Sunderland opened the new Premier League campaign with a hard fought point away at Liverpool thanks to a spectacular second half equaliser from debutant Seb Larsson. Liverpool bossed the first half and should have been out of sight inside ten minutes but the Scousers were guilty of wasting chances and ran out of steam in the second half which allowed the lads back in the game courtesy of the Swede’s spectacular finish.

Over the summer we have been the most active club in the league in terms of recruitment with ten new signings as Steve Bruce looked to improve on last season’s top half finish. While it was a shame to see Jordan Henderson leave, the money brought in allowed us to add more quality and experience to the defence with the signings of John O’Shea and Wes Brown.

Goals from midfield have been rare in recent seasons, so hopefully the additions of Larsson, Vaughan and Gardner will help change that. As well as the lack of goals from midfield another weakness in our game last season was delivery from set pieces so the signing of set piece specialist Larsson should address this.

As we never replaced Darren Bent in January we were always in the market for a striker and it was pleasing to see the club attract young prospects Ji and Connor Wickham. It will be interesting to see how both forwards cope in the Premier League and I expect Steve Bruce to use both sparingly at first, as he did with Gyan last season, to help them adapt to the league

Hopefully there will still be a few more incomings as I still think were short in a few areas most notably the left but also I would feel more comfortable if we signed a striker with experience of the league.

Anyway, on to today and having sold Jordan Henderson to Liverpool early in the window the fixture computer typically selected the reds to be the opening fixture of our campaign. Liverpool have spent big this summer on Downing, Adam and Henderson as they looked to add service to the forwards they singed in January and I think they’ll do ok this season.

We lined up at Anfield with Mignolet behind Bardo, Brown, Ferdinand and Richardson. In the middle Bruce opted for a midfield consisting of Larsson, Cattermole, Colback and Elmo. Asamoah Gyan started as a lone striker with Stephane Sessegnon playing just off him in the hole.

The lads started fairly well and forced a corner but once the set piece was clear Liverpool took control.

Luis Suarez took one of the worst penalties I have ever seen, after he was fouled by Kieran Richardson on five minutes. Richardson had a nightmare playing a clearance straight into the Uruguayan and as the striker had a run on goal Richardson in an attempt to rectify his error tangled with Suarez inside the area. Phil Dowd had no hesitation pointing to the spot but only booked Richardson despite the protests of the Anfield Road End and Suarez waving the imaginary card.

Suarez stepped up against Mignolet but blazed the ball a good two/three foot over the bar. Think Chris Waddle against Germany in Italia 90.

The reds didn’t let up though and took the lead on ten minutes when Suarez managed to beat Mignolet with his head getting onto the end of Charlie Adam’s free kick. We looked down and out at this point and Liverpool piled on the pressure. Adam tested Mignolet from long range, Lee Cattermole picked up his customary booking with a stupid challenge on the half way line and Downing struck the bar after a mazy run.

Just before half time Liverpool looked to have doubled there lead when Andy Carroll fired past Mignolet, but the linesman had already flagged as the greasy target man had fouled Ferdinand in the build up.

After the break it was a better performance from the lads with Larsson providing some threatening crosses from the left wing. The Swede had a good debut and showed his ability from dead balls throughout the game causing Liverpool problems with his delivery.

Larsson levelled the game with half an hour to go with a superb volley from the edge of the six yard box. Elmo put in a good cross which Larsson converted in spectacular fashion leaving Pepe Reina no change.

With half an hour to go we didn’t just hang on for a point and had a few opportunities to win the game though Cattermole and Sessegnon fired wide from good positions. Worryingly Asamoah Gyan had to be replaced by Ji with what looked like an ankle injury which isn’t good bearing in mind next week’s fixture.

Though we rode our look and Liverpool seemed to run out of steam in the second half I think we were just about good value for our point – especially second half with some good performances. Wes Brown solid at the back and Jack Colback neat and tidy in the midfield justifying his selection ahead of new signings David Vaughan and Craig Gardner.

The build up starts now to next Saturday and hopefully this result will give us a platform to get the first three points of the season.

Final Score: Liverpool 1 – Sunderland 1

ALS Man of the Match: Seb Larsson

Aidan Crowe

ALS T Shirts click here