|
Liverpool's Danny Ings scored within two minutes of coming on -- but his side were held 1-1 by Norwich at Anfield. Daniel Sturridge returned to the starting XI for the first time since April 8 after a series of injuries, but was unable to get on the scoresheet in the first half when Lucas Leiva's pass found him but John Ruddy made a fine save. After half-time, Christian Benteke went off injured and Ings replaced him -- and it took just a few minutes for the striker to break his goal duck as Alberto Moreno clipped a pass to him to finish smartly. But Liverpool were pegged back when Simon Mignolet flapped at a corner Russell Martin flicked home superbly to make it 1-1. It was a familiar Liverpool story of not being able to hold onto a lead -- a much-changed side did the same in the Europa League against Bordeaux in midweek -- and while goals are still at a premium it is proving costly. After seven points from their opening three matches Liverpool have taken one from the last three and are 13th in the table, seven adrift of leaders Manchester City. It may have been premature for Norwich fans to sing 'You're getting sacked in the morning' to Brendan Rodgers, but there is no doubt the Reds boss is under increasing scrutiny. The return of Sturridge was supposed to provide some relief but he will take time to rediscover his old form, although an hour here will have helped. But it was his fellow striker Ings who injected some much-needed dynamism into an attack that had scored just three times in five previous league matches. His busy play and relentless running is rapidly winning him plenty of admirers, and if he can tally regular goals to that there will be greater adulation to follow. Ings took his goal well and could have won it late on but could not quite get his foot around the ball after squeezing through a couple of tackles. The 23-year-old arrived at Anfield in the summer for a fee still to be decided by a tribunal as fourth-choice forward, but has already overtaken £10 million Divock Origi and if he can form anything like the devastating partnership Sturridge had with Luis Suarez then there could be further promotion to follow. Rodgers jettisoned his 4-3-3 formation in favour of 3-4-1-2 a full three months earlier than he made the change last season, which sparked a marked upturn in results. Now, as then, it did not get off to the best start with a defeat at Manchester United -- but if it is a way to get two strikers into the team then Rodgers may have to persevere with it. It also brought the best out of Alberto Moreno, starting his first league match of the season, who was a bundle of pace and energy from left wing-back. But familiar frailties were exposed as Martin punished a weakness at set-pieces and Philippe Coutinho squandered a one-on-one with John Ruddy, with Ings unable to retrieve the situation. Mignolet partly redeemed himself with a good save from Jarvis but it was another two points dropped at home by Liverpool, who had been looking to bounce back from a 3-0 thrashing by West Ham in their previous home game.
|
NOR
