KEEPER’S BLUNDER HANDS IT TO BLUES
His blunder proves costly but Liverpool looked flat
LIVERPOOL keeper Adrian gifted Chelsea their opener as Liverpool crashed out of the FA Cup.
He fumbled a first-half Willian shot before Ross Barkley lashed home a second at Stamford Bridge, continuing a worrying loss of form for Jurgen Klopp’s side – this was their third defeat in four games.
It keeps Chelsea manager Frank Lampard on course for a trophy at the club where he was a playing legend.
THE mood last night was perhaps summed up best by a Liverpool fan on the District Line on the way to the game.
“If we can’t beat Watford, we can’t be certain of winning anything,” he rebuked when his mate said the cup did not matter, at least Liverpool were going to win the league.
Last night, at Stamford Bridge, Liverpool looked like a side whose confidence had gone down the tube. OK, so Mo Salah did not make an appearance until late and Jurgen Klopp, right, also delayed Roberto Firmino’s appearance.
But Virgil van
Dijk was at the heart of defence, the central cog of Fabinho was in place and yet the Liverpool juggernaut appeared to have shuddered to a halt.
Contrary to a few Merseyside nerves, there is little doubt that Liverpool will prove themselves to be comfortably the best team over the season as a whole. But cup football is about individual moments, and on each of the key ones Frank Lampard’s Chelsea side were simply irrepressible last night. When some intense pressing from Mateo Kovacic sent the ball spinning towards Willian, there was a sense of disbelief when the Chelsea winger hit a relatively tame shot that was easily saved.
How often have we all sat there and thought, ‘Yes, that should have been the opening goal?’
Normally that could have been costly, but Liverpool seemed in determinedly obliging mood.
Moments later, a poor pass from Fabinho went straight back to Willian and this time an effort that in reality was only a little better slipped through the gloves of Adrian and into the
back of the net. Chelsea were made of sterner stuff it turned out when a game of end-to-end chances became determined by the fine margins.
And Kepa Arrizabalaga – back in the Chelsea side for the FA Cup – seemed more determined to seize his opportunity.
First he kicked away Sadio Mane’s scrambled shot from a set-piece, then he parried Divock Origi’s follow-up and still managed to wrap up an effort from Curtis Jones.
His reflexes were equally sharp when Mane carved out a much more difficult chance after 31 minutes.
All the while Liverpool were just not their usual resilient selves at the other end of the pitch.
Much as Chelsea have wished he was, Ross Barkley, for instance, has sadly not been the sort of man to take on an entire side on his own and thrash the ball into the back of the net.
Well, last night Liverpool let the former Everton man be precisely that, backing off him as he wrapped up the tie for the London club with an excellent shot.
It could have been worse. Eighteen-year-old Scotland Under-21 international Billy Gilmour was being allowed to dictate play against his more illustrious Liverpool peers. And when Olivier Giroud is racing clear of your defence, you know you are in big trouble.
Then Pedro had a similar charge from the halfway line with all of the Liverpool defenders in his wake.
Thankfully Adrian belatedly stepped up to the mark.
The save from Giroud in particular was brilliant, tipping the ball on to the underside of the crossbar when even the former Arsenal striker thought he had scored.
But ultimately it did not matter.
Adrian may have spared Liverpool’s blushes, but their place in the hat for the quarterfinals had slipped through his fingers a long time ago.