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Chelsea hosted Liverpool in the second leg of the Capital One Cup at Stamford Bridge. Branislav Ivanovi’s winner in the first half of extra time sealed a place for them in Wembley. Both sides were at the top of their game, but failed to score during the normal time. The game never felt like a boring 0-0 draw as a lot of opportunities were created. Daniel Sturridge failed to make the Liverpool squad for the game and will now be hoping for a return against West Ham United this weekend.Jose Mourinho’s men will face Tottenham or Sheffield United in the final at Wembley.
#1 Tale of two Belgian goalkeepers
Both the Belgian international goalkeepers were outstanding between the sticks throughout the game. Courtois made two brilliant saves in the first half to deny Alberto Moreno and Philippe Coutinho. In the second half, it was Simon Mignolet who made a couple of good saves to deny Diego Costa. The Liverpool goalkeeper also made a brilliant tackle Costa, who was through on goal.
Mignolet has been heavily criticized for his performance this season, but it now appears that the 26-year-old goalkeeper is finally getting confident. However, Courtois has done well throughout the season and ensured once again that his team kept a clean sheet. Courtois also won the Man of the Match for his performance in the first leg at Anfield.
#2 Diego Costa was lucky to be on the pitch
Diego Costa was a lucky man two stay on the pitch. TV cameras showed Diego Costa deliberately stamped Emre Can in the 12th minute, but referee Michael Oliver didn't take any action against him. The second incident saw Costa stamp on Martin Skrtel in the second half of the game. This is not the first time Costa has been involved in such incidents and it remains to be seen, whether the Football Association will take any action against him. A ban will see him miss the crucial tie against Manchester City in the Premier League.
He was also denied a penalty, after Martin Skrtel brought him down inside his own penalty box, but he can hardly complain as he was lucky to stay on the pitch on two different occasions.
#3 Another poor performance from Mario Balotelli
After leaving Balotelli out of the squad for the past few games, Brendan Rodgers decided to take a gamble and kept him on the bench. The Italian striker joined proceedings in the second half for Lazar Markovic, but he did little to justify his selection. It's no secret Balotelli is not suited for Rodgers’ high intensity game and his performance against Chelsea once against proved that.
With Daniel Sturridge imminent return to the team, Balotelli will now find it difficult to get playing time. It now also seems that the Anfield outfit are losing patience on the controversial striker. The 24-year-old has failed to score a league goal till now and has been linked with a return to Italy.
#4 Poor refereeing decisions
Not only did Michael Oliver fail to punish Diego Costa for stamping on two Liverpool players, but Jordan Henderson and Lucas Leiva were also very lucky to stay on the pitch. Oliver chose to show Henderson a yellow card for a touch on Eden Hazard, but refused to show him a second for a clear handball just outside the Liverpool penalty box.
Lucas Leiva should have also received a second yellow card for his foul on Eden Hazard, but Oliver chose to keep the card in his pocket. Chelsea were also denied a penalty in the first half, after Costa was brought down by Skrtel.
#5 Magic of Philippe Coutinho
Coutinho was Liverpool main man last night as the little Brazilian kept finding open spaces in the Chelsea half. The 22-year-old won ten dribbles throughout the game and even managed to test Courtois, a couple of times. In the first half, the Liverpool number 10 made a brilliant run through the middle of the park and took on the entire Chelsea defense, only to be denied by the Chelsea goalkeeper.
Coutinho combined well with Sterling and Gerrard to create panic in the Chelsea half, but they were unlucky to get anything out of the game. Daniel Sturridge’s return and Coutinho’s performance will give great hope to Liverpool fans as they will be aiming to finish in the top four.
