Coutinho Creativity Keeps Liverpool Climbing

Philippe Coutinho is congratulated
after the win secured
by his stunning curler.

Written By: Mark Armstrong

Result: Liverpool 2-1 Manchester City
Date: Sunday March 1 2015
Competition: Premier League
Venue: Anfield, Liverpool
Attendance: 44,590

A stunning curler from outside the box by Philippe Coutinho secured a major home win for Liverpool against Manchester City.

The victory keeps alive Liverpool's hopes of securing Champion's League football via a top four finish, but City's chances of retaining the Premier League title look slim after this result kept them five points behind Chelsea, with the League leaders still having a game in hand.

The identity of City has changed a lot in recent years due to the increase in their financial power, as has their trophy cabinet as a result, but one thing which has not changed is the club's fortunes against Liverpool at Anfield.

Before this game, they had only managed one win in their last 17 visits to the Reds, and despite Liverpool lagging far behind City in terms of points prior to kick-off, nothing would change here.

Liverpool started a little sluggish in defence but soon came to life, and after a few minutes Adam Lallana thought he had put the Reds ahead, only for his strike to be ruled out due to an offside decision.

Fortunately, Kopites did not have to long wait long to celebrate for real: less than 11 minutes into the game, a sweet strike by Jordan Henderson (captaining once again in the absence of Steven Gerrard) went in with a little help from the underside of the crossbar, and Liverpool were in front.

It was another sign of Henderson's growth as a potential future captain, and goals like this mark a nice resemblance to Gerrard and his habit of providing stand-out moments of quality in big games.

Mind you, as encouraging as this was, it would only retain its power if City were kept abay. Alas, after knocking on the Reds' door a few times, the titleholders equalised on the 26-minute mark with a straight finish by Edin Dzeko, although the manner in which City were able to carve open the opportunity gave a reminder to manager Brendan Rodgers - or The Brodge, as nicknamed by Noel Gallagher recently on Match Of The Day 2 - that whilst his side's fortunes have improved in recent weeks, his defence is still prone to the occasional bout of jitters.

Liverpool's defence remained quite shaky for the rest of the half, but they hung in there and, in the second half, the game became a more open affair on both sides, as each team took it in turns to create good chances, some - including more than one effort by Sergio Aguero - being only a whisker away from going in. Lallana actually had the ball in the net for the second time but, for the second time on the day, an offside flag made it obsolete.

It looked like anybody's game, although the neutral would have assumed by the passage of play that City would be the team to find a way through if either side was to secure three points.

Instead, with just over 15 minutes left, Coutinho set himself up with a touch and right-footed it around Joe Hart high into the net. Anfield was bouncing; once again, the underdogs were ahead, and this time they would not let the lead slip.

City continued pressing for another equaliser, and brought on Frank Lampard in an attempt to somehow get that second goal. But time was not on City's side and, with the Reds focused on denying their opponents the slightest chance at earning a point, Liverpool held on for what stands as their biggest win of the season.

Although nothing could equal the electricity and emotion of Liverpool's 3-2 win over City last April, this result came close. The reactions of the Anfield faithful indicated how important this win was in proving Liverpool's revival is for real, and puts Rodgers' team just two points behind fourth-place Manchester United.

After this defeat, Manuel Pelligrini will privately realise that it will take more than a slip-up to keep the Premier League title at the Etihad this season. For Brendan Rodgers, though, this win must have been extremely satisfying: whilst it has looked like Liverpool have been on the right track for a good few weeks now, this milestone victory proved it, and ensures that the Reds will have a busy two months on the horizon as the 2014/5 season comes to a close. Next up is Burnley: ahead of that game, the message for Liverpool after this win has to be: "We Go Again".

FA Cup 4th Round Recap

Emile Heskey in action against
Liverpool. (Image Source: BBC Sport)

Written By: Bashir Yusuf

Arsenal through, Liverpool and Man Utd forced to settle for replays amidst shock exits for Premier League giants

The absence of Premier League football this weekend meant that the FA cup fourth round had to live up to its billing, and didn't it do just that. We have always known FA cup weekends to come up with one or two surprises; nonetheless, no one would have predicted the amount of shocks that awaited this weekend.

Jon Stead celebrates Bradford's first
goal. (Image Source: BBC Sport)

Manchester United kicked off the fourth round in an unusual Friday fixture away to Richard Money's Cambridge United. The following day, Chelsea welcomed League One side Bradford City to Stamford Bridge, Manchester City were at home to Middlesbrough, and in the evening kick-off, Liverpool played host to Bolton Wanderers. Elsewhere, Leicester City travelled to White Hart Lane, while Alan Pardew and his Crystal Palace side travelled to St. Mary's Stadium; in addition, Arsenal travelled to Brighton & Hove Albion for another potential banana skin tie.

Beginning with our local entry (Everton had been dispatched in the previous round by West Ham United), joining Liverpool legends Ian Rush and Kenny Dalglish in the stands at Anfield was captain Steven Gerrard, who as he approaches the end of his Liverpool career is being closely managed by Brendan Rodgers; his absence here ensured his inclusion for the second leg of the League Cup semi-final against Chelsea this Tuesday. The atmosphere was as electric as ever with the Kop at their loudest. With Gerrard absent, Jordan Henderson captained the side, whilst Javier Manquillo, Jose Enrique, Joe Allen and Adam Lallana all returned to the starting XI.

As expected, the home side had the majority of possession, although whenever Neil Lennon's Bolton side had a spell in control, they looked comfortable and full of ideas. Still, despite a strike force including Eidur Gudjohnsen and former Liverpool striker Emile Heskey, they finished the match without a shot on target but, crucially, didn't concede either. The first half showcased some quality play from the team in red, but never enough to get on the score-line. Raheem Sterling and fellow countryman Henderson were involved in everything good coming Liverpool's way, with the latter hitting a decent shot that required an equally decent save from Hungarian keeper Adam Bogdan. The Trotters had half-decent chances of their own, but not enough to make a difference, and this resulted to both teams going into half-time goalless.

Lazar Markovic was introduced in the second half and soon had a penalty claim. Replays showed that the foul had happened outside the box, but there was enough contact that a free kick should have been awarded. Referee Kevin Friend further frustrated LFC fans by ignoring penalty appeals after a clumsy challenge by former red Jay Spearing on Henderson in the area. Besides this and further Liverpool chances, the second half was more notable for Bolton's strong defending, earning themselves a return leg in their own backyard, where they feel their chances of progression would be higher. The home supporters were beginning to be out-mourned by their opposition fans, as a return leg began to appear very possible. Liverpool had their chances but couldn't take them, and so the match ended in a goalless draw. A replay was not ideal for Brendan Rodgers, who suddenly has a busy fixture list with this two-parter adding to his Premier League commitments, Europa League preparations and, of course, that vital League Cup clash with Chelsea at Stamford Bridge.

Away from Anfield, the major FA Cup headlines for the weekend were the shock eliminaiton of Chelsea and Manchester City. Chelsea was the bigger surprise since they were facing a side two divisions below them, are currently the best team in the country, and were two goals up inside 38 minutes. Jonathan Stead pulled one back for the Bantams with a sumptuous strike just before half-time, but even then many would have expected the London giants to finish the game off in the second half; nobody expected Bradford to level things up, never mind win. But win they did, as goals from Filipe Morais, Andy Halliday and Mark Yeates completed the shock of the day, and one of the biggest surprises in the competition's rich history. Jose Mourinho, a two-time Champions League winning coach, described the defeat as a "disgrace" considering the level of their opposition (although he did praise Bradford's performance), and said his side should be ashamed of themselves. With Liverpool at the Bridge in mid-week, the West London side who had been eyeing up a quadruple could be out of two competitions in less than a week.

In Manchester, another scintillating encounter took form as Championship side Middlesbrough took an unlikely lead against Manchester City via Chelsea loanee Patrick Bamford. City were playing a very strong team with Kun Aguero present, but they looked clueless as they battled to break the Boro defence, leaving theirs wide open. Their misery was completed when Boro secured the win with a stoppage time goal from Kike. In the aftermath, Manuel Pellegrini was criticised for over-working his squad, after his side were only hours removed from returning after an unusual mid-season trip to Abu Dhabi which included a friendly against Hamburg.

The red half of Manchester are still in the pot but, like their rivals Liverpool, had to settle for a replay after a below average performance led to a goalless draw at League Two side Cambridge United - a result which would have gotten greater attention had the major upsets not occurred the following day. And they weren't over: Tottenham Hotspur are also out of the competition as Mauricio Pochettino's side fell by two goals to one at home to Leicester City. In addition, Southampton were dumped out - again on home soil - by Alan Pardew's revitalised Crystal Palace side in a mouth-watering 3-2 encounter. And Gylfi Sigurdsson made the headlines for scoring a cracker and getting a red card as Swansea troubles continued with a 2-1 exit to Blackburn Rovers. Reading, West Bromwich Albion and Derby County all made it through to the next round as well. Replays are to determine the fate of Preston North End and Sheffield United and Sunderland and Fulham.

Sunday was a little less explosive, although FA Cup holders Arsenal just about managed a 3-2 win over Brighton, with German World Cup winner Mesut Ozil on the score-sheet after a long injury break, along with Theo Walcott and Tomas Rosicky, who poached the winning goal. Aston Villa and West Ham United also secured their spots in the fifth round with wins, as did Stoke City on Monday night.

With the two main favourites out, Liverpool have a strong chance of going all the way to Wembley come May to mark Steven Gerrard's exit with a bang. But Arsenal are also dreaming of retaining the trophy, which is never an easy task, and Wayne Rooney also has his eyes on what could finally be his first FA Cup winner's medal to complete his collection. And who knows, could Bradford City take their fairytale journey all the way to Wembley? Either way, an exhilarating fourth round has resulted in the most open FA Cup in years, as literally anything could happen between now and May 30.