Match Review: Liverpool 2 (3) Manchester City 2 (2)

Posted on 26. Jan, 2012 by Liam Tomkins in Match Reports

Liverpool booked their first ever visit to the new Wembley stadium on Wednesday after seeing off Manchester City in a thrilling Carling Cup semi-final that finished 3-2 to the Reds on aggregate.

Overview

With the stern words of Kenny Dalglish still ringing in their ears following a lacklustre display last time out, the Liverpool players rose to the occasion to come out on top despite going behind twice in the match.

The Match

Stick or twist was the question on every Liverpool fan’s lips ahead of kick-off, and from the moment they crossed the threshold into battle it was evident that the King and his men were not going to rest on their laurels for the forthcoming 90 minutes.

Ex City striker Craig Bellamy led the line for Liverpool, and was a thorn in the side of his former employers from the off. He looked most likely to break the deadlock out of any player on the pitch, and had he not strayed offside in the opening stages he might well have done so after breaking away to slot past Joe Hart with consummate ease. The goal didn’t count, but it certainly ruffled City’s feathers, forcing them to come out and attack in response.

And so it transpired, as Nigel De Jong forced his way upfield against the Red tide and unleashed a sublime swerving effort that left Pepe Reina clutching at thin air as it nestled in the top left corner of the net. Despite Liverpool’s endeavour in creating chance after chance, City’s quality had prevailed and they took the lead to level the scores on aggregate.

Liverpool responded exactly how Kenny Dalglish had drilled them to do so; with positivity and a will to win. Stewart Downing and Jose Enrique had Micah Richards pinned down at right-back, and were the source of many of Liverpool’s chances towards the end of the second half. A wave of attack shortly before the interval led to a corner for the home side, and although it was wasted initially it was to result in a slice of good fortune and an equaliser on the night.

Charlie Adam, who was looking more like the player Liverpool had signed, latched onto the loose ball before his shot was blocked by Joleon Lescott. It then fell to Daniel Agger, who returned it goalwards only for Micah Richards to make a last ditch block. The City skipper’s heroics were short lived, though, as the ball shot up off of his foot and onto his outstretched arm. Penalty.

Steven Gerrard stepped up to take the spot kick, and was not to be fazed by his compatriot’s antics between the sticks. Hart had clearly done his homework as he dived in the right direction, but there was no stopping Gerrard’s effort and he wheeled away giving a bit of banter back to the England keeper as he retrieved the ball from the back of the net to restart play.

City felt doubly hard done by as they went in at the break – not only were they unfortunate to concede a penalty but they were perhaps deserving of one themselves after Adam had swept Edin Dzeko off his feet in the Liverpool box earlier in the half.

Stefan Savic, who had struggled to keep his head above water in both legs of this semi-final, was hauled off at half-time and replaced by Sergio Aguero as Roberto Mancini looked to take control of the tie. Yet it was the home side who came out all guns blazing again as the second half got under way, forcing Hart to make three key saves to keep his side in the game.

The first, and the easiest of which came from a Dirk Kuyt drive which deflected off Richards – now at centre-back – and into the frame of the City keeper. The 24-year-old produced superhuman reactions shortly afterwards to deny Martin Skrtel’s effort from finding the top corner when it looked so destined to do so. Hart capped a crucial trio of saves by smothering Downing’s volleyed effort from close range after Kuyt had produced a pinpoint cross from the right wing to set it up.

As has so often been the case this season Liverpool paid for their profligacy as City broke out on the left wing through Aleksandar Kolarov, whose low cross evaded everyone in front of goal but for Dzeko who was on hand to tap in at the back post.

Despite the sense of impending smash and grab after City had scored their second goal with as many shots on target, Liverpool simply would not lie down. The irrepressible Bellamy continued to pull the Citizens’ defence all over the park and it eventually paid off when an intricate one-two with Glen Johnson afforded the Welshman just enough time and space to steer a left-footed effort past Hart to equalise.

Liverpool now had an aggregate lead to hold onto and, like a dog with a bone, they just weren’t going to give it up.

