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Posts Tagged ‘incident’

• Liverpool striker expecting ‘tense’ atmosphere at Old Trafford
• Set to face Patrice Evra for first time since October incident

The Liverpool striker Luis Suárez has told Manchester United fans that any abuse aimed at him when the teams meet on Saturday at Old Trafford will simply “spur me on”.

The Uruguay international, whose appearance against Tottenham on Monday was his first since completing the eight-match ban he received after being found guilty of racially abusing United’s Patrice Evra in October, said he fully expected a “tense” atmosphere at Old Trafford.

Suárez told the Uruguayan station Radio Sport 890: “I know against United it is going to be tense because I’m going to face Evra. But I’m used to having fans whistle at me. I hope nothing unusual happens. I’ll have to forget what happened for that moment.

“I do know Man United fans are going to try to make me feel uncomfortable. But I have to tell them – they are going to spur me on if they whistle at me.”

The 25-year-old also expressed his dismay with the way the incident was handled.

“I knew what I did and there is a kind of football law that says: ‘what happens on the pitch, stays on the pitch and that’s the end of the story’.”

The first meeting of the two players since the incident could begin with the pair having to shake hands as part of the pre-match routine. Sir Alex Ferguson, the United manager, has stated that he believes Evra should “rise above” the temptation to ignore a handshake from Suárez, should he start.

Luis SuárezLiverpoolManchester United
guardian.co.uk

Manchester City did far more than take their first Premier League victory of this campaign. They claimed the win by the sort of margin associated with sides who are viewed as credible candidates for the major prizes.

Luck also went against Liverpool here on occasion, but the home crowd had its glimpse of the spectacle that is now demanded here. In patches at least, the flow and danger were obvious. Time, too, is in the side that is clearly taking shape.

Before a watching Sheikh Mansour, City’s benefactor even more than its owner, there was an opulent opening goal as early as the 13th minute. Visitors known for their rigour were still left powerless by the fluency of a move that also showed surprising understanding in a line-up that remains under development.

Adam Johnson, in his first start of the campaign, slid a pass between Milan Jovanovic and Daniel Agger, with James Milner, on his debut, slipped into space on the right before pulling the cross back for Gareth Barry to side-foot the ball into the net.

The breakthrough appeared to augur well, but City showed little further interest in laying on a spectacle before the interval. That was not so very great a surprise. Roberto Mancini has tried to look methodical and even downbeat in his management, as if he could personally offset the bemusement and disbelief that swirls around a club of unequalled means.

The prosaic streak was its broadest when he opened the Premier League campaign with a cautious approach at White Hart Lane.

Even if he was wilfully refusing to play to the gallery, a goalless draw must have been entirely satisfactory against Tottenham Hotspur, who beat City to the spot in the Champions League qualifiers.

A first home fixture of the campaign, against Liverpool, seemed to demand that Mancini reveal more of his intentions. Circumspection could not be the order of the day when Milner, signed from Aston Villa in a deal valued at £26m, was making his debut on the left wing.

Nonsensical as it sounds after all the outlay, City, however, can be as rueful as any other club when a player is missing. Mario Balotelli, a £24m acquisition from Internazionale, might have been of use, but a striker who, on his debut, scored the only goal of the away match with Timisoara in the Europa League was ruled out with a knee problem.

Momentum and credibility for City can only have their origin in victories and those results, above all, must come in a steady flow at this stadium, yet they hardly reduced the visitors to panic in the first half. Liverpool were a good test of City’s means.

They were bound to be obstinate under the management of that formidable organiser Roy Hodgson, even if the manager did not have Javier Mascherano in his squad as conjecture swelled of an imminent move to Barcelona.

The visitors, with Fernando Torres making his first start for the club since Spain’s World Cup triumph, was paired with the improving David Ngog. Hodgson’s conundrum lay in the inability of his team to advance with purpose. Shortly before half-time, Torres did set up Steven Gerrard for a drive that flew offside.

The incident did not amount to much, but it should have sufficed to remind City that victory was not assured. Mancini is still to establish a style that will make visitors quake. He will have to do so since clubs such as Chelsea and Manchester United, who truly see themselves as champions in waiting, can inflict terror on visitors. City did well enough initially but there was nothing then to make Liverpool despair completely.

The real sense that the match was slipping out of their reach did not come until City extended their lead in the 53rd minute. A Micah Richards header was forced in off Glen Johnson. Hodgson’s team did not lack the spirit to react and attempts from Ngog and Torres in succession came back off the post. But it did not look feasible that City, for all their previous history of eccentricity, would fail here.

Their third goal duly arrived. Martin Skrtl’s challenge brought down Adam Johnson in the 67th minute and Tevez converted the penalty in his usual forthright manner. The winger Johnson had shown in the incident the incident the elusiveness that makes him a crucial figure, even if he did come at the cost of a mere £7m from Middlesbrough.

Liverpool, for their part, were unlucky as well as outmatched and the substitute Ryan Babel was, for instance, no sooner on the pitch for Torres than his shot from the right cannoned off the post. All the same, City had an effectivness here that had nothing at all to do with luck.

Premier LeagueManchester CityLiverpoolKevin McCarraguardian.co.uk

• FA will take no action against Liverpool midfielder
• 29-year-old also escaped possible charge last week

Steven Gerrard will not face action from the Football Association following the Liverpool captain’s clash with Michael Brown during Monday’s 4-1 win over Portsmouth.

It is understood the FA sought clarification from the referee Stuart Attwell after Gerrard appeared to catch Brown with his forearm.

Attwell saw the incident at the time and spoke to Gerrard after awarding Pompey a free-kick, with the FA following guidelines not to punish players retrospectively if the match official sees the alleged offence.

Gerrard escaped punishment from the FA last week after apparently making a two-fingered gesture to the referee Andre Marriner during Liverpool’s 1-0 defeat away to Wigan.

Against Pompey, Benítez replaced his 29-year-old captain with Yossi Benayoun immediately after the incident with Brown, with victory a formality by that stage.

Victory against the Premier League’s bottom side meant Liverpool bounced back from back-to-back defeats, against Wigan and Lille in the Europa League, with the return leg against the French side on Thursday.

“We knew that it was a must-win game,” said the goalkeeper José Reina. “Fortunately we did it and performed really well. Hopefully we can do it again on Thursday.

“When the team is playing well, we can score at any time. For this 10 minutes [against Pompey], we were incredible.”

Steven GerrardLiverpoolPremier Leagueguardian.co.uk