Cardiff 3-6 Liverpool: Key stats and Player ratings
Liverpool produced yet another devastating attacking display to keep up the heat on league leaders Chelsea, putting six goals past struggling Cardiff to record a 6-3 victory.
Jordon Mutch and Frazier Campbell twice put Cardiff ahead in a match that at 2-2 seemed delicately poised at the interval. However a second half flurry of goals helped Liverpool to pull away, largely thanks to Luis Suarez’s hat trick.
Jordan Mutch scored his second of the game late on, but a double from Martin Skrtel and a Daniel Sturridge strike proven enough to secure the three points.
Here’s how the players rated by <Squawka Performance Score:
Cardiff City:
David Marshall (-95): Made two saves, picking the ball out of the back of the net on six occasions.
Fabio (-69): An appalling tackle success rate of just 20% contributed to a shoddy performance score of minus 69.
Kevin Théophile-Catherine (-16): Won the ball with three of his five tackles.
Steven Caulker (-42): Contested four headed duels, winning just one of them.
Cala (-4%): Won five tackles from nine attempts.
Declan John (-30): Managed just seven successful passes, finding a teammate with 54% of his attempts.
Jordon Mutch (83): Scored with both of his shots on goal and peppered the Liverpool box with six crosses.
Gary Medel (12): Was successful in 92% of his attempted passes, finding a teammate more than any other Cardiff player.
Kim Bo Kyung (-5): Completed 17 of 21 attempted passes.
Craig Bellamy (26): Finished the game with a 100% pass accuracy and also put seven crosses into the Liverpool box.
Frazier Campbell (59): Registered two take ons and notched his sixth league goal of the season.
Substitutes:
Wilfried Zaha (-1): Livewire winger Zaha completed all three of his take ons after coming on, but was lacking in the end product to back his running up.
Zaha Take Ons
Kenwyne Jones (21): Emerged successful from his only headed duel and made five of his seven attempted passes.
Mats Daehli (5): Tidy on the ball, Daehli attempted 11 passes and found a Cardiff man with all of them.
Liverpool:
Simon Mignolet (-49): Presided over a Liverpool defence that still looks worryingly leaky for a title chasing team.
Glen Johnson (25): Set up two chances, made three interceptions and put in two crosses.
Martin Skrtel (107): Scored with both of his shots on goal, wn five of seven contested headed duels and completed 96% of his passes.
Daniel Agger (5): Contested 12 headed duels but came out the loser in nine.
Jon Flanagan (-16): Attempted six tackles, but won just two of them.
Steven Gerrard (26): Made 97 passes – more than any other player on the pitch.
Jordan Henderson (20): Performed well on the right hand side, ending the game with a 93% pass accuracy.
Joe Allen (-30): Didn’t replicate his display from Old Trafford, missing five of his nine attempted tackles.
Philippe Coutinho (66): Celebrated his return to the side by creating three chances, including assists for both of Martin Skrtel’s goals.
Luis Suarez (128): Man of the match Suarez scored a hat trick, set up three chances and even made two tackles.
Daniel Sturridge (61): Took four shots on goal, netting once, and completed two successful take ons.
Substitutes:
Raheem Sterling (-1): Frustrated by Suarez going it alone to keep his hat trick rather than providing the square ball, but did complete both of his attempted take ons.
Aly Cissokho (1): Made two clearances and won two headed duels.
Mamadou Sakho (1): Barely on long enough to touch the ball, making one pass.