spot-kick sent Liverpool to Wembley after a tense
Capital One Cup semifinal second leg at Anfield.
The second-half substitute, who had scored in his
previous two midweek outings, slotted home after
goalkeeper Simon Mignolet had saved Stoke
defender Marc Muniesa's effort in sudden death.
There was some irony the decisive moment was
produced by one of the smallest players on the
pitch in a match which manager Jurgen Klopp
had predicted just before kick-off would be "a
heading festival."
The ball certainly saw some air time but four
shots on target in 120 minutes underlined the
lack of quality in the game and penalties were
almost inevitable from the moment Marko
Arnautovic struck a controversial offside goal in
the first half.
However, Liverpool extended to 42 occasions
their proud record of never having been knocked
out when returning to Anfield with a first-leg lead.
They have also never lost the home leg of a
League Cup semifinal and have reached a record-
extending 11th final, from which they have
returned victorious eight times.
Stoke have still to win at Anfield since 1959,
which includes 31 defeats and five draws, but
this was just about as close as you could get.
They fielded five outfield players at 6ft-plus to
Liverpool's two and it seemed they would target
Former Reds striker Peter Crouch, head and
shoulders above his markers at 6-foot-7, won
virtually everything in the air but Liverpool, with
Lucas Leiva at the forefront, did a reasonable job
of mopping up the second ball.
But the hosts were undone seconds before the
interval with a move through the middle of the
pitch which picked out Bojan Krkic and, with left-
back Alberto Moreno nowhere to be seen, he slid
a pass across to the unmarked Arnautovic who
side-footed home despite replays indicating he
was offside.
It was the first shot on target in the game and
the sixth time in 2016 Liverpool had conceded
from such.
Jon Walters and Bojan both had chances for the
visitors but Liverpool, holding a 1-0 lead going
into the second leg, seemed reluctant to shoot
with Adam Lallana and James Milner both guilty of
passing inside the penalty area, although Emre
Can and Jordan Henderson had attempts from
distance.
Early in the second half Roberto Firmino forced
Jack Butland to tip his shot onto the near post
with his foot but Stoke quickly gained control and
exerted considerable pressure, with Mamadou
Sakho throwing himself at a Walters shot an
example of the desperation.
Striker Christian Benteke replaced Henderson but
it was Sakho who wasted a good Milner free kick
by heading wide, with Benteke failing to meet
Moreno's cross under pressure from Erik Pieters.
The hosts managed just one shot on target as the
match went into extra time, where substitute
Marco van Ginkel hit the post just before the end
of the first period and forced Simon Mignolet into
a save in the second whereas Liverpool failed to
test Butland.
Crouch and Germany international Emre Can both
failed from the spot -- but with Walters, Glenn
Whelan, Ibrahim Afellay, Xherdan Shaqiri and Van
Ginkel scoring for Stoke and Lallana, Benteke,
Firmino, Milner and Lucas on target for the hosts,
Allen struck after Muniesa failed.
0 comments:
Post a Comment