This wasn’t clinical from Liverpool as they ran into plenty of trouble against relegation bound Cardiff in Wales, but a 6-3 win with another sublime performance from Luis Suarez and Martin Skrtel keeps them in a reasonable distance from the league leaders and their Premier League title hopes alive.
Cardiff led twice with goals from Frazier Campbell and Jordon Mutch, with Liverpool finding it difficult early on to handle Campbell’s speed and craftiness around the box, proving once more that there are plenty of defensive problems for Brendan Rodgers to sort out. However, by reaching 82 goals this season they’ve proven they have the attack to overcome these issues and holes.
So while Chelsea beat Arsenal 6-0 and Manchester City gave Fulham a similar treatment with a 5-0 win, Liverpool came away with the same kind of scoreline, but showing their defense might be a bit more fragile. Mutch scored the opening goal after a nice set up from Campbell, but Glen Johnson provided the same kind of delivery, helping Luis Suarez get his first goal.
Not too many minutes passed and Cardiff made the most of their first half dominance, getting a second goal, this time from Campbell, not needing a lot of help en route to taking a 2-1 lead. However, a cross from Philippe Coutinho reached a wide open Martin Skrtel to send the two teams level at halftime.
The second half? All Liverpool, breaking down the Cardiff defense. Another Coutinho corner, another wide open Skrtel found the net to signal it’s going to be a very different half. A nice little flick from Daniel Sturridge as Liverpool once again attacked down the right win found a wide open Suarez inside the box to give Liverpool a 4-2 lead, and make sure Cardiff weren’t coming back from this one.
Sturridge himself after a wonderful assist from Luis Suarez got his goal (19th of the season) before being substituted, and Mutch scored his second goal of the day with only two minutes left to give the sense that there might be a chance of a comeback. Time went by, and Suarez completed his hat trick (third of the season), reaching 28 league goals, to make it 6-3 and keep Liverpool four points behind Chelsea with a game in hand.