An assured and professional performance from the Merseysiders saw them dominate the opening stages and claim the initiative after bagging an early away goal. Dalglish's men then retreated noticeably during the second half and shut up shop, defending resolutely to hold onto what is a crucial and unexpected victory.
Surprisingly, Jose Enrique dropped to the bench and was replaced by Martin Kelly, with Glen Johnson moving to right back. The promising 21-year old performed well, though, except for one back pass that almost allowed Aguero to equalise for the hosts. Craig Bellamy began against his former employers while Steven Gerrard made his first start in the competition since October 2007, when he was again on target against Cardiff City.
Conventionally in the 4-2-3-1 system Dalglish prefers, Gerrard operates in a central attacking role behind the main striker. Instead, last night he partnered Spearing (and then Adam) in protecting the back four while Henderson played further forward. This allowed the influential skipper to escape the attentions of the combative Nigel De Jong and gave him more time and space to pull the strings from a deep lying starting position, which he did superbly.
In the recent League fixture between the two teams, Liverpool began brightly but failed to convert a gilt-edged opportunity and subsequently fell behind, struggling to recover from then on. This time, the Reds similarly started in the ascendancy, keeping possession and creating chances. The crucial difference was that last night our encouraging opening play was capped off with a goal.
Four minutes in Downing's clever pass allowed Carroll a clear run and shot at goal, but Joe Hart was out typically quickly to block the effort with his boots. The City and England keeper was then called into action again soon after, Gerrard forcing him to make a full stretch save to turn his excellent curled effort around the base of the post. The number eight's resulting corner picked out Stewart Downing in space and Hart displayed world-class reflexes to instinctively get a hand to the former Villa winger's deflected volley.
At this stage it was beginning to seem like Liverpool vs. Joe Hart rather than Liverpool vs. Manchester City. As has been an incredibly irritating recurring theme throughout the course of the campaign, the Reds were once again coming up against a keeper in top form. Thankfully, on 13 minutes Hart was beaten. Another corner from Gerrard went to Agger, who was fouled in the box by Stefan Savic. Referee Lee Mason correctly pointed to the spot and Stevie stood up to direct a fantastic penalty into the bottom left hand corner just beyond the grasp of Hart.
On 23 minutes Jay Spearing had to be replaced by Charlie Adam after he pulled up with a tight hamstring. Fortunately, after the match Dalglish confirmed that the injury was not serious and shouldn't significantly halt his recent progress, which has seen the diminutive midfield man start four consecutive matches.Carroll had Hart scrambling across the goal line 10 minutes before the break after his glancing header from Kelly's cross fell just wide of the target. City came back into the game towards the end of the first period, with Reina doing well to turn Nasri's shot wide and Milner wastefully firing over when well placed after Micah Richards had surged ominously past Johnson and pulled the ball back from the by-line.
Liverpool went into the break satisfied following a good performance and with an even better scoreline. Manchester City, meanwhile, must have received a rollicking from manager Roberto Mancini, who cannot have been happy with such a below-par display from his pampered millionaires.
On 56 minutes they were gifted an excellent opportunity to equalise in what was a real let off for Liverpool. Unsure what to do, Martin Kelly attempted a long back pass to Reina. Unfortunately, the ball went straight to the unnoticed Aguero, who attempted to round the Spanish keeper. Reina remained big and did enough to ensure the eventual shot found the side netting and not the Reds' net.
Reina was involved again moments later, producing a top quality instinctive stop to block Richards' goalbound header from Nasri's corner.On the hour mark left back Jose Enrique replaced left winger Stewart Downing, representing a definite shift towards focusing on restricting City and holding on to our advantage, as the visitors went to five at the back, with some initial confusion from Glen Johnson as to where Dalglish wanted him to play. Nonetheless, Johnson made a simply terrific tackle to take the ball away from Aguero at the crucial stage in the box. The number 2 had to time the tackle perfectly otherwise he would have conceded a penalty, but thankfully he did so and City were thwarted yet again.
City were absolutely monopolising possession, claiming 75% of second half possession, yet they were missing David Silva, whose creative ingenuity may have provided the spark to unlock Liverpool's stubborn defence. The hosts were inevitably frustrated, Kolarov demonstrating this annoyance by bizarrely trying to net from a ridiculous distance. His effort unsurprisingly sailed harmlessly over the bar.
Just to confirm our defensive intentions, Jamie Carragher replaced Craig Bellamy ten minutes from time, meaning six Liverpool defenders were on the pitch at the conclusion. The Citizens' final opportunity of note saw Nasri swing the ball into the box where Aguero's close range header landed safely on the roof of the net.
Apart from that, the only talking point from the closing stages came when Glen Johnson won the ball with a two-footed sliding tackle, which closely resembled the challenge that saw City captain Vincent Kompany sent off on the weekend versus local rivals Manchester United and consequently suspended for both legs of the semi-final. Mancini hypocritically slated referee Lee Mason for not sending off Johnson in post-match media interviews, despite claiming Kompany should not have seen red against United.
For me, it is clear that both tackles were good, honest challenges, a dying breed in football unfortunately. They were clearly similar, but the point is Kompany was wrong to see red so it was right that Johnson didn't because both tackles were very alike.
Nevertheless, Johnson will be available for selection for the second leg, when Liverpool will look to build on this tremendous foundation and secure a place in their first domestic cup final in five years. Before kick-off I would have accepted a draw or even a narrow defeat so to claim a 1-0 victory is fantastic and puts us in pole position in the tie.
YNWA
No comments:
Post a Comment