Liverpool v Cardiff City
League Cup final.
Location: Wembley Stadium.
Match report.
Many argue that the League Cup is a Mickey Mouse trophy that no one takes seriously, something that I don't agree with. A competition is a competition, it should always be taken seriously and winning it takes a great deal of effort and hard work. And boy did Liverpool do it the hard way! As a neutral (well, as neutral as a Man Utd fan living in Cardiff can be) this game was amazing to watch and to be honest, neither team deserved to lose.
The first 15 minutes saw Liverpool dominating, with numerous shots and the majority of posession; however, when Cardiff had the ball they seemed threatening on the counter attack. In the 19th minute, Cardiff took a shock lead through Joe Mason's goal. Liverpool responded well and mounted the pressure against their rivals but could not seem to achieve that vital goal. Cardiff defended brilliantly throughout the first half and their keeper Tom Heaton made several saves to keep his team in the lead. At half time the score remained 1-0 to the Blue birds, an unexpected result for the underdogs.
Both teams came out for the second half fired up and ready to win. Liverpool desperately wanted to secure their first piece of silverware since 2006 and Cardiff needed to hang onto their lead against a more superior club. The second half was relatively similar to the first, Liverpool dominated possession and had countless attempts, but couldn't seem to find the back of the net. Cardiff again defended well and seemed threatening on the break. In the 60th minute Martin Skrtel managed to finally break Cardiff and levelled the score to 1-1. However, the difference between the two clubs began to show towards the end of the half, as Cardiff seemed to be tiring under the constant attacks from the Liverpool forwards. While it looked increasingly likely that Liverpool would score, they couldn't quite manage it, and full time came to a 1-1 conclusion.
Extra time commenced with both teams looking weary, but Cardiff more so. The pace of the game slowed down considerably with no real threats at either end of the pitch. However when Andy Carol was replaced by Dirk Kuyt, his fresh legs and energy bought a whole new life to the Liverpool side. 2 minutes into the second half of ET Kuyt out-ran the tired Cardiff defence and hit the target, virtually crushing Cardiff's hope's of the cup. The pace of the game slowed again, with Liverpool looking the more likely to score; however from only their 3rd corner of the game Cardiff managed to draw level mere minutes from full time! With only a couple of moments left in the game Liverpool gave a final push to find the winner, to no avail. The trophy would now be won via penalties.
After such a hard fought, intense game, in which both sides played to their best - Liverpool showing their Premiership qualities and Cardiff boldly holing them to a draw, penalties seemed like a harsh decision maker. However, the shoot-out was somewhat of an anti-climax. Steven Gerrard stepped up to take Liverpool's first penalty, which was saved, and his cousin, Anthony Gerrard, took the last penalty for Cardiff which missed and consequently lost them the game. Out of 10 penalties, only half were scored - 3 to Liverpool 2 to Cardiff. A thrilling game finally led to Liverpool getting their much sought after silverware and Cardiff being extremely deserving runners up.
