One Flukey Goal and Three Points

As you can see from this image, the allegations that Reina was out of position and Zamora's insistence that he hit his goal on purpose on Saturday are somewhat stretched! In fact the replays clearly show Zamora looking into the box before trying to hit a cross, but the ball got away from him and he sliced it towards the near post. As for Reina, perhaps he could have got to the ball better, but he had set himself for a cross, and was perfectly positioned to stop the ball going to West Ham's free attacker on the left. When Zamora mishit his cross, Pepe had to change direction to get to the ball, which wriggled in off his fingers at full stretch.

You can see from this second image, which is the last frame on the TV footage before he hits the ball, that Zamora is positioned to cross the ball, not shoot. So the record will show that one of West Ham's three "shots" on target (the other two not being worth mention) was a mishit cross which resulted in a flukey goal. The Reds meanwhile had upwards of eight shots on target, but don't let that fool you into thinking we were on top of the game.

West Ham caused us a lot of problems, over-running our centre midfield at times and getting round us at the back too often for my liking when they attacked the space behind our fullbacks.

Harewood was unlucky with a chance not long after Zamora's fluke, and late on they should have punished us when Bowyer was desperately unlucky to put one wide after beating Reina. There was nothing unlucky about Man of the Match Daniel Agger's goal however: a super, curling, 35 yard effort (I'm guessing) which would have beaten the keeper even if it hadn't moved away from him in the air.

"Dagger" is increasingly proving himself to be the best defensive find of the last few years in any league, and makes the amount the Mancs overpaid for Vidic look rather risible. A cynical person might say our "interest" in Vidic was calculated to force them down the wrong path whilst we scooped up an absolute bargain. It's early in his Anfield career, but this lad looks like the genuine thing, and in a few years I personally believe he will be one of the classiest defenders in the world. If I'm over-enthusing then it's probably because we haven't had a defender this good on the ball since Jocky, although I'm not going to directly compare the two. Jocky would never have slotted one like that ...

Crouch also netted after a delicious move involving a sweet little backflick through a crowded box from Garcia. Peter still had some work to do, but rounded the keeper and stroked the ball in between Anton Ferdinand's legs. The goal was a bit of a redemption for both, as until that point they had probably been our worst players. However, even if all a player does in a game is to set up or score the winning goal, that will be enough for me. Crouch took his chance, when it came, with aplomb. The addition of Kuyt and Bellamy seems to have worked wonders on the big lad as he's now scoring goals like there's no tomorrow. Which may be partially correct, given the quality of Kuyt's debut.

In an earlier post I said that I had been advised that the newly crowned Dutch Footballer of the Year, Dirk Kuyt, was like Mark Hughes as a player. Well and good, but from what we saw on Saturday Sparky never had half so much pace as Dirk, and although forty minutes of football in a very open game is not a lot to base it on, I think this one is going to be a real star for us. A powerful forward who can finish with either foot, or his head, Kuyt can also drift wide for the ball and will be our first line of defence as he harries the opposition when they get possession.

With Gonzalez gaining momentum in the side, and rumours from RAWK suggesting that Momo was spotted out in Moods the other night strutting his funky stuff and telling people he would be fit for the Derby fixture, all I can say is bring on the Bitters ... it's just a shame that yet again the international break strikes when we're starting to hit our stride. They can't argue that it's the same situation for them, as they undoubtedly have fewer internationals involved. But I still think we'll be ready for Gollum and his legions of Orcs ...

p.s. Kudos to Murpheus from RAWK for two of the pictures I stole.