Liverpool defeated Sunderland at the Stadium of Light and jumped to the eighth position with just four points off the fourth spot. Liverpool looked in complete control as Lazar Markovic, Emre Can and Philippe Coutinho proved what they were capable of. Markovic’s ninth minute strike proved to be the difference between both the sides as Sunderland’s hopes for an equaliser was dashed after midfielder Liam Bridcutt was sent-off following a second booking of the match. 20-year-old Serbian winger Markovic scored his first league goal for Liverpool off an assist from skipper Steven Gerrard since moving from Portuguese club Benfica in the summer and kept the Reds hopes of a top-four finish alive.
The score line could have been a different one if referee Craig Pawson had awarded Liverpool a penalty as defender Wes Brown brought down Markovic inside the box. Liverpool made three changes to the starting XI that drew 2-2 against Leicester City at Anfield on the New Year’s eve whereas Gus Poyet made one change after Jack Rodwell was declared unfit because of a muscle injury. Liverpool lost the services of Kolo Toure, who left England to participate in the African Cup of Nations whereas Adam Lallana is injured and Raheem Sterling is enjoying his vacation in Jamaica.
Markovic’s volley, which just missed the goal by a whisker attracted a lot of attention in the social media along with Connor Wickham’s reaction following the match. Here are the reaction in twitter following Liverpool’s victory and Markovic’s performance.
Liverpool defeated Sunderland 1-0 at the Stadium of Light.
FULL-TIME: Lazar Markovic’s early first-half goal gives #LFC a 1-0 win over Sunderland at the Stadium of Light pic.twitter.com/NThTJ7vVAM
— Liverpool FC (@LFC) January 10, 2015
Lucky mascot for Liverpool?
Liverpool never lost whenever I watched their Match.:P
— Happy B’Day Guru Ji (@karthik_jammy) January 10, 2015
Finally Liverpool fans are impressive with Markovic’s performance.
That shot from Markovic, amazing! MOTM without a doubt. He is starting to look like the player I saw on YouTube
A united group and a victory, we hope it will carry on this way ! #YNWA #Liverpool pic.twitter.com/ySgxnxqaOd
— Mamadou Sakho (@mamadousakho3) January 10, 2015
#Markovic shot vs #Sunderland wickham with perfect reaction#LFC https://t.co/Js9tIYQOYi via @vine
— Liverpool Fun facts (@livrpoolfunfact) January 10, 2015
And to think people were saying he’s lazy waste of money awful player ha ha well done mate looking better each match #Markovic
— RED 4 LIFE (@Red4Life6) January 10, 2015