“England Cup”: Liverpool and United join the finalists and clash in the “eight”
Liverpool and Manchester United, last season’s runner-up, joined the ranks of the finalists and faced a fiery match in the quarter-finals, with the former defeating its guest Southampton from the second level (Championship) 3-0, and the latter defeating its host Nottingham Forest 1-0, on Wednesday, at the end of the fifth round. .
In the first match at Anfield, Liverpool, burdened by injuries, helped its guest, Southampton, with a clean hat-trick, scored in turns by the promising Welshman, Louis Comas (44), and his replacement, Jayden Dance (73, 88).
Liverpool, which won the League Cup title, on Sunday, at the expense of Chelsea (1-0 after extra time), is competing on four fronts this season. In addition to its recent coronation, it leads the league by a point ahead of its direct chaser, Manchester City, the defending champion, and has reached the eighth final of the European League competition. “Europa League”, where Sparta will face Czech Prague on the 7th and 14th of next March.
Liverpool, ecstatic with the League Cup title on Sunday at the expense of Chelsea on four fronts (Reuters)
In the next round, Liverpool will meet Manchester United, which won against Nottingham Forest, with a single goal scored by its Brazilian international midfielder Casemiro in the 89th minute.
Liverpool played the match with a reserve lineup that included only its Dutch captain, Virgil van Dijk, and his compatriot, Cody Khakpo, among its starters, after its German coach, Jurgen Klopp, preferred to keep Argentine Alexis McAllister, Colombian Luis Dias, and Frenchman, Ibrahima Konate, on the bench.
The list of those absent due to injury included Egyptian Mohamed Salah, Uruguayan Darwin Nunes, defender Trent Alexander-Arnold, Hungarian Dominic Sobolai, Portuguese Diogo Jota, Curtis Jones, Japanese Ouattara Endo, Cameroonian Joel Matip, Brazilian goalkeeper Alisson Becker, and Dutchman Ryan Grafberg.
Liverpool imposed its advantage from the beginning, but without threatening the goal of its guests, who were closest to opening the scoring with a creeping shot by Ghanaian Kamaluddin Soleimana, which bounced off the left post (5), and another shot by Frenchman Sekou Mara, which was pushed away by Irish goalkeeper Quamhin Kelleher, to a corner (6).
Kelleher intervened in front of Mara to cut him off from close range (11).
The first and most dangerous opportunity for Liverpool was when Khakbo received a ball inside the area and was slow to follow it into the goal, so the defense intervened and dispersed it (21).
Keheler blocked a creeping shot by Suleimana from inside the area (38).
Harvey Elliott almost did it with a shot from outside the area that goalkeeper Joe Lumley deflected into a corner (42).
Promising midfielder Komas (18 years old) succeeded in opening the scoring when he received a ball from another promising player, Bobby Clarke (19 years old), and he shot it from outside the area. It hit the foot of Polish