Liverpool has defeated the Russian side Zenit Saint Petersburg in a Europa League match played at the Anfield on Thursday. Liverpool won the match by 3-1.
The first few minutes of the match were not that good for Liverpool. The Reds made some terrible mistakes in the initial moments and as a result of that, they got trailed by 0-1 in the 19th minute of the match. But, after conceding that goal, the Reds lifted the level of their game a bit and made a tremendous comeback to win the match by a profound margin.
For this match, Daniel Sturridge and Martin Skrtel were not included in the starting XI of Liverpool and on their places; Jamie Carragher and Daniel Agger came in.
On the other hand, there was only one change in the starting line up of Zenit. Aleksandr Kerzhakov went out and on his place, Sergey Semak came in.
The man who took the visitors ahead in the 19th minute was Hulk. This was an awful mistake by Jamie Carragher who tried to back pass the ball to the goal keeper Pepe Reina, but, he failed in placing his shot well. The ball went to Hulk who smashed the ball home.
Zenit’s lead didn’t last long. The Reds got a free kick in the 28th minute and the Uruguayan superstar Luis Suarez was asked to take that free kick. Suarez didn’t make any mistake in latching on that chance. With a flat drive, he sent the ball into the bottom corner of the net and made the score 1-1.
Liverpool took a lead of 2-1 when there were only a couple of minutes to go before the half time break. Enrique got the ball from Henderson and he gave Joe Allen a cross. Allen headed the ball towards the goal post, but, his shot was blocked by the Zenit goalie. Allen again got the ball on the rebound and this time, his shot was on target.
The Reds started the second half in an aggressive manner and it didn’t take them too long to enhance their lead. Luis Suarez took advantage of another free kick that Liverpool got in the 59th minute. The Reds got ahead by 3-1 with that goal and after that, it was a tall order for Zenit. They tried hard and created some chances, but, they failed in scoring any more goals.
Liverpool will lock horns with Wigan Athletic in its next match. That match will be played at the DW Stadium on 2nd of March.