Wembley Stadium will host the Carling Cup final: Liverpool - Cardiff City
It was a roller coaster of emotions today at Anfield. City
draws first blood with a magnificent goal from Nigel De Jong only to be
equalized by Stevie G’s rocket of a penalty kick. In the second half things looked
grim for the Reds as Kolarov sent in a wonderful cross for Manchester’s front
man Edin Dzeko. However the boys of Anfield kept attacking and eventually
converted some nice one touch play into a fantastic goal by Craig Bellamy which
put them ahead in the aggregate score. Liverpool manager Kenny Dalglish then made
some smart defensive subs and had his players lock down their side of the field
to eventually win the semi-final of the Carling Cup.
Things looked excellent for Liverpool today as they outshot
(16 to 8) and out played the men of Etihad. Today they had passing, pace,
urgency, and (most importantly) chemistry. Stewart Downing certainly improved
his play today; he seemed to have more confidence and was willing to take
players on, one on one. Like I recommended him and Enrique both moved the ball
inside with passing and dribbling rather sending in useless crosses. While Dirk
“Dangerous” Kuyt did not convert any goals or assists today he certainly had a
large role in every important play, moving the ball fluidly up the field and
sending in a great cross for Downing (only for be stuffed by one of the many
brilliant Joe Hart saves). Jordan
Henderson worked harder than anyone on the pitch today, so much that it seemed
he was omnipresent. With excellent passing and movement he really gelled with
the team today
Of course Craig Bellamy put forth another huge effort for Liverpool
giving it his all scoring the series winning goal. With every game the man
defies age more and more, at the ripe age of thirty-two he hustles around the
pitch like the Bionic Man (I guess that was what the 6 Million was for). Making
smart passes and great movement off the ball, and of course converting every
chance he gets into a goal. He has more than cemented his spot on the starting
squad and the team has come to really rely on him as a presence up front with
the absence of Luis Suarez.
Gerrard played a very defensive role shadowing Silva, a brutal
assignment even for the caliber of player Stevie is. The only noise he made up
front was his converted PK in the 40’. Even with Joe Hart’s effort put forth
today there was nothing he was able to do against a shot like that. David Silva
put together another solid game for himself, showing that he is one of the top
players in the Premier League .He was able to create the chance for the first
goal by drawing in both Liverpool CMs to lay it off to De Jong for one of the
best goals I’ve seen in a few weeks. Every time he touched the ball, as usual,
he was dangerous and near impossible to get the ball from. Whenever he was near
the top of the 18 I’m sure every Liverpool fan was holding their breath in fear
that he would do something incredible.
Defensively City had a tough game. Liverpool was (gasp!)
counter-attacking regularly working the ball up the field quickly with a lot of
momentum. The only thing keeping them alive was the English keeper Joe Hart,
who was a rock in the back. He made ten total saves, three of which would have
been goals if it was anyone else in the net. These saves have come to be
expected from a top quality keeper like Joe Hart, but it was easy to see that
Man City was hurting in the back without their captain Vincent Kompany; the
pace of both Bellamy and Kuyt seemed to be too much for them.
Stevie G immediately starts celebrating with a victory brew on the pitch
In the beginning of the season Manchester City certainly had
high hopes and big appetites for silverware. In the past few months they have
been knocked out of not one, not two, but three cups; the Champions League, the
FA Cup, and (now)the Carling Cup. With all of this disappointment I’m sure they
will be hungry for the League Cup and wouldn’t be surprised if they kicked
things into over-drive and started going on a huge winning streak. The next
league fixtures they have to deal with are Everton, Fulham, Villa, Blackburn,
Bolton, Swans, and Chelsea. They won’t have to play Chelsea until March which
gives them a lot of time to start that winning streak.
In all honesty today’s match could have gone either way.
Liverpool, while having more shots and certainly did look much more dangerous
than their competitors today, did get a little luck in two instances. The first
being a stupid challenge by Charlie Adam in the box during the first few
minutes of the game which was never called. The second being the PK that Stevie
G converted should have never been a PK in the first place. While it may be the
beautiful game is definitely is not the perfect game.
Now Liverpool get to move on to the finals against Cardiff
City who yesterday knocked Crystal Palace out of the semi’s. If the Reds play
like they did today there shouldn’t have a problem. If they underestimate their
competition, which they seem to do a lot as of late, they will pull an Arsenal
and lose an embarrassing defeat. But let’s try to stay optimistic and hope for
a cracking game at Wembley on February 26th.
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