History Not Made

Arguably the greatest game in world football was supposed to bring a sense of accomplished history to the game. The truth though is that history was not made. Not even close. This was supposed to be the game where both sets of teams and supporters put the incidents of the 15th October 2011 to rest. The reality was much different. After the now famous game on the 15th October where both teams played out for a 1-1 draw, the talking point was not about the football that had been played. Instead the accusations that Liverpool player Luis Suarez racially abused Patrics Evra over shadowed the game. As we know, Suarez was found guilty of racially abusing Evra and was handed down an eight game ban. This meant Suarez was still banned for the game between Liverpool and Man Utd at Anfield last Saturday.

All eyes were on both sets of fans and players.

Before the FA Cup clash on the 28th January, there was a lot of hype after the incident between the two clubs. However, before the game both clubs acted extremely professionally and both managers called for calm amongst their respective supporters. In fact before Saturday's game, Anfield's stadium announcer warned fans against racist and homophobic behaviour. The fact that Suarez wasn't playing would have been another helpful factor in hoping for a peaceful match. Evra was chosen as captain for the game as Sir Alex Ferguson sent a statement of his intent, and also showed his faith in his left-back ahead of the match. Games between Utd and Liverpool are always passionate and tough affairs, and this one was to be no different. Both sets of fans packed into the ground with seemingly little trouble between the two sets of fans. 

The game itself was a tight affair, but was full of absorbing football. Utd hit the post early on after a mazy run  by Antonio Valencia, but it was Liverpool that broke the deadline. A corner in front of the away fans was beautifully delivered by Steven Gerrard into a melee of players, with Andy Carroll being the main instigator. Utd keeper David de Gea came to get the ball, but in truth he got no where near it. Instead Liverpool centre back Daniel Agger had the easiest of head ins from six yards. 

After that it was all Utd, as they pressed and harried for an equaliser. Having had almost twenty minutes of constant pressure, Utd's effort finally came off six minutes before half time. After some great work by Rafael done the right flank, and some equally poor defending by Jose Enrique, Rafael pulled the back to a free Park Ji Sung who riffled the ball into the back of the net.

Kuyt nets the winner in the FA Cup clash last Saturday.

With the scores level at the start of the second half, Martin Skrtel had to divert Danny Welbeck's effort with the goal gaping in front of him. Liverpool's chance of winning the game seemed to be reliant on de Gea making another mistake. The young Spaniard made a hash of a few more routine saves giving the Liverpool team a lot of confidence, whilst at the same time sapping confidence from his defenders. With time running out, Pepe Reina went route one up the field where he found the head of Andy Carroll who flicked on to Dirk Kuyt, who buried the ball past de Gea and gave Liverpool a famous win. Dalglish and the Liverpool fans and players were left to celebrate progression in the cup, whilst Ferguson and Utd were left wondering how they didn't come away with anything.

Evra was subjected to constant booing throughout the game.

The game and result were a credit to football and certainly both sets of players handled themselves professionally as the rest of the footballing world watched on. But the game wasn't without incident. Patrice Evra was constantly jeered and booed throughout the game. It was hoped that this wouldn't be the case. After the game Liverpool manager Kenny Dalglish said that it was great to see a 'bit of banter' between the two sets of fans. Banter yes, but constant booing of Evra was unacceptable and completely unnecessary. It also came to light that a fan had been arrested after an alleged racist gesture was made during the game. In fact seventeen people were ejected from the stadium during the game and a further two men were arrested, but the reason for their arrests were not given.

This all served to highlight that problems in football do exist, and there are still trouble makers who are tarnishing the reputation of football. Obviously the Suarez incident has brought this to light, but the FA, UEFA, and FIFA have a lot of work to do to stamp out footballs ongoing problems. Racism, homophobia, sectarianism, and general abuse should not be tolerated at football games. It is absolutely unnecessary for these things to take place, as it spoils the beautiful game of football. The FA has set a precedence with the eight game ban of Suarez, and fans have received life time bans for their inappropriate actions, but more is still needed if these problems are to be rooted out of the game. Time will tell how serious footballs governing bodies are about tackling these issues. By know means is the Evra-Suarez an isolated incident, but hopefully it will have served as a spark to bring about action at the very top of the footballing hierarchy.