There were a few hearts in mouth as substitute Adam Johnson stung the palms of Reina late on, while Aguero and Dzeko also had half chances to take the tie to extra time. But with Andy Carroll now present to provide an outlet for the home side, it was just a matter of time before their place in the Carling Cup final was confirmed.

As Hart launched one last, hopeful long ball into the Liverpool half the referee blew his whistle and all of Anfield erupted. Dalglish was overcome with emotion as he held his hands aloft, the adrenaline coursing through his veins every bit as much as it did for all of the other Kopites in attendance and watching worldwide.

The blue moon had set, and a Red dawn had broken.

Stats

0 – Liverpool kept this season’s unbeaten record at Anfield intact.

56% – Manchester City shaded possession in this match.

13 – Liverpool had 13 shots on target.

6 – Manchester City mustered just 6 shots on target.

7 – each team committed 7 fouls.

12 – Liverpool’s attacking dominance was underpinned by their corner count of 12, to City’s 2.

28 – The Reds extended their unbeaten semi-final run at Anfield to 28 games, the last reverse coming in the 1971 Fairs Cup against Leeds United.

Quotes

Reporter: “What did you think of the penalty decision?” Dalglish: “What do you mean?” Reporter: The handball” Dalglish: “Exactly” – Kenny Dalglish gets the better of one unfortunate reporter.

“The omens were looking good after I saw Cardiff go through. I was delighted for them and this couldn’t be a better final for me. Cardiff means so much to me. It’s funny how football can work out at times.” – Craig Bellamy on setting up a dream final with his former club.

“The players were magnificent. Everything we thought was lacking on Saturday was there in abundance tonight, so they deserve great credit for the performance and result.” – The King was delighted with how his men bounced back from Bolton.

“”It makes such a big difference when the crowd are like that, they’re famous for their atmosphere and it was one of those days.” – Glen Johnson on the magnificent Anfield atmosphere.

Summary

There has been an air of assurance about Liverpool in the Carling Cup this season. A lack of European football has perhaps afforded them the ability to field a strong side in each of their encounters, but their road to the final has been just about as difficult as it could possibly have been.

Exeter and Brighton provided tough tests away from home, before three successive road trips to Stoke, Chelsea and Manchester City, respectively. It culminated in classic encounter last night, reminiscent of a midweek European match at Anfield.

Kenny Dalglish will be hoping his players will now develop a hunger for the big occasion having tasted the sweet nectar of success against City, providing the catalyst to propel them into Europe’s elite where they can play for the most prestigious prize of them all.

Latest Posts

32 Responses to “Match Review: Liverpool 2 (3) Manchester City 2 (2)”

Neil

26. Jan, 2012

Sky sports stats what a lot of crap 62% possession to man city we battered them fully deserved to win we don’t get any credit stuff the media
Hubfan

26. Jan, 2012

Good team win, but all I can say is thank God for Bellers!
- Baz67
  
  26. Jan, 2012
  
  Bellamy played quite well last night, but it’s a sad state of affairs when Man City’s 7th best striker is our 2nd/3rd best player.
BrianSingh

26. Jan, 2012

As glad as i am that we’ve managed to beat the biggest club in England, i feel a bit silly for getting too carried away with the fact that we’re making such a big deal of making the final of the League Cup.

Credit to the lads for hanging on, but i think we can sumise from the two legs that it just meant more to us than City. Sure, they didn’t play a completely weakened side, but you could tell that they weren’t completely bothered about progressing.

Let’s do our best to beat Cardiff, and hopefully in a season or two we’ll be challenging for trophies more meaningful than this one…though i’m not 100% sure Dalglish will still be here – one League Cup can’t hide the fact that we haven’t made any progress whatsoever over the last year and might not even finish in the top six. This is NOT good enough for LFC, we should be finishing 3rd/4th.

Gerrard was very poor again last night. I think he might be finished.

Let City have the league, we’ve got the Carling Cup!

