These are strange times for the supposed specialist scorers. Between them, Wayne Rooney, Sergio Aguero, Diego Costa, Harry Kane and Alexis Sanchez have managed two league goals this season. Norwich central defender Russell Martin has outscored them on his own.
After 11 goals in his first 225 games for the Canaries, he has three in five matches. The most recent and most memorable, taken with lovely soft touch of a flair player rather than the brute force of a centre-half, secured a point at Anfield. Norwich are promoted and prospering. Martin’s defending has its frailties, but his finishing seems fantastic.
The probability is that Martin’s lovely, lobbed volley, dipping under Simon Mignolet’s bar, will not be of note on Merseyside for aesthetic reasons. Instead, it marked a continuing slump that places Brendan Rodgers’ position under greater scrutiny. Liverpool have gone five games without a win and are lodged in the lower half of the table. More are in favour of regime change.
Their master marksmen were outshone, too, and not just by Martin. This had the makings of an auspicious occasion, a belated day when they could unveil a potentially prolific forward duo. But as they gained one striker, they lost another and scored courtesy of a third. The understudy upstaged his supposed superiors.
Danny Ings’ first Liverpool goal was taken stylishly. His presence was required because Daniel Sturridge and Christian Benteke, belatedly united, were soon separated because of the Belgian’s tight hamstring. Such consolation as Liverpool could derive came from Ings’ goal and the fact the afflicted attacker was not Sturridge who reappeared after hip surgery.
The Englishman has been fully fit so rarely in the last 13 months that, in reality, Liverpool lost two strikers in the summer of 2014; the Barcelona-bound Luis Suarez and his stricken sidekick. Their injured contingent have an unfortunate habit of being sidelined for longer than was initially expected — Jordan Henderson, ruled out for two months, is the latest — but, more than five months after facing Blackburn, Sturridge returned to first-team football.
In the culture of instant gratification, the temptation is to expect everything immediately. In that sense, Sturridge’s comeback was doubly disappointing: he neither scored nor offered the earliest of evidence that he and Benteke will constitute a deadly duo. Yet the reappearance of the oft-mentioned but rarely-seen striker was in itself a cause for optimism.
Signs of ring-rust were detectable when he squandered his best chance, directing a shot too close to John Ruddy after Martin gave the ball away. If he was trying too hard, he would not be the first returning player to strive too much to make an impression on his comeback. It is a forgivable flaw.
Philippe Coutinho was more culpable for the loss of two points. Usually so assured, the Brazilian technician seemed strangely hesitant when the chance to turn matchwinner presented itself. Perhaps he is deadlier from 25 yards than 12. Whatever the reason, Ruddy saved superbly and Norwich can savour the sight of a table that shows them above Liverpool, if only on goal difference.
And whereas Norwich’s point was testament to their teamwork, Liverpool’s was a bitty display. Benteke and Sturridge were below their best, James Milner was wasteful at times and, exquisite as Martin’s finish was, there was something sadly predictable about them conceding after a corner. Familiar flaws persist.
Sides that lack ruthlessness at one end of the pitch and who are overly generous at the other rarely prosper. When Sturridge returns to his sharpest, one issue should be addressed but the other has been a recurring theme for years. Set-piece struggles have become the norm.
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