There’s nothing quite like a semi-final against Chelsea to get the team fired up. That certainly proved to be the case in yesterday’s game; Liverpool treated us to a footballing master class of the likes we haven’t witnessed since last season, and were hugely unfortunate not to come away with the advantage going into the second leg. As it is, we go to Stamford Bridge next Tuesday requiring at least one goal in 120 minutes of football to save us from going out on away goals.
It wasn’t only Liverpool who seemed back to their old ways – Chelsea, who have been playing lovely football for much of this season, turned up to Anfield determined to park the old bus once more. Having not been forced to witness this phenomenon for quite some time, I had forgotten how frustrating this was. It’s just so annoying. It feels like they’re cheating. This feeling of injustice was quickly intensified; after Liverpool had dominated the opening 15 minutes, Chelsea pushed into our half for almost the first time in the match and won a penalty, which Hazard subsequently slotted away. It was undoubtedly a penalty – Emre Can showed his inexperience, clumsily clattering Hazard and leaving Atkinson with no choice but to point to the spot. It should be noted that Can was excellent for the rest of the game – he undoubtedly has potential to become world class (at either centre back or in central midfield), but his moment of naivety gave Chelsea a wholly undeserved lead.
Source: liverpoolfc.com
It didn’t seem possible for Chelsea to sit back further, but that’s exactly what they did on scoring their goal. They invited the pressure from Liverpool, clearly confident that they could deal with it. However, they hadn’t banked on the reds finally hitting the potential that everyone knew they had. Coutinho’s immense first touches and clever passes combined with Sterling’s pace and skill and the excellent pressing from Gerrard bamboozled the Chelsea rearguard; Matic, usually so solid, was totally flustered by the intensity and quality of Liverpool’s play. However, Chelsea clung on stubbornly, and many Liverpool fans were worried that it was just going to be “one of those games”.
This feeling was heightened by the turning down of a huge penalty shout for Liverpool right on half time. It was admittedly very hard for Martin Atkinson to see what exactly went on in the scramble in the box, but replays clearly showed that Diego Costa handled the ball while on the ground. A lot of people have said that this was accidental: I strongly disagree. There were two key phases to the handling of the ball – it initially struck Costa’s upper arm (this was unintentional), but then he definitely seemed to guide it with his lower arm/hand with a sort of scooping motion, taking it away from the danger zone. Where he’s looking is also important; you can see on the replay that he is watching the ball as he moves it with his arm, heavily suggesting that it was deliberate. However, it wasn’t given, and Liverpool somehow ended the half behind.
When faced with a wall of defenders, it often takes a moment of magic to unlock them. This proved to be the case here, and it was Raheem Sterling who stepped up to provide it. 15 minutes into the second half he turned Matic exquisitely before running past Cahill – the shot from the edge of the area that followed arrowed past Courtois, leaving him helpless. This hugely whipped up the Anfield crowd, who roared their team forward again and again. It truly felt like we were going to take the lead, and we very nearly did on multiple occasions. Gerrard had a glorious opportunity made for him by Coutinho, but he could only guide his shot onto the post. Lallana replaced the skipper and nearly made an instant impact – he struck the ball gloriously following Sterling’s cushioned knock-down, but the swerving shot was saved amazingly by Courtois. The Belgian stepped up again to deny shots from Henderson and Sterling in quick succession. Sadly, the second Liverpool goal just never quite materialised.
Source: liverpoolfc.com
Still, the fans and players alike will be hugely heartened by this performance. It was definitely the best they’ve played all season, topping the draw with Arsenal. In fact, we played at such a high level that we completely dominated arguably the best side in England. If we manage to put in a similar performance on Tuesday then it is almost unthinkable that Chelsea will keep us out for a full two hours, so although the advantage is with Chelsea going into the second leg I think we stand a good shot of getting through. In terms of the season as a whole, though it’s much too late to challenge for the title once more, if a level of performance close to what we witnessed yesterday can be maintained then we should comfortably make the top 4.
James Martin
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