Ten man Sunderland slumped to a two nil defeat against Liverpool at the SOL on Sunday lunchtime thanks to goals in either half from Dirk Kuyt and Luis Suarez. It was a poor showing from the lads though Dirk Kuyt's first half penalty was awarded in controversial fashion before Luis Suarez clinically secured the victory in the second half.

In the run up to the game a lot was made of how our Ghanaian contingent and Luis Suarez would lock horns for the first time since the Uruguayan handled a goal bound injury time header to deny Ghana a place in the World Cup semi final last summer. However, both sides did their best to play down the meeting correctly asserting that the game was between Sunderland and Liverpool. They also confirmed they would be shaking hands though Gyan did cheekily mention Suarez shouldn’t plan to holiday in Africa anytime soon.

At least that incident took the focus away from the infamous beach ball goal scored in this fixture last season although that could possibly have something to do with the fact that the player who that effort is currently misfiring in a relegation battle for his struggling new club.

Saturday’s results saw us slip to ninth after Everton’s win over Fulham saw them leapfrog us into eighth but we knew a win against the red half of Merseyside would see us climb back to seventh.

In search of those three points and boosted by several players returning from injury we lined up with Mignolet in goal behind a back four of Ferdinand, Mensah, Bramble and Bardsley. In midfield Sessegnon, Muntari, Richardson, Henderson and Welbeck looked to provide lone forward Asamoah Gyan. Liverpool started with expensive strike pairing Suarez and Carroll up front.

The visitors controlled the first half with Andy Carroll forcing a corner early on which Agger headed over unmarked. Danny Welbeck showed some good skill on the edge of the box but couldn't get a shot away.

Our plans were thrown into disarray on twenty minutes when Muntari had to go off injured and was replaced by Lee Cattermole. Our best chance of the first half came with a move down the left but Richardson's cross evaded everyone before being cleared by Glen Johnson. This was the midfielder’s last piece of action as he too went off injured and replaced by Steed.

Liverpool almost took the lead when Mignolet spilled a weak shot but Bardsley and Mensah managed to clear the danger for a corner. The visitors did take the lead on the half hour thanks to Kuyt’s penalty. The Dutchman sent the keeper the wrong way after Mensah hacked down Jay Spearing after the defender slipped to allow the youngster a run on goal.

The penalty was actually given by the linesman as the ref initially signalled for a free kick. Mensah escaped with a booking and though I haven't seen a replay yet I've had a text saying the challenge was outside the box something Steve Bruce and Eric Black were angrily saying to the fourth official. Before half time Suarez almost doubled the reds lead but Mignolet made a good save low down to his left.

After the break we had a brief spell of pressure but the best effort we could manage was a Malbranque cross/shot which curled over. At the other end Carroll almost scored when he had a chance from a corner but his header was cleared off the line by Cattermole.

There was another shocking decision against Sunderland given by the linesman in the second half when Carroll went down under a challenge from Bramble when through on goal. The defender clearly played the ball but the linesman signalled for a foul and booked Bramble. Suarez took the free kick but curled it wide.

With half an hour to go Steve Bruce made his final change with Elmo replacing Welbeck, with the young forward looking like he was struggling with a knock or cramp. Elmo made a bit of a difference with his aerial presence getting up highest to a couple of Henderson’s corners but we failed to capitalise on the second ball. Gyan had a shout for a penalty tumbling under a challenge from Carragher but only a goal kick was given.

Jay Spearing forced Mignolet into a save with a left foot shot from the edge of the box before Suarez sealed the points for Liverpool with fifteen minutes remaining. The striker found space in the box right on the by line before firing past Mignolet from an acute angle.

We were reduced to ten men when John Mensah saw red for hauling down Suarez which made a bad day worse. Then Asamoah Gyan got into a war of words with Agger and Skrtel causing a bit of handbags. It took almost 85 minutes but we did force Pepe Reina into action when Cattermole hit a thunderbolt from long range but the keeper comfortably held the shot.

A poor performance and result, we weren’t helped by the early injuries or the officials but we lacked a spark and never looked like scoring.

Final Score: Sunderland 0 Liverpool 2

ALS Man of the Match: Lee Cattermole

Aidan Crowe

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