Steven Gerrard appeared for both Liverpool and Rangers Legends in a thrilling encounter at Ibrox today (October 12).
The match, in aid of the LFC Foundation, ended in a 3-2 victory for the Reds.
A star-studded fixture, including the likes of Jerzy Dudek, Jamie Carragher, Dirk Kuyt and Peter Lovenkrands, didn’t disappoint the sizeable crowd who were eager for an eventful affair.
The first half began explosively, with Jamie Carragher conceding a cheap penalty after only six minutes. To save ‘Carra’s’ blushes, however, Kris Boyd feebly blazed wide to leave the game at 0-0.
Liverpool Legends were quick to punish the penalty miss, as Luis Garcia fired a diving header home from a Dirk Kuyt cross at the eight-minute mark.
The reds doubled their lead ten minutes later, courtesy of a trademark Steven Gerrard burst forward to lay in Garcia. The Spaniard unselfishly squared to Patrik Berger who slotted home from ten yards.
After a spell of dominance from Rangers Legends, their good play was rewarded. Lee McCulloch laid an excellent through-ball for Kris Boyd to fire home, making up for his dreadful penalty miss earlier in the half.
Now that the match had kicked into life, Liverpool once again extended their lead. Yet another excellent burst from Gerrard found an unmarked Emile Heskey in the penalty area. The Englishman coolly chipped the ball over goalkeeper Neil Alexander to take the game to 3-1.
Leaving almost no time for a Liverpool celebration, Rangers fired back after just 45 seconds. Lovenkrands, who had been a handful all game, pounced on an attempted Glen Johnson clearance to slot home from six yards.
With the first-half drama yet to dissipate, Rangers attacker Thomas Buffel only had to keep his effort on target to bring the score level.
It seemed, however, he had forgotten his shooting boots as he sliced wide from seven yards.
Inspired by this miss, Steven Gerrard then found himself in an almost identical position at the other end of the pitch, but failed to hit the target as his effort rebounded off the empty goal’s woodwork.
The trend of open-goal misses continued straight away in the second half, as Dirk Kuyt undid all of Gerrard’s fine footwork by scuffing his simple tap in wide of the post.
It seemed, as the second-half ploughed on, that the tired legs of many players had caught up with them. A superb double-save from Neil Alexander in the Rangers goal was the only event of note for the next 20 minutes.
His block from Gerrard’s speculative 30-yard effort ricocheted into the path of Stephen Warnock, who’s strike was spectacularly pushed wide.
On 75 minutes, Steven Gerrard was substituted off for Liverpool, only to be brought back on merely five minutes later in the famous blue Rangers kit.
A big cheer from the home crowd led to a big smile from the number eight, who was very keen to impress against his former club.
Despite a number of late charges on goal, Rangers were unable to level things before the full-time whistle was blown. This signal was met with jeering boos from the home faithful, who no-doubt were counting on a late Gerrard equaliser.
Both sets of players, who all no-doubt enjoyed wheeling back the years on the pitch, enjoyed an emotional lap of honour after the match.
The money raised for the LFC Foundation will deliver a range of programmes to provide life-changing opportunities for children in the Liverpool City Region.
(Picture by Biser Todorov – Creative Commons Licence)
