Red's Denied: Late Goals Left Liverpool Frustrated

Queen's Park Rangers 3:2 Liverpool

Coates (54'), Kuyt (72'); Derry (77'), Cisse (86'), Mackie (91')

Liverpool headed to London Wednesday night, with Luis Suarez and Martin Kelly, who had both walked off limping in the match against Stoke, still in the line up against a QPR side threatened with relegation. They joined their teammates in donning shirts in support of still recovering Fabrice Muamba during warm-ups.

The Reds were lively from the start, Luis Suarez getting several attempts early on, taking QPR's defense and 'keeper Kenny by surprise, but unable to beat the 'keeper. A link up between Martin Kelly and Stewart Downing caused Ferdinand to come to QPR's rescue.

Liverpool had 7 corners in the first 9 minutes of the match, the last finding Kuyt near the post. Again, a goal was thwarted by Anton Ferdinand.

The 25' saw Martin Skrtel unable to find the net with a header from Liverpool's 11th corner of the match.

Despite Liverpool's sharp passing and a good performance from Luis Suarez, an opening goal seemed elusive.

Former Red Djibril Cisse seemed determined to prove himself to his old employers, sending one good attempt just wide of the posts.

A not-quite-fit Martin Kelly was subbed of for Sebastian Coates, Jamie Carragher moving to right-back, as QPR capitalized on LFC's inability to score, applying more and more pressure before the half. 

 

Charlie Adam received a particularly rough tackle just before the half, coming off for Jordan Henderson.

The second half started with even more corners. It was lucky number 14 in the 54th minute that saw Liverpool open up the scoring in a stylish fashion.

After a Steven Gerrard Corner, Downing drove the ball towards the net only to have it deflect straight towards Coates, whose scissor-kick volley from 12 yards was nothing short of glorious.

A minute later saw Downing take another shot, causing more trouble for QPR's 'keeper Kenny. Downing and Kuyt linked up again, challenging Kenny again, hungry for a second goal.

In the 72nd minute, Suarez made his way past two defenders only to have his shot hit the post. Downing, not missing a beat, jumped on the rebound only to have his shot saved. It was Dirk Kuyt that finally made his way through, sending the ball just beyond Kenny, putting the Red's up 2-0.

Most sides would be content with a 2-0 lead with under 20 minutes left of play. Let us all learn a lesson here: don't stop to breathe, because things WILL go wrong.

QPR rallied, a back- header from Shaun Derry five minutes later putting them back in the race. Cisse proved himself in the 86', heading a cross out of Reina's reach and scoring the equalizer. It was a slip from Jose Enrique that allowed substitute Jamie Mackie to go head-on-head with Pepe and score in the 91st minute.

Things went wrong quickly for the Reds at Loftus Road as they slip farther away from a Top Four finish. QPR, meanwhile, garnered their first win in 2 months and are now clear of the bottom three. Doesn't make sense to me, either.

Liverpool can hopefully take the loss as a lesson and not fall back into the habit of severely underestimating less-threatening clubs as they look ahead to their match against Wigan.

Next Match:

Liverpool v Wigan. EPL. March 24. 11:00 AM EST.

written by Yasmien Mizyed