A bit of quality and
goals at important points separated Liverpool and Bournemouth in their FA Cup
fourth round contest at Goldsands Stadium.
For the majority of the match it was difficult to
distinguish between the mid-table Championship side and the team chasing
Champions League qualification. Liverpool were distinctly average, while
Bournemouth rose to the occasion in their biggest match since the visit of Real
Madrid in pre-season, giving the visitors a good run for their money and
providing a decent account of themselves.
In the end, however, Liverpool’s quality told and, although
they never hit top gear, Moses’ goal midway through the first half and
Sturridge’s strike on the hour mark were enough to send the Merseysiders into
the fifth round of the FA Cup.
Brendan Rodgers’ decision to start a strong team was quite
surprising considering the fact that Liverpool play Everton in the second
Merseyside derby of the season at Anfield on Tuesday night. Nonetheless, with
no other Cups available for the Reds to win, the Northern Irishman clearly
valued progress in the FA Cup enough to start the match with his big guns out
on the pitch, rather than resting on the bench. In addition, injuries limited
the amount of rotation he could engage in.
Sturridge, Suarez, Coutinho and Gerrard all started, with
Jones, Kelly and Moses the only changes to the team that drew 2-2 at home to
Aston Villa last time out.
Bournemouth began the brighter, asserting early pressure on
their opponents. Brad Jones looked particularly vulnerable, flapping worryingly
at a few set pieces, including Francis’ curling free kick, which the Aussie
keeper had to back track to tip over the bar.
The Cherries also regularly exploited the lack of protection
offered to Kelly by Coutinho down the Reds’ right hand side, as Charlie Daniels
broke clear and centred a left wing cross to Andrew Surman, who flicked a
header wide of goal.
At the other end, Liverpool rarely looked like threatening,
playing most of their attacking football in front of Bournemouth, whose defence
dealt relatively well with the infamous SAS. Surprisingly, and encouragingly,
Victor Moses, who has been rightly lambasted for failing to impress during his
loan spell at Liverpool, was the away side’s greatest threat, dribbling
purposefully down the left wing on two occasions and reaching the by-line but
lacking support in the box.
After Gerrard wastefully sent a free kick high over the bar,
Moses also opened the scoring on 26 minutes. Liverpool counterattacked and
Suarez sent a cross square to the 23-year old Nigerian international, who sent
a powerful low strike through the legs of a few defenders and into the bottom
corner from the edge of the box.
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| Moses was much improved against Bournemouth and opened the scoring |
Bournemouth keeper Lee Camp should have done better at his
near post, but that doesn’t detract from the quality of Moses’ impressive
strike. Hopefully it will inspire him to perform better during the second half
of the campaign.
Although they had the lead, Liverpool were still not
particularly impressive and Bournemouth threatened to reply quickly. Ten
minutes after the opener, Kelly was exposed down the right wing and Daniels and
Surman combined before the latter’s strike was deflected behind by a crucial
block from Kolo Toure. The resulting corner was headed just over by Elphick, as
the South Coast side showed their potential.
Frustratingly, Henderson then blasted high over the bar when
well-positioned after composed build-up play from Suarez, as the former
Sunderland man wasted a golden opportunity to put the visitors firmly in the
driving seat at the interval.
Seven minutes after the restart, Skrtel, who performed ably
throughout and was arguably Liverpool’s best defender, won a key aerial battle
with Surman to prevent the striker testing Jones. The Slovakian even managed to
control his normally insatiable desire to pull opponent’s shirts at set pieces.
Unfortunately, Kelly couldn’t keep his hands to himself, and was extremely
fortunate to escape punishment from referee Lee Probert after he clearly pulled
Francis’ shirt in the box at a corner kick.
To rub salt in Bournemouth’s wounds, moments later the SAS
struck a fatal blow. Suarez expertly slipped Sturridge through on goal, and the
England international scored his 10th goal in 14 FA Cup career
appearances in front of the Three Lions’ manager Roy Hodgson, who was watching
on from the stands.
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| From Bournemouth to Brazil: Sturridge's goals will surely earn him a spot in England's World Cup squad |
Although the hosts responded positively, Grabban thrashing
wide at the near post, that passage of play was probably the moment Liverpool
won the match. Of course, had the Cherries nicked one back it could have
created an interesting and nervy conclusion to the contest, but the second goal
seemed to be the clincher, particularly coming so soon after Bournemouth were
unfairly denied the opportunity to equalise from the penalty spot.
In the closing stages Sturridge and Suarez went close to
adding to the Reds’ lead, the former lobbing the keeper but hitting the bar and
the latter sending a looping strike over the bar when he perhaps should have
done better.
Jones had to beat away Grabban’s toe-poked effort in injury
time, but late pressure from Bournemouth thankfully never materialised and
Liverpool progressed through to the fifth round of the FA Cup.
The Reds made hard work of what should have been a
relatively routine cup tie, but all that ultimately matters is that the
Merseysiders won the match and earned a place in the fifth round draw tomorrow
afternoon.
Winning when you’re not at your best is a trait of top teams
and it’s encouraging to see the Reds claiming victories despite failing to
reach top gear. However, let’s hope they put in a much-improved performance versus
Everton on Tuesday and achieve a similar score line in the crucial six-pointer against
their neighbours.
YNWA
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