Heroic Effort From Johnson Gives Reds 3 Points

Glen Johnson scoring whilst getting booted in the head

Liverpool faced Stoke at Anfield on Saturday and eventually after a diving header from Glen Johnson managed to collect their first win in the Premier League in five matches. After a dismal first half display the Reds came to life in the second however their lack of a prolific strike force was becoming evident. It took a defender to net the winner in a scrappy game for Brendan Rodgers' side.The first half to be honest could barely be described as a football match. You know you've had a dodgy first half when match of the day have to show a shot deflecting off a defender as a "highlight". And so, without much to discuss we may as well go on to the second half.The first real chance of this half saw Henderson send an effort wide. Liverpool after looking lacking in ideas in the first half were suddenly creating a lot more movement. A second half substitution for Stoke saw Charlie Adam enter play replacing Glenn Whelan. This change appeared to aid Liverpool nicely as the midfield became easier to breakdown.

More creative in second half

At 55 minutes Diouf for Stoke took a shot from the left hand side of the box. Mignolet at first appeared to hesitate and it looked for a moment that Diouf would put Stoke into the lead but Mignolet did well and saved the potentially dangerous chance.Shortly afterwards Bojan another one of Stoke's shining players struck an effort that smashed out off the post. At this point in time it looked like Liverpool would eventually succumb to Stoke's mounting pressure.Whilst Stoke were probably having the better of the chances, the Reds were still creating some problems for the Stoke defence. A pacey run from Raheem Sterling saw him have a pop at goal but his effort trickled wide.Soon afterwards, Liverpool created another attack but Lucas Leiva isn't necessarily the man you want left with the ball in front of the keeper haha. His run into the box was brilliant but his shot straight at the keeper was pretty poor.Next up was Joe Allen, from the centre of the box he sent his shot just over the bar and also perhaps should have done better. The Stoke pressure had now somewhat fizzled away and whilst Liverpool were on the ascendancy we still could not find the back of the net.Up the other end of the pitch though Stoke produced some more drama for the Reds when another shot from Diouf was cleared off the line by Raheem Sterling. Mignolet was thankful for his teammates efforts but it must be noted that the goalkeeper was a lot better on Saturday making some wonderful saves to keep his side in the game.

Real heart and desire from Glen Johnson

At 84 minutes Liverpool finally found their goal. We've been crying out for a show of real heart and desire and we got just that. Glen Johnson has been subject to some real stick of late and I'm the first to admit I've also been complaining however, my hat goes off to him for yesterday's effort.After a Rickie Lambert attempt came back out off the bar, Glen Johnson came running into the box, completely threw himself at the ball with a diving header, scored and then got booted in the head in the process. Lying on the ground with his teammates elated on top of him I could not believe what had just happened. Fair play to Glen Johnson he stuck his neck on the line for Liverpool and secured a much needed win.In the latter stages of the game another long range strike from Bojan was tipped over the bar by Mignolet. It was a fantastic save and ensured that the Reds collected all three points.I asked you for your thoughts on the game and here are a few of the tweets I received:

Next up for Liverpool is Leicester.

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@_TheLiverBird Kolo and @LucasLeiva87 bring stability to our defense. @glen_johnson @Jesanchez3 paired together 4 the first time since when?— Scott Spain (@azoceanblue) November 29, 2014

@LFCKirstyLFC lacklustre again but for about 10 minutes in the 2nd half. was all about the result.— Tim Bolton (@timbolton1) November 29, 2014

@LFCKirstyLFC Mignolet, Lucas, Henderson, Coutinho very good. Sterling good second half. Start same 11 next game.— CR458????? (@CR458) November 29, 2014