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Liverpool faced Aston Villa in the FA Cup semi-final at Wembley, with the winner facing Arsenal on May 30th. Philippe Coutinho’s goal in the first half was cancelled out by Christian Benteke. Fabian Delph scored the winner in the second half to send the Reds crashing out of their second semi-final this season, having been knocked out of the Capital One Cup by Chelsea earlier in the year.
Steven Gerrard and Martin Skrtel returned to the Liverpool starting line-up after serving their suspensions. Injured Gabriel Agbonlahor and Carlos Sanchez missed out for the team from Midlands as Benteke led the line and Fabian Delph played in midfield.
Villa started strongly, but didn’t have a clear chance on goal, while Liverpool looked lost after reverting to 3 at the back for this match. Villa suffered a set-back when Nathan Baker injured himself landing while competing for a header and was replaced by Jores Okore. Against the run of play, Liverpool took the lead in the 30th minute through their Brazilian magician, Coutinho, who after intricate passing with Raheem Sterling sent the 22-year-old through on goal and his shot took a slight deflection of Okore before beating Shay Given in the Villa goal.
Their lead lasted just 6 minutes as Benteke got Villa on level terms after brilliant play by Delph and Jack Grealish. The striker, who was left unmarked just inside the box, was found well by Delph, and he side-footed the ball in the goal. Brendan Rodgers had changed the formation to a back 4 after seeing his side struggle. Raheem Sterling was brought down in the box, but the half-hearted penalty claims were waved away by the referee. The half petered out to a close as both sides went into the break level.
Liverpool brought on Mario Balotelli at half-time, but despite the change, the second half saw a similar pattern to the first as Villa started strongly and took the lead in the 54th minute. Delph was once again at the heart of it as he started the move and finished it when Grealish found him with a precise through ball.
From then, the Reds were on the front foot, looking for the equalizer, but Villa defended well and did not let the Liverpool strikers a sniff of goal. Late in the game, a brilliant pass by Steven Gerrard, who was playing in his last FA Cup match, found Balotelli through on goal and the striker calmly slotted the ball into the net. But, the linesman had raised his flag for offside, which replays showed was the wrong decision.
Gerrard’s header from a Jordan Henderson corner was cleared off the line by Kieran Richardson as the clock ticked down and the full-time whistle was blown. Villa’s brilliant run in the FA Cup continues as they’ll be facing Arsenal in the final at Wembley. Gerrard’s dream of lifting the FA Cup in his final Liverpool match on his birthday came to a halt.
Man of the Match: Fabian Delph
Aston Villa 0-1 Liverpool; Philippe Coutinho (30’)
Aston Villa 1-1 Liverpool; Christian Benteke (36’)
Aston Villa 2-1 Liverpool; Fabian Delph (54’)
Aston Villa 2-1 Liverpool; Mario Balotelli disallowed goal
