A nervy Anfield encounter in the Capital One Cup ended with 2 game changing late goals and, ultimately, a place in the quarter finals for Liverpool. Under-fire duo Mario Balotelli and Dejan Lovren turned what seemed to be a dead game on its head after Bafetimi Gomis found the net for the Jack Army.
Both teams came into this fourth round tie on a seemingly level playing field. The Reds and the Swans have each accumulated 14 points in the league so far this season, and are known to play similar styles of football; fast and threatening. Again, both have shown signs of fulfilling their potential, but have also shown signs of being two incomplete projects; that being said, Swansea are, on the whole, playing above expectations, while Liverpool are falling foul of theirs.
Brendan Rodgers, the former manager of Swansea, made radical changes from the team that failed to break down a resilient Hull City defence on Saturday. Some of the changes will have been tactical, other changes may have come about through common rotation, while one or two could well be the result of poor performances by some squad members. Notable changes include the removal of Mario Balotelli, as Ricky Lambert attempts to make a name for himself, while Philippe Coutinho is brought in after impressive showings from the bench. Elsewhere, the midfield adopts a much different make-up, with Jordan Henderson (captain for the evening) providing the legs in a central 3 consisting of himself, the previously mentioned Coutinho and Lucas; much different to the Emre Can, Steven Gerrard and Joe Allen midfield from 3 days ago. Fabio Borini was granted a starting berth too, meaning two strikers would start for Liverpool.
Garry Monk’s away side enjoyed success on the weekend; a 2-0 win over Leicester. Despite this, the Swans manager made changes. Gylfi Sigurdsson hobbled out of the weekend victory and is therefore given a break at Anfield, while Wayne Routledge is another key Swan to be offered a chance to catch his breath. The changes didn’t stop there; Ki, Fabianski and even Bony were big names that Monk decided to rest. Jonjo Shelvey retained his position, allowing him to receive a typically warm reception from the fans of his former team.
There was an overwhelming sense that both teams were just trying to find their feet in the match during the opening 20 minutes. Both teams kept hold of the ball well but failed to do anything effective with it. It wasn’t until the 27th minute that the game provided a positive move. Henderson received possession on the edge of the penalty area, before offloading it to Lazar Markovic who horrifically skewed the chance high into the Anfield Road end, much to the amusement of the travelling Jack Army.
The half lacked clear openings after that. Borini was the only threatening player on the pitch for the last 15 minutes. First, the Italian twisted into space on the edge of the box, with his left footed effort sailing only just wide, before seizing on a loose Shelvey pass in midfield then bursting forward to force a save out of Tremmel.
Overall though, the first 45 minutes were hugely forgettable. The referee, Keith Stroud, agreed with those sentiments and blew for half time bang on the 45 minute mark to conclude a half in which neither team really looked like going on to dominate the game.
Liverpool set out to prove that notion wrong though. Coutinho was the instigator of various Liverpudlian attacks. However, most of these moves were suffocated by the lack of mobility in front of him.
Swansea will have considered themselves fortunate to take the lead, as they scored with their first notable chance from open play. Emnes was perfectly positioned to take down a ball that found its way to him through a challenge involving his team mate, Taylor, and Borini. The goal was incredibly well taken, as the Dutchman span with the ball to find the far corner with a pinpoint volley.
Rodgers tinkered; the Reds manager called time on Markovic’s disappointing night to introduce Adam Lallana, before taking a huge risk by bringing on Balotelli.
This roll of the dice brought up double sixes though, because in the 86th minute Balotelli burst through to the near post to steer in Borini’s unbelievable cross. The two Italians had repaid Rodgers’ faith in them with this relieving goal. But, as indicated by the summer signing’s rush to resume play, Liverpool were keen to avoid extra time…
And they did just that in the 5 minute of added time. Following the debatable dismissal of Swansea defender Fernandez for a rash challenge on Coutinho, the home team managed to nick a late, late winner. For the second time in two weeks, a defender scored a last minute goal to ensure a Liverpool win, only this time it was an actual Liverpool player who did it for them. Coutinho delivered the late free kick towards the back post, where Lovren had peeled away from his marker. Tremmel advanced to deal with the cross, but tangled with the traffic in front of him, leaving the Croatian free to nod home his first competitive goal for his new club; what a time to do it.
Swansea didn’t have time to reply, and were left to reflect on what could have been a second Anfield cup win in three years. On the other hand, Liverpool will be thrilled; the 2012 winners will hope to use this success over the 2013 winners as a foundation to kick start their up and down season, both in the league and as Rodgers bids to earn more cup glory than has been the case in his time at Anfield.
Few players could say they put in a performance worthy of Man of the Match consideration, though there are 3 candidates. Firstly, Emnes’ goal inevitably puts him into the picture. The fashion in which he netted will certainly live long in the memory, but he wasn’t a constant enough threat to earn MotM. In fact, only two men were threats for the whole 90 minutes; Fabio Borini and Philippe Coutinho. Borini came close to scoring twice in the second half, through his own persistence and for that he must be given a lot of credit. His performance finally got the notable addition it deserved, when he notched a stunning assist with an ambitious cross landing right in the way of the onrushing Balotelli. As for Coutinho, he pulled those cliché strings all night. The Brazilian playmaker more than proved to his manager that he should be starting much more regularly. Similar to Borini, Coutinho got a late assist. It was his free kick that set up the exciting Lovren winner.
It’s back to league action this weekend for these two top half teams, as Liverpool travel to Newcastle while Swansea return to Merseyside to face Everton. Rodgers will be a happy man this week, as recent critics will surely have been silenced by his inspired choice of substitutions. On the other hand, Monk will hope the return of key players to his starting eleven will galvanise the Swans.
Like I said earlier though, neither of these teams are a completed project.
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