LFC4LYF.
- Ben
  
  26. Jan, 2012
  
  Mate no offence but what a retarded comment! How is going from the edge of the relegation zone to the Carling cup final, in little over a year not progress? And of course this is very important silverware because just in case you haven’t realised, we haven’t won anything since the F.A cup in ’06, so don’t say we should be going for more “meaningful” silverware than this. GOD the ignorance of some ‘fans’ on this website is somewhat astonishing!
  - Sam
    
    26. Jan, 2012
    
    Sure, it’s great to win silverware, but settling for the Carling Cup is small minded and not fitting for a club of our stature.
    - Jay
      
      26. Jan, 2012
      
      We’re not settling for the Carling Cup. it’s the first step to many cups.
      did you forget that when Jose first came to Chelsea he got the team thinking of winning the small cups first, get that mentality going and then go for the big cups.
      also, lets not forget how long did it take for fergie to start winning things at man u?
      really people , come on, it’s the first step. to climb a mountain starts with the first step….
      let’s get behind Kenny and the team.
      Liverpool.
  - redinmyblood
    
    26. Jan, 2012
    
    Spot on Ben you just said what on my mind because some fans are so stupid that their comment disgust me..
didi

26. Jan, 2012

i think the team played very well last night,they rode their luck and it worked in our favour,there are lessons to be learned still from adam and the defence in general ,adam was lucky not to give away a penalty but he was improved since last outing as was downing ,henderson,bellamy was savage last night,gerrard played his part,its a win like this that will galvanise this squad 2 gether,we still need 1/2 quality additions.y.n.w.a.
Hyperbeat

26. Jan, 2012

Hyperbeat
0 mins ago
Sam Charles I am still waiting to hear all your complains about last nights game v man city? How poor we all were how poor Kenny’s tactics were and how everything needs to change? If you knew the slightest thing about football and LFC then you would realize that King Kenny is the right man for the job. LFC is work in progress and we are improving and that is all you can expect and ask for. Get behind the club or go glory hunt support Chelsea or Man City or some other billionaire’s toy club
- Jay
  
  26. Jan, 2012
  
  Totally agreed Hyperbeat!
  LFC is a work in progress…and no one is more fitting than Kenny at the helm.
  too many fickle muppets out there.
  it’s in these times that the real Liverpool supporters will stand up and get behind our Kenny…
  and i agree with you, these twats should go and support chelski…
AndyCarrollHater

26. Jan, 2012

Five days left in the window is the main concern as this match has gone thru and we should be looking to gain as much points in the league to finish as high as possible and KK needs to get busy cause players are alot out there but he needs to take a step and buy some one before they jack up the prices like they did for the worthless “Big Lazy Carroll”. I hope he gets rid of Carroll soon and get some players that will lift the club. Rodallega is almost out of Wigan and would go on the cheap, Demba Ba would be worth a go as his team is struggling in the ACOF plus the buy out clause seems low, Moses from Wigan or Sinclair from Sansea??? Podolski or someone who can score goals Pls.
Great win but lets focus cause Carroll ain’t never never ever gonna cut it.
truered

26. Jan, 2012

great game, was on my toes throughout, joe hart who is from the local town to mine was outstanding and is a great keeper and long may he stay fit as this is good for us endland fans alike, bellamy what can i say class and a great team effort all round.
my team against cardiff would be

…………………….reina……………………………..

glen…….skrtle…….agger…..enrique

downing…..gerrard….hendo…suarez

…………..bellamy……kuyt………………

subs- jonjo, carrol, maxi, doni, adam, coates, kelly
- Zach
  
  26. Jan, 2012
  
  I’d just alter yours a bit into a 4-3-3.
  same defense with a
  
  Henderson-Spearing-Gerrard
  
  Bellamy-Suarez-Downing
anfield rd dreamer

26. Jan, 2012

This stage last year 13th in league 4 points away from relegation and out of Carling Cup at first hurdle. This year 6 points off 4th 9 points improvement on last year at this stage and on our way to first final in 6 years, all during a “crisis” in front of goal, achieved by using the wage bill and player sales and 15 million off the owners. How can people doubt Kenny? Haha idiots.

