The Upcoming
  • Cinema & Tv
    • Movie reviews
    • Film festivals
      • Berlin
      • Tribeca
      • Sundance London
      • Cannes
      • Locarno
      • Venice
      • London
      • Toronto
    • Show reviews
  • Music
    • Live music
  • Food & Drinks
    • News & Features
    • Restaurant & bar reviews
    • Interviews & Recipes
  • Theatre
  • Art
  • Travel & Lifestyle
  • Literature
  • Fashion & Beauty
    • Accessories
    • Beauty
    • News & Features
    • Shopping & Trends
    • Tips & How-tos
    • Fashion weeks
      • London Fashion Week
      • London Fashion Week Men’s
      • New York Fashion Week
      • Milan Fashion Week
      • Paris Fashion Week
      • Haute Couture
  • Join us
    • Editorial unit
    • Our writers
    • Join the team
    • Join the mailing list
    • Support us
    • Contact us
  • Competitions
  • Facebook

  • Twitter

  • Instagram

  • YouTube

  • RSS

Tech, Games & Sport

Carling Cup: Craig Bellamy books Liverpool Wembley final

Carling Cup: Craig Bellamy books Liverpool Wembley final
26 January 2012
Raphael Salama
Avatar
Raphael Salama
26 January 2012

Promo

SPONSORED CONTENT

Liverpool 2-2 Man City (Liverpool 3-2 Man City on agg)

These two clubs face very different situations in the Barclays Premier League. Liverpool, reeling after a poor performance, had previously lost to a Bolton side that have had a terrible opening half to the season. Meanwhile, Manchester City put in a Champions performance against a potent Tottenham side to come away with a valuable 3 points.

The line-ups saw a very defensive approach from Roberto Mancini, starting with 3 centre backs and 2 wingbacks, a plan to protect Stefan Savić who still seems to be finding his feet in the English game. However, manager  Kenny Dalglish opted for a 4-4-1-1 with Craig Bellamy playing in behind the hardworking Dirk Kuyt.

The game’s opening moments saw a booking for Steven Gerrard, who went in late on his English compatriot Gareth Barry. This was followed by a good chance for Liverpool, a low-driven shot saved by the feet of Joe Hart and Stewart Downing squandered the chance to volley home the rebound.

City failed to create any chances or find any sort of rhythm in the opening 10 minutes,  whilst Liverpool continue to test City’s keeper, the latest attempt being a swerving shot from the right foot of Charlie Adam. By the 15th minute the game was starting to open up: a silky counter-attack for City saw David Silva caress a sumptuous pass into the path of Aleksandar Kolarov, whose whipped cross was well dealt with by Daniel Agger. Bellamy was becoming Liverpool’s bright spark and he had a few opportunities including a disallowed goal.

In the 31st minute came a moment of brilliance: Nigel De Jong advanced from the centre circle to meet Silva’s pass, curl an elegant shot past the despairing hand of Pepe Reina and cancel out Liverpool’s aggregate lead. Liverpool bounced back and began to create large amounts of pressure, then after some pinball in the box Micah Richards seemed to block a shot with his hands and Phil Dowd deemed it to be a penalty. Up stepped Gerrard to whack it confidently into the bottom left hand corner.

Liverpool started the second half brightly, with Kuyt’s dipping effort causing Hart to fumble, yet City escaped unscathed. Then a glorious chance for Liverpool – a free kick delivered from the left allowed Martin Škrtel to have a poke at the ball. It would have gone right into the top corner but Hart’s  giant paw thwarted Liverpool.

Then moments later, a cross from Kuyt was met at the back post by a powerful shot only for Hart to deny the home side once more. City were not done however; in the 66th minute, Kolarov beat Gerrard down the left to find Edin Džeko free at the back post, and Džeko slotted home with ease. Liverpool fought back: in the 73rd minute after nice work from Kuyt, Bellamy popped up in the box to curl a shot past Hart.

It was a real pendulum of a match, in which both sides enjoyed brief spells of possession and dominance yet Bellamy’s winner was enough to see the Reds march on to Wembley to face a tricky Cardiff side in what will be a fiercely contested battle.

Raphael Salama

Related Items

More in Tech & Sport

Five tips for setting up a new website

The editorial unit
Read More

Table-top dice games

The editorial unit
Read More

Up-and-coming esports games for 2022-2023

The editorial unit
Read More

What’s the best CMS platform for small business web design?

The editorial unit
Read More

Analysing Barry Hawkins’s first-round Crucible exit

The editorial unit
Read More

Eight of Instagram’s newest feature updates

The editorial unit
Read More

New video game releases for 2022

The editorial unit
Read More

Premier League football: How Celtic stars fare in the rankings

The editorial unit
Read More

The full-on experience of watching sports in Ireland

The editorial unit
Read More
Scroll for more
Tap

Promo

SPONSORED CONTENT
  • Popular

  • Latest

  • TOP PICKS

  • Albert Adrià reopens Enigma on 7 June as a “fun-dining” restaurant and cocktail bar
    Food & Drinks
  • Paolo Nutini at the 100 Club
    ★★★★★
    Live music
  • Crimes of the Future: Three new clips from David Cronenberg’s dystopian body horror film
    Cannes
  • When You Finish Saving the World
    ★★★★★
    Cannes
  • The Father and the Assassin at the National Theatre
    ★★★★★
    Theatre
  • Return to Seoul
    ★★★★★
    Cannes
  • Marcel!
    ★★★★★
    Cannes
  • More than Ever (Plus que Jamais)
    ★★★★★
    Cannes
  • Plan 75
    ★★★★★
    Cannes
  • Enys Men
    ★★★★★
    Cannes
  • More than Ever (Plus que Jamais)
    ★★★★★
    Cannes
  • Plan 75
    ★★★★★
    Cannes
  • Dirty Dancing the Movie in concert at Apollo Theatre
    ★★★★★
    Theatre
  • Feminine Power: The Divine to the Demonic at the British Museum
    ★★★★★
    Art
  • Eo (Hi-Han)
    ★★★★★
    Cannes
The Upcoming
Pages
  • Contact us
  • Join mailing list
  • Join us
  • Our London food map
  • Our writers
  • Support us
  • What, when, why
With the support from:
International driving license

Copyright © 2011-2020 FL Media

Murray sweeps past Nishikori, Djokovic too strong for Ferrer to set up Australian Open semi-final showdown
Australian Open semi-finals: Nadal beats Federer 3-1 to reach 15th Grand Slam final