and cruising, but the lads still did not give up and just before the end Ngog came on for Maxi, who was not only applauded but given a hug by Kenny.  It was the perfect end to a perfect afternoon.

The supporters at the game also deserve a mention because they began to chant Gerard Houiller's name.  This was another way of wishing him well, after a fresh heart scare has found him hospitalised this week.  Thankfully though, it appears that Gerard just needs to rest and of course take note of any medical advice given.