Brilliant night last night was best game I’ve ever been to live, hopefully more of the same Saturday
- Jay
  
  26. Jan, 2012
  
  You were at the game..nice…bloody nice…
  saw it on TV and the crowd was just electric…
  u gonna be there for the game on Saturday?
  give those devils hell…..whoooooahaha….
  Liverpool for Life.
Hyperbeat

26. Jan, 2012

Sam we are not settling for the Carling cup, Kenny is building momentum cause he knows once the players taste succes they will be hungry for more. Very often is the little things that makes a big difference. So in this case the ‘little carling cup’ can set of a chain reaction of good performances. The season is not over yet there is still a lot to play for, all we got to is to show the same commitment and determination as yesterday then we have a chance to reach 4th place.
- Jay
  
  26. Jan, 2012
  
  Agreed…new players have come in..so have to build that winning mentality with the new guys.
  Kenny has seen it , done it, nothing new for him.
  he’s got the experience, the knowledge, and the wisdom.
  let him build, it will take time.
  he did it at Blackburn….
BifiKilfu

26. Jan, 2012

£125m spent and we’re 7th.

Says it all, really.

Dalglish out.
anfield rd dreamer

26. Jan, 2012

Bifikifu how you come to that figure? Last Jan 58 million spent 56 million raised from sales, summer 48 million spent 13 million raised from sales and wage bill cut down by 20 million. By my reckoning we’ve spent 15 million under Kenny but that don’t matter anyway we are 6 places better than this stage last year, thats massive progress.
- Ben
  
  26. Jan, 2012
  
  AGREED!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
New cool

26. Jan, 2012

Lets add another trophy but KK pls do some shopping asap and the list goes on….
Rodallega
Dempsey
N’Zonzi
Moses
Sinclair
Ba
Podolski
Shaqiri
YoullNeverWinAnything

26. Jan, 2012

If Liverpool are so good why are they NINETEEN points off top of the league?
Upper_Krust

26. Jan, 2012

Okay, I couldn’t get to see the match last night, but watched it on the Liverpool channel this evening.

A few key points stood out.

1. We didn’t play Andy Carroll, so immediately we weren’t effectively short one player.

2. Dirk Kuyt had BY FAR his best game this season. I was actually amazed at how good his touch and control was. Whether this was a fluke I suppose Saturday might tell us.

3. Bellamy was immense for us last night, absolutely immense. Played in that central striking role he looks far more dangerous.

4. The team were certainly up for a fight far more than the Bolton game – I still don’t know what the heck they were doing that previous match.

5. Gerrard is still being played too deep.

6. Linda Pizutti gets better looking every time I see her.

I still think we need, at the very least, a right winger and a second striker.
Well done Kenny

26. Jan, 2012

Potential first trophy in six years and people still have to complain, what tossers.
AndyCarrollHater

26. Jan, 2012

Just heard a rumor that we got money but don’t wanna spend cause they are good enough as they are WTF???????
How can KK be comfortable depending on Bellamy who is now 32 as a rescue for LFC cause the 35mil man has to be benched on we F*cked. So if Bellers gets injured while Suarez is out who will we turn 2?????
I certainly see the need for added options and think Carroll should be loaned out so he can score some goals and we sell him for 10mil the most. Dempsey as the attacking midfield, Sinclair out wide left with Downing right or plus another midfielder who can tackle not to mention a Striker which are many….
Tony9ja

27. Jan, 2012

We won against city b/c carroll did not start. If he had started, we would have lost straight away. Again, we need better players than the so called hedo. He is too average to be a starter in a team of lfc stature. Even jonjo shelvey is two times a better player than hendo. Pls, we need a quality striker to help us achieve cl football. Carroll is nowhere to be counted. Again, Kuyt, should be given a run of starts. This will help him regain his form and, we are better off doing so. Warning! If we want to win the carling cup, pls, carroll should not even be on the bench.
Kopster

27. Jan, 2012

There are several players out there but before we ‘demand’ for new arrivals, do we really know what we are asking for? New players mid season will surely need more time than summer arrivals but more importantly are we, as fans, prepared to give them time?
With sufficient evidence of January transfer failures in recent years, I understand the apprehension with the Liverpool board & Kenny to sign players for Liverpool in January.

