League one side Oldham threatened to cause a major upset when they played Liverpool at their famous Anfield Stadium in the FA Cup third round tie. Robbie Simpson scored with a long range shot to give the Latic's a shock 1-0 lead after 28 minutes. The goal shocked the home team and gave them a wake up call which spurned them into action. The Reds were level within two minutes when a deflection off Craig Bellamy levelled the score. Captain Steven Gerrard scored a penalty on the stroke of half time to give the home side a 2-1 lead which settled any nerves.
Second half goals from Jonjo Shelvey, Andy Carroll and Stewart Downing gave Liverpool a comfortable victory, although the final 5-1 score somewhat flattered the home side as the visitors from League One had ensured this was an entertaining and absorbing contest. Liverpool Manager Kenny Dalglish had made eight changes to the side who lost 3-0 at Manchester City earlier this week, but his team still contained eight full international players.
Oldham have beaten Manchester City and Everton in the FA Cup in recent years and if they had shown a better finishing touch in front of goal and were a little more fortunate, they could have condemned Liverpool to an early exit from this seasons Cup competition. The visitors were quick out of the blocks and could have easily scored three goals within the first twenty minutes. Oldham's top scorer Shefki Kuqi was unlucky when his shot went into the side netting, while Luca Scapuzzi was well placed but fired wide of the goal and Tom Adeyemi was unmarked but headed the ball over the crossbar. Simpson finally broke the stalemate with his spectacular long range effort giving the visitors a well deserved lead.
Oldham's joy was short lived as Craig Bellamy deflected Jonjo Shelvey's shot into the goal and then Gerrard scored a penalty after Maxi Rodriguez was fouled. The visitors started the second half with the same enthusiasm as they had started the first, and they threatened to equalise on more than one occasion. Liverpool finally took control of the game when Shelvey scored in the 69th minute and late goals from £35 million Andy Carroll scored his first goal at Anfield this season and Stuart Downing's late injury time goal was the first he has scored for the club, which gave a deceptive appearance to the result which shouldn't undermine Oldham's performance on the night, which was a credit to lower league football.
Steve Goodwin is an expert author, football fan and retailer of Liverpool merchandise available from the Liverpool Shop all products from the Liverpool Store are available to ship worldwide.
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