It Take Pens To Drop Potters, But Liverpool Will Be At Wembley

Liverpool came into the second leg of the Capital One Cup semifinal up 1-0 with an important away goal, however the Liverpool side that doesn't seem threatening was the one that appeared in the first half.  Emre Can's strike was the only really good scoring opportunity of the opening 45 minutes of play for the Reds.  They pressed toward goal a few times and were not without skill at all, but there just wasn't that quality that is needed in the final third.

Instead they seemed to be hanging onto the knife's edge.  Stoke, though having similar statistical numbers, seemed to be threatening much more.  Some of that was due to Liverpool's inadequate defending on corners always putting fan's hearts in their throats and some was simply due to actual lax defending.  In the end it would cost them.  Marko Arnautovic scored in the first minute of extra time and put his team up 1-0 in the game and even 1-1 in the semifinals.

Arnautovic was clearly offside when viewing the replay, but in the end it doesn't matter.  Decisions go for or against teams all the time.  Liverpool needed to defend better and simply didn't.  If the officials had gotten the call correct, it would have helped the situation, but you could almost feel the goal coming at some point regardless.  There can be little doubt that Jurgen Klopp intended his team to try to see out a 1-0 decision over two legs, but that seemed to be the intention of the players on the field.  Arnautovic's goal threw a wrench into those plans and the idea of penalties was something that would really stick in the craw of the faithful.  It was up to Liverpool to pull it together over the second 45 minutes.

It seemed as though the Reds had taken that to heart as almost from the get-go, Liverpool earned a dangerous freekick from just outside the box.  Unfortunately the kick was relatively wasted by Alberto Moreno.  The Reds kept up the pressure with Firmino striking one off the near post in the 48th minute.  Liverpool had a few other pushes upfield, but only for the first 15 minutes or so.  Once the half settled in, Stoke regained their confidence.

Again trying to take advantage of freekicks and corners, they almost struck in the 61st minute.  Only a full stretch, sliding tackle by Sakho, who was already dealing with a hamstring issue, managed to stop the go-ahead goal.  Liverpool didn't go quietly though.  They pressured and were pressured.  Their best chance to date came when the ball fell to Jon Flanagan in the 77th minute, but there were so many bodies in front of him that he could do nothing with it.  It would be the last real opportunity in regulation as extra time was called for.

Liverpool had a chance early in the extra time as Firmino flashed one wide.  Former Red, Peter Crouch did the same from a header just moments later.  Then just before the break, Stoke should have scored.  Van Ginkle put one off the post after a good feed from Crouch.  Van Ginkel almost ended it again in the 24th minute of extra time with a volley that was smothered by Simon Mignolet.  In the end, neither team could score despite mistakes made in important areas and the match came down to penalties.

It was as nerve wracking as you would expect and perhaps more than anyone would anticipate given the low esteem the competition has in most eyes.  Liverpool didn't blink though.  Mignolet saved Crouch's attempt after allowing the initial goal, but Can put it off the post.  Then the teams traded four consecutive goals each.  Finally, the beleaguered Belgian came through and denied Stoke's second penalty in sudden death.  Joe Allen finished off the contest and, perhaps a year too late for Steven Gerrard, Liverpool will be playing in a championship final at Wembley Stadium.  It was not the prettiest of games, but earning your way into a final is nothing to be scoffed at.

Random Thoughts:
- Since it seems to be doing some good, I still don't care for Joe Allen.

- I hate penalties.  I have yet to figure out a good alternative though.  I used to say just let them run til they hit the ground, but would that really be more appealing?  I suppose not when you see how the mistakes pile up when fatigue sets in.

- Good on Migs to be a hero.  Sure it's a low level cup competition, but he made two big saves.  Nobody for Stoke skied one or hit the bar.  It was the keeper who came up when he needed to.

- Klopp gambled and won on this occasion.  I applaud his decisions given how things turned out, but extra time could have gone extremely differently.  Klopp essentially went with Sakho as his only true defender when he pulled off Kolo Toure for Allen and then Flanagan for Jordan Ibe.  Yes, I'm aware Moreno was out there, but even though I like him, he's not much of a real defender.

- Whether it's Everton or Manchester City, the final will be no easy game.  That said, it will be nice to see Liverpool in a final.

Walk On