Are we prepared to accept that when a new player arrives; they will need time to bed in new surroundings, may not get on well with the fans, unable to shoulder the fans high expectations to achieve Champions League positions and carry the burden of high transfer fee potential without, at least initially, not achieving the ‘Liverpool’ standard of play on field

In most cases, we as fans expect any player to start banging goals, be a pass master, cross king and tackle any opponent player out of the park and then, maybe’ he could be viewed as a success… and all of this must be done in the space of the coming 4 months. A classic example was our very own Lucas whom was dismissed as a ‘failure’ and now after 3 seasons with the club, is seen indispensable by the same Liverpool fans whom may have once heckled him.

Players such as Benjamin Corgnet, Gaston Ramirez (Not a bargain anymore – Recently signed a long contract), Marvin Martin, Jan Vertonghen (Not a bargain anymore potentially more than 10 mil pound), Tomas Rincon and Gary Medel are potentially bargain players out there.

Ian Ayre has said the money is available for Kenny to spend on players but will we? If we do, will the fans give the player enough time to perform? Even if we are patient enough with the new arrivals, what happens to Carroll & the likes?

The question that everyone should be asking is are we short term glory hunters or are we prepared to accept that improvement comes over time?

We pride ourselves as the most passionate supporters in the world and I, for one, think that it is time for all of us stand up to that standard. Keep the faith; support our team wholeheartedly regardless what happens in the transfer market.

YNWA
anfield rd dreamer

27. Jan, 2012

Kopster brilliant post. When the scum signed Van Nistlerooy he famously didn’t score in his first 8 games but then went on to be one of the leagues most prolific goal scorers, with the current attitude of our fans could you see any striker being allowed 9 starts in a row without a goal till his 9th game without the fans turning on Kenny over it? At moment they are having a go at a guy who spent 3 minutes on the pitch, when was last time Carroll had the run of starts they are asking for Kuyt to get? Kuyt and Carroll have played about same amount of football and Carroll has scored 4 to Kuyts 1 and he is a young player settling in after the first move of his career this time last year, how supportive is that? Well, say the fans thats wrong of me Carroll gets plenty of support whilst on the pitch its the internet warriors the pub tacticians and the phone in commentators that are the ones having a go.
strebby

27. Jan, 2012

when chelsea got all of thier money they were already a top 4 team, they started their run by winning the league cup in their second season with all of that money, man city are now in their third full season with all of that money and only finished 4th once and are already out of the CL man utd and arsenal have had the same manager for a long time and are constantly up there, spurs have been building under the same manager for 3/4 years with pretty decent moey to spend. and yet people still want us to both improve our own situation from the disatrous circumstances of the last 2-3 years AND battle other teams improvements, other teams spending power and obvious attraction of the CL OVERNIGHT, lets get real people…you can point to the £110m spent all you want but we’re building from scratch on a whole new slate, it will take time, but as dreamer says we’r 9 points better than last season, we’ve lost 6 games less, ok granted we’ve had a few poor results recently, but generally the football itself if not the results has been very encouraging, and if you people cant see the improvement in every single area of the club then you are completely blind!!!
Pete

27. Jan, 2012

Spot on, Carroll does get cheers on the pitch.

I support Carroll, don’t get me wrong. And don’t claim I am some keyboard warrior…

But AT THE MOMENT, Carroll is a square peg in a round whole.

How long until we say: “Okay, you have had enough time”?!?
anfield rd dreamer

27. Jan, 2012

Strebby agreed, people keep going on about the money but I don’t understand why, last summer we spent big an Arsenal spent small right? Wrong we spent 48 million they spent 46 milliin, 2 million more than them hardly much of a difference. Both united clubs got rid of a few fringe players for buttons and then massively out spent us on a few world class players.both spending over 50 million. We’ve spent 116 million last calendar year but 60 odd of that came from Chelsea for 2 of our players, they spent another 50 million just on Mata an Luiz and signed others aswell. That was the top 4 last year, if we break in there it will be due to hard work not spending money. The only reason people think we’ve spent money is because the media know “Liverpools new owners spend millions” is a better more exciting story than “Liverpools new owners start rebuilding phase in financially responsible manner that achieves instant improvement”!