Last night's game was not for the faint hearted. Liverpool took on Manchester City away and looked like a negative side going ahead. Chances were created too few for Liverpool's standard with Kuyt the notable guilty party as he scuffed the ball sky high after a fine work from Riera from the left. Shaun Wright Phillips was making a nuisance on the right and Aurelio was often caught in trouble. The later was not sharp at all and was always 2 steps behind the Man City maestro. Robinho had a couple of shots saved by Riena and showed why he should not be underestimated by any defenders just because he has a small stature.

The first goal came after Aurelio made a silly mistake on the left and gave the ball away to Wright Phillips. Liverpool failed to clear the line as Arbeloa was unlucky to hit the ball right into Ireland's path as he wasted no chance to blast the ball past Riena. Liverpool tried to crawled back into the game but was only limited to long range efforts from Alonso and Skrtel. The second goal came when Riera gave a free kick away outside the penalty box as Garrido's free kick flew past Reina's left hand corner.

Liverpool played with a packed midfield reverting to the old trusted system when Gerrard was played as a second striker just behind Torres. But the tactic obviously failed as City played some neat defending from midfield with Ireland playing a povital role shutting down Liverpool midfielders. Mascherano was having his day off as well as he was uneffective the whole throughout 1st half.