Liverpool grabbed three vital points against Queens Park Rangers on Sunday afternoon in what turned out to be a heart attack-inducing finale to a thrilling end-to-end game. Both sides tried their best to threw it away, but it was Liverpool who prevailed 3-2 winners after stealing the win late on.
An own goal from Richard Dunne gifted the Reds the lead after Raheem Sterling's clever quick costless-kick found Glen Johnson who squared for Balotelli, but the experienced defender netted the 10th own goal of his Premier League career to make it 1-0 on the 67th minute. As the game edged nearer to the closing stages, substitute Eduardo Vargas scored from close-range with a looping header after a string of defensive errors. But, just as it seemed Harry Redknapp's side would come back into the game, the Reds countered brilliantly until another sub, Phil Coutinho, drove home from inside the box when his effort took a deflection off of Steven Caulker before nestling in the bottom corner. The game was far from over though and the Hoops were level again inside two minutes of stoppage time, and again it was Vargas. Up the other end almost instantaneously, Vargas flicked a header goalwards from the near post after a corner which took an unfortunate deflection off of skipper Steven Gerrard and past Simon Mignolet to make it 2-2. With a point seeming the definitive outcome, up popped the lively Raheem Sterling after another promising counter. Coutinho slid a perfect through ball into his pass and the 19-year-old looked to find Mario Balotelli, who was desperate to atone for earlier errors, but instead Caulker was on hand to put it past Alex McCarthy and seal a win for the Reds.
It could have been much different. The Italian had a golden opportunity to open his league account with Liverpool at 0-0 when McCarthy pushed Adam Lallana's shot into his feet, but six-yards from an empty net his first-time effort flew over the crossbar to sum up a miserable afternoon for him. He had a string of chances again and failed to take any of them, sending a number of long-range efforts high, wide and just about everywhere but on target throughout the game. Balotelli's form is concerning with Daniel Sturridge out even longer through injury, but in truth QPR too should have scored more. Leroy Fer twice hit the bar in the first-half, the second effort when Mignolet had left his goal overexposed after unintelligently charging out to attempt to punch a cross clear. The home side were extremely woeful and were extremely hard-done by when the game came to a finish. Here's five things we learned from the drama:
1. The Reds still have character.
Liverpool earned a trademark last season, particularly from January onwards - for their exciting five, six or seven (or even more) goal thrillers, and their penchant for managing to score more goals than their opposition, in almost any game, was branded an outstanding feat of character. No matter how many times they conceded, their fierce attack could always outscore them. The game against Queens Park Rangers was somewhat similar, as Brendan Rodgers side relied on luck, and attacking prowess (which they didn't have much of throughout the 90 minutes) to see them through. It didn't quite have the cutting edge of last season's performances, where Liverpool romped to early leads and continued their attacking exploits throughout, but it had the same drama and unpredictability. With four minutes remaining of normal time, who would have expected four more goals? Not too many people. Vibrant attacking mixed with diabolical defensive errors, it was the Liverpool which stormed to the summit of the Premier League table last season and though it was a hardly reliable style-of-play - it got them the points this time around, even when they didn't deserve them. They never gave in, and the three points may be crucial as the Reds take on six games in the next 20 days.
2. Phil Coutinho can make a difference.
There was some uproar when Adam Lallana, who had provided flashes of promise throughout the game, was substituted for the out-of-form Coutinho - who featured for Brazil last week. However, the attacking playmaker made a much-improved impact than he has in recent games and completely changed the game. After his introduction, the 22-year-old's clever passing seemed to have returned after losing his passing touch in recent weeks, that magic spark that he lacked came back and so did the fire in his heart. He immediately started off by crunching into a tackle and winning the ball, and his possession retention and vision to create moves was inspired. He had a fantastic impact and thrived in the pockets of space between the QPR midfield and the defence. He may have been at fault for kicking away the short costless-kick, which Redknapp's side then took long and scored from but he made up for it with a sumptuous strike from inside the area to make it 2-1. Overall, he was arguably the star man for the Reds and the Brazilian will be looking to replicate those performances on a regular basis to nail down a starting berth in the squad. For the timebeing, he has at least played himself into contention to play against Real Madrid.
3. Dejan Lovren hasn't added leadership to the back-line.
It's almost like hearing a broken record nowadays but Liverpool's defence let them down yet again on Sunday. Despite QPR's intentions being quite clear, they twice succumbed to aerial balls and 33-year-old Bobby Zamora enjoyed perhaps his best game in a number of years as he ran the Reds ragged. Most alarming however, was just how poor Croatian centre-back Dejan Lovren was. Bought for a fee of around £20 million from Southampton, Lovren's arrival was supposed to add a Jamie Carragher-like presence to the back line after the defender put in a series of commanding displays down on the South Coast. When he finally made the move following a long and arduous transfer saga, there was much made of how he could help become the marshal of the defence but so far, he has only added more errors and uncertainty. Alongside Martin Skrtel, the Croatian and the Slovakian formed a comedic duo at Loftus Road. In winning the game late on courtesy of Steven Caulker’s late error, Liverpool will have gained some confidence and momentum - but defensively, the game should not be forgotten. It was a case of same old, same old as Lovren was continually bullied physically by Bobby Zamora on his return from injury. It was appalling and though they were playing bottom of the league opposition, the Reds defence somehow managed to make it look as if they were facing the toughest encounter of their lives. Constant mistakes were made, but they were let off when Fer twice hit the bar, but both QPR goals were avoidable. Simon Mignolet made some strong stops, but was also caught out with a number of bad decisions - namely to come off his line to try and meet a cross which Fer beat him to, but couldn't direct into the net. Skrtel was shown to be out of position at least a dozen times and Glen Johnson and Jose Enrique did little to help matters. Not a single defender had a good day, and they were lucky to take away all the points. In future, they may not be so lucky.
4. Mario Balotelli is a man bereft of confidence.
Six Premier League games in a red shirt, and no goals despite 20 shots. In fact, he's managed just one goal from 39 shots in his last 2o appearances - a mere conversion rate of 2.6%. Today's performance proved that the further loss of Daniel Sturridge could be devastating, as Balotelli had a bad day at the office yet again. For much of it he seemed disinterested, getting flagged offside a number of times and half-heartedly shooting from distance when there were other options on. In the 61st minute, he had a chance to rectify his performance and shush the boo boys when Alex McCarthy palmed Adam Lallana's shot straight into his path. Six-yards out, with the goal at his mercy, Balotelli could only side-foot the ball over the bar, despite the fact he was unmarked. It was a damning demonstration of his time at Anfield so far, and he missed another good opportunity when he tried the ambitious inside the area late on. Though perhaps the defining moment of his day was when he was one-on-one with Richard Dunne and seemed to go down under very little pressure, rather than continue into the box and shoot on goal. Balotelli, without a partner, has little support and he's clearly frustrated. His confidence is at an all-time low and it's up to Brendan Rodgers to motivate him to start scoring goals.
5. Real Madrid's visit will be... interesting.
As aforementioned, Liverpool's defence was appalling. Though they will likely welcome Javier Manquillo and Alberto Moreno back into the full-back spots when reigning European champions, it will be quite a wake up call to the Reds' back-line when Cristiano Ronaldo comes to town alongside the likes of Karim Benzema, Gareth Bale, James Rodriguez, Luka Modric and Toni Kroos. The side that won La Decima last season have only improved, and are in fine form. Their last few results read: 5-0, 5-0, 2-1, 2-0, 5-1, 8-2, 5-0 since their 2-1 defeat at home to Atletico Madrid on the 13th of September. Ronaldo arrives on Merseyside in fine form, with 15 in seven leagues games - an average of more than two per game and they have scored seven in two games against Basel and Ludogorets in Europe already. Madrid made light work of Levante on the weekend, as Isco, who is barely a squad player, shone. Carlo Ancelotti's side are firing on all cylinders, and it will be perhaps the toughest fixture in the club's last few years. But, with El Clasico on Saturday - Los Blancos may have one towards a monumental clash with their arch rivals, and the overwhelming expectation for the Spaniards to come to Madrid and comfortably thrash Brendan Rodgers' side may play in their favour, just as it did for Rafa Benitez' side back in 2009 when they tore Madrid apart in a 4-0 second-leg win. Real have never scored a goal in the three games they've faced Liverpool, but you wouldn't imagine that to last too long on Wednesday.