The Reds travelled through to Manchester City and were made to pay for not taking chances when they came - City on the other hand took theirs and then remained relatively comfortable throughout the game. All the pre match talk was about the taking of the ban for Suarez which filtered through the pre match texts. It means that Andy Carroll was given the nod to stay up front for the Reds and now it was a case of trying to use his ability.
The Reds got the game started on a very wet and blustery night in Manchester. Both sides sported black armbands for the match in the memory of former left Reds left back and reserves manager Gary Ablett. Taken from the world far too early in his life sadly and the hope then was to win the match for him.
It was a relatively quiet start to the game in fairness and as I would expect both midfields were looking to try and contain the game. The first half chance came on six minutes for City but Dzeko mis-controlled the ball and Reina pounced on the ball.
At the other end the Reds were then presented with a great chance as Downing went in to the box but his shot was saved by Joe Hart. With only the keeper to beat Downing was probably the last player you wanted to be there but he should have scored.
The Reds were made to pay for that straight away as well as Sergio Aguero scored for City on ten minutes. Dirk Kuyt was tackled in midfield and they fed the ball to Aguero who shot from just outside the box and somehow it beat Reina who was left furious with himself. It's only having seen it again later that the ball seemed to dip under Reina and he's right to be disappointed with it.
On sixteen minutes Carroll got his first cross but from a good distance couldn't get his header on target. By this point the match was on it's third match ball after the first two had been sent off for questionable pressure.
After some concerted pressure from the Reds which didn't result in anything City went forward and Dzeko nearly forced a second for City when his shot from outside the box deflected just wide off Johnson.
On twenty three minutes Adam forced Hart in to a save from a free kick and in the follow up play Kuyt had a cross deflected for a corner but we wasted it.
On twenty seven minutes Charlie Adam burst forward to support Andy Carroll and he got on to the knock down from the striker before being taken down by Kolo Toure on the edge of the box. A clear free kick, strangely not a yellow card though. After an awful lot of precise setting up of the ball by the Reds Henderson saw his shot deflected away by Toure on the edge of the wall.
On thirty two minutes in a rare attack from City they won a corner. Kompany ran near post and won the header which Reina did superbly well to tip over but he was beaten with the next corner from the opposite side - again a near post run and this time it was Yaya Toure and he headed in.
For all of the pressure that we'd had we had nothing in our favour - they had one move up the pitch and forced a goal.
On forty minutes Charlie Adam bundled in to Dzeko and took him down near our own area and he was lucky not to be carded for it. David Silva bent the free kick over the bar.
On forty two minutes Carroll knocked down to Kuyt and his shot was blocked by Kompany from six yards. As the ball rebounded out Adam bumped in to Yaya Toure and he was really treading thin ice with the ref now and he was let known as well.
Much to the annoyance of the home crowd when Barry knowingly hacked Spearing's legs from him after the ball went and he saw yellow for it. Shortly afterwards the final first half whistle was blown and despite playing quite well we were two down.
Half time was a time when the Reds needed to make a change. We were playing quite well I thought but not being creative enough with Downing, Kuyt and Adam probably all fearing the switch. As it was no changes were actually made by the Reds but the subs were getting ready.
City got the game started again with the rain now absolutely hammering it down. Once again we started the game ok but again without troubling the City goal. The more this was going on the more you started down the touchline and watch the subs warm up.
The longer it went on and the more contented City became to see the game out. On fifty five minutes the Reds saw Glen Johnson go in to the book when he tried to rugby tackle Aguero to the floor having slipped on the soggy surface.
Finally the Reds made the obvious changes to the match with Gerrard replacing Adam who had been poor and wound up through the game. Craig Bellamy also replaced Dirk Kuyt who hadn't been in the game enough.
A minute later and Dzeko went down under a Skrtel challenge but the ref waved play on. As Dzeko stayed down though Enrique kicked the ball out and after a moan at the ref Dzeko squared up to Skrtel and Kompany was called forward to quieten his striker down.
The Reds continued to play on the front foot but still Joe Hart was having to quiet a game but if we could get one then at least there could be a battle on for us. The big problem of course was the clock.
There was a hold up on sixty six minutes with Milner and Johnson clashing and both ending up down for treatment. It looked like one of those knee clashing injuries which really hurt for a few minutes. Glen Johnson was ok after treatment and after a little longer so was Milner.
All too often the Reds were playing well until the final third when they slowed it all down and then Carroll was left alone on the box with four defenders around him.
The home side made their first change on seventy one minutes when Johnson replaced Aguero.
On seventy two minutes the home side were reduced to ten men as Gareth Barry was sent off for a second yellow card. He was given the second yellow for taking out Agger in full flight and he knew what he was doing even if the card appeared slightly harsh.
Just as the night looked like it could have taken a positive turn for the Reds they were hit with a sucker punch as Yaya Toure was sent through but without the pace to reach goal he allowed Skrtel back and then went down in the box with the ref pointing to the spot. It looked very harsh at first viewing and it's only later on tv replays that you could see a little contact from the knee which bundled him over. Skrtel got away without a card but the spot kick was given. James Milner spotted the ball up and sent Reina the wrong way to make it three nil.
Two subs were then made - one for each side as Maxi replaced Spearing and Lescott replaced Silva for them.
It was now all looking beyond us - even against ten men and the only hope I had now for us was to at least get a goal.
As the clock ticked on and included four extra minutes of time at the ninety we did finally make Joe Hart do some work. Technically yes he had to save the ball from the net but very little was taxing him much.
Thankfully the final whistle finally blew and we were left with a three nil loss. A strange loss in a way because for long periods we dominated the play but then again the ball in the net is what counts. City took their chances when they came along whilst we struggled to create them.
MotM : Jay Spearing - may have been subbed but he had played well all game and stuck to his task in a cool manner.
