FA Cup Semi-Final

Chelsea 1 Liverpool 2

[I could only find copyrighted photos of this match, so I can't put anything up without permission, but you can see the photos on thesun.co.uk or soccernet.com]

I was laughing when the read reports about the match when they said Luis Garcia knocked Chelsea out of the cup competition – and this time the ball crossed the line (soccernet.com). That tells the story of how Liverpool have beaten Chelsea in the FA Cup semi-final to face either West Ham or Middlesborough in the final.

Chelsea didn’t play well at all, or maybe it was a mistake of tactics by ‘the Special One’. Before the game I was telling my close friend that Chelsea should deploy their wingers to catch out Liverpool relatively slow full-backs. To no surprise, Liverpool fielded Steve Finnan, who isn’t the fastest full-back and John Arne Riise, though skilful, would also lack pace against the young Arjen Robben. However, Mourinho decided to leave his wingers Duff, Robben and Joe Cole on the bench. And expectedly changed his tactics to accommodate his wingers in the second half.

But take no credit away from Liverpool. Harry Kewell, before he broke down for his groin – we have yet to know how bad the injury is – had an outstanding game, beating players, cutting inside and delicious long passes, one that comes to mind is the cross-field pass to Gerrard who cut the ball back to an unmarked Luis Garcia, but he fired over that time.

The little Spanish attacking mid-fielder did make amends though by scoring the winner in a game Liverpool thoroughly deserved to win. It was expected to be a tight game, and mistakes were what were going to be the difference. And in truth, that was what happened. First the free-kick given away by John Terry was needless, and arguably a bit harsh, but Riise made them pay with a freekick that went through the wall. 2 more mistakes lead to the other 2 goals. A mistimed header by Gallas, leading to Garcia’s eventual winner; and Riise’s poor headed clearance leading to Drogba’s scrambled goal.

Chelsea could have sent to the game into extra time though when Joe Cole found himself free in the box in injury time, but he lacked the composure to finish it off. It can be argued that Chelsea didn’t have the luck to finish off that move, or 2 of Drogba’s earlier misses, but the day belonged to Liverpool, who were criticised for their poor scoring form a month ago, to put away the chances that came their way. (Other than that Luis Garcia miss).

As a Liverpool fan, it would be no surprise to you that I think Liverpool deserved to go through. It would be unfair for Liverpool not to win the FA Cup after having such a good season. They improved from 5th in the league to 3rd, with a slim possibility of finishing 2nd. If Man United fall to Chelsea, and lose another game, and Liverpool win their last 3 games by ten goals more than Man United, they could go second. But like I said, it is a slim chance, but anything is possible.

To think of Liverpool going from Champions League Winner to trophy-less is unthinkable, so I hope that whoever Liverpool face in the final, they can pull off that one more Istanbul miracle.