Liverpool completed their journey to Wembley as their Capital One Cup run began, with victory in a penalty shoot-out following another gruelling night at Anfield. In the third round it was Carlisle United who lost out in the lottery against a side managed by Brendan Rodgers. Now it was Jürgen Klopp’s turn to take the acclaim after Stoke City suffered an agonising defeat in the semi-final.
Mark Hughes’ side deservedly took the second leg to extra time and penalties with a 1-0 win inside 90 minutes courtesy of Marko Arnaoutovic’s offside goal. But they were beaten for the first time in six shootouts when Simon Mignolet saved from defender Marc Muniesa in sudden death and Joe Allen stepped forward to send Klopp to Wembley only three months into his Anfield reign.
The second leg ended as so many of Klopp’s problems begin, with Liverpooldesperately defending a corner as Stoke sensed the second goal that would take them to Wembley. This time, however, they held out but the sight of Joe Allen taking a booking for the team with a late lunge on Ibrahim Afellay summed up the home side’s state of anxiety.
Hughes had urged Stoke to make history and secure a first League Cup final appearance since 1972 but they had to rewrite history, and cope without the injured Ryan Shawcross, to do so. Liverpool had never lost a League Cup semi-final at Anfield or a cup tie against Stoke and their manager never suffered defeat in a semi-final with Borussia Dortmund. The records and a 1-0 first-leg lead should have encouraged Liverpool in their quest for a 12th final appearance yet Klopp’s side made a cagey, apprehensive start and were eventually punished on the stroke of half-time.
As at the Britannia Stadium, it was the visitors who showed more composure in possession and created the clearer chances, though Simon Mignolet’s first serious test did not arrive until Arnautovic levelled proceedings.
The semi-final started at a frantic pace and to the backdrop of a vibrant atmosphere, with Anfield applauding en masse – Klopp and the travelling supporters included – in memory of Owen McVeigh, a 11-year-old Liverpool fan who recently lost his fight with leukaemia.There was no subtlety in the Stoke manager’s approach. His intentions were clear the moment the team-sheet landed and Peter Crouch’s name was in the starting line-up while Xherdan Shaqiri sat on the bench. In fairness Liverpool had invited a direct game, or a “heading festival” as Klopp predicated before kick-off, through their persistent weaknesses when defending set pieces. Stoke provided Crouch with few opportunities to expose that flaw from open play but his aerial battle against Mamadou Sakho would prove crucial in dragging the France defender out of position for Stoke’s breakthrough.
In an intense, scrappy cup tie both sides struggled with their passing and first touch. The captains, Jordan Henderson and Glenn Whelan, were telling team-mates to keep cool heads after they were responsible for misplaced passes and Hughes was out of his seat with only five minutes gone to berate the Stoke defence for sitting too deep. Irritation on the touchline remained a feature of the first half from both managers.
The occasion got to Stoke in the first leg, an error-strewn performance undermining home advantage at the Britannia, but so too did Liverpool. Klopp’s injury-hit team never let Stoke settle and forced mistakes in a relentless display. They attempted the same at Anfield but without the same result as the long ball limited Liverpool’s pressing in the final third. It also created the first clear opening of the night when Erik Pieters’s clearance caught the home defence square and sent Jonathan Walters through on goal. As in the final act of the first leg, the boyhood Evertonian dragged a shot wide of Mignolet’s far post and took a blow to the ankle from Kolo Touré for good measure.
A 25-yard drive from Emre Can was the sum total of Liverpool’s threat in the first half and Stoke’s confident display was rewarded, wrongly it transpired, in first-half stoppage time. Crouch won possession deep in the Liverpool half and Alberto Moreno was nowhere to be seen at left back when Walters released Bojan Krkic down the right. Bojan played a perfectly weighted pass behind the recovering Sakho and, despite Arnautovic being clearly offside in the middle, Lee Betts’ flag stayed down as the unmarked forward scored from close range.
Klopp was first down the tunnel as the half-time whistle sounded and Anfield voiced its disapproval of the match officials. The Liverpool manager resisted a change in personnel until the 58th minute, when Christian Benteke replaced the struggling Henderson, but there was a different, improved tempo to his team from the restart. Roberto Firmino struck the outside of a post following a corner and Liverpool responded to their supporters’ appeals for greater urgency. Careless distribution and uncertain defending continued to offer Stoke hope, however.
Arnautovic floated an inviting pass into the path of Walters but the Republic of Ireland international was denied by Sakho’s last-ditch block. The defender repeated the trick shortly afterwards when Crouch won another high ball into the box and Walters appeared set to convert into the far corner.
The anxiety around Anfield increased as Liverpool toiled for the goal that would take them to Wembley and Stoke absorbed the pressure comfortably.
Benteke and Jon Flanagan, impressive on his first senior start in 20 months, almost capitalised on a goalmouth scramble and the home side took heart from their late, dramatic comeback at Norwich City on Saturday.
Hughes introduced Charlie Adam for Bojan in a bid for more midfield control and Klopp followed suit with Joe Allen, albeit at the expense of a defender, Kolo Touré. Allen delivered to improve Liverpool’s display but Adam limped off injured in the first period of extra time, when chances were non-existent until the Scot’s replacement, Marco Van Ginkel, latched on to a Crouch header, held off Can and shot low against the post.
Liverpool ended the tie with a back line of James Milner, Lucas Leiva, Sakho and Moreno as Klopp sought the equaliser that would lead to Wembley but Crouch almost doubled the visitors’ lead when Pieters broke down the left. The decisive touch eluded both sides, however, until Mignolet, Allen and co prevailed in the penalty shootout.
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