Liverpool and Sunderland shared the spoils at Anfield in what was the battle of the debutants.
No fewer than 7 players made their debuts for their respective new clubs, in a game that was very much a clichéd game of two halves.
Liverpool was by far the better team in the first half and created numerous chances and although Luis Suarez missed an early penalty, was able to head home from the impressive Charlie Adam.
The penalty caused friction within the Liverpool camp who felt that Phil Dowd should have sent off Kieran Richardson for the challenge on the Uruguayan. Whether Dowd felt Suarez was going away from goal remains unknown, but it is hard to argue that this was a goalscoring opportunity that was thwarted by Richardson’s challenge. Dowd issued a yellow much to the dismay of the Reds.
Sunderland impressed in the second half and looked the much better of the two teams and scored a wonderful equaliser through Sebastian Larsson. Sessegnon’s cross was met with an acrobatic effort from the Swedish international that gave Pepe Reina absolutely no chance.
Both sides huffed and puffed in the end but neither could make a breakthrough to secure the points. The spoils were shared in a result that Steve Bruce would arguably be the happier with.
Click here to see Football FanCast’s NEW match stats
*
Watch the goals from today’s game by checking out ESPN’s New GOALS APP
[divider]
[divider]
Check the winning the numbers from this week’s Goaldash here