The big Slovak defender deserves credit for his crackin’ comeback…
Liverpool may only have snatched a draw at the death against Arsenal yesterday, but the 2-2 result was heavily influenced by Liverpool defender Martin Skrtel.
Coming into the game at Anfield yesterday, the pressure was firmly on Liverpool in front of their own fans to get a good result and break the crippling mediocrity that has summed up their season so far.
Before Sunday, they had won just three out of their last 11 games in all competitions, and both their defence and attack had come under scrutiny from fans and the media alike.
Liverpool had a bright start to the game and they were rewarded for their good play just before half time when Philippe Coutinho drove the ball home from the edge of the area to give his side a 1-0 lead.
However, Liverpool would hold onto their leads for mere minutes as Mattieu Debuchy rose above Martin Skrtel in the box to nod home an equaliser for the London side.
It was a bad goal for Liverpool to concede considering they had just taken the lead and Skrtel had a considerable height advantage over Debuchy and should have won the header above the Frenchman.
Not a great start for the Slovak.
Although that goal was a blight on Skrtel’s performance, he was to receive a blight to the back of his head as well when he was involved in an accidental collision with Olivier Giroud.
Skrtel was down on the ground for around seven minutes while medics attempted to stall the bleeding in the back of his head, before finally he was bandaged up and able to retake his position.
Liverpool would go a goal behind to a Giroud strike in the second half and they would go a man down as well when Fabio Borini received his marching orders for a second bookable offence just minutes after he entered the fray as a substitute.
However, as a result of Martin Skrtel’s injury earlier in the game, there was a huge amount of added time and, in the 99th minute, Skrtel would reveal himself as the hero when he powered home a bullet of a header from a corner to equalise for Liverpool.
Skrtel showed great mental strength to atone for his first half mistake and recover from the pretty substantial blow he took to the back of the head to snatch a late draw for his side.
The defender has since posted an image of his grisly injury, but we’re sure the glory of scoring that last-minute equaliser has certainly eased the pain somewhat…
http://instagram.com/p/w4392VgUMR/?modal=true
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