Liverpool 1 Johnson 85'
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The first half was... well, let's just forget the first half. It was bad. The highlight of the half was Glen Johnson not as much getting dispossessed by Bojan just outside Liverpool's box, so much as just kind of handing him the ball. Liverpool were boringly flat, Stoke were Stoke, and it was all dreadfully dull.
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Rickie Lambert was so bad. So bad. He was practically stationary in attack most of the time. His passing was... poor. His positioning was terrible. His touch was worse. Liverpool didn't have a ton of good attacks for most of the match, and for the most part Philippe Coutinho and Raheem Sterling stared carrying those attacks around Lambert when they could, because when they did involve the striker those attacks tended to die a terrible death.
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Steven Gerrard celebrated the 16th anniversary of his Liverpool debut by making an appearance from the bench, which is the same way he made his debut. He played generally as the most advanced central midfielder, with Jordan Henderson moving to the deepest spot as Lucas Leiva came off for the captain. He... wasn't very good.
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A goal! A goal! A goal! It wasn't pretty, and Glen Johnson broke his head to score it, but Liverpool scored a goal!
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What a save by Simon Mignolet on Bojan in injury time to keep Liverpool ahead. Strong, dipping shots from range like that are something he's struggled with this season, but he did very well to palm it over the frame.
We'll be back shortly to take an in-depth look at everything that happened in today's game with the full recap. Until then, let us know your take on the ups and downs of the match in the comments, and if you haven't already, join the community on the Liverpool Offside, where we'll have full coverage and lively in-game discussion for every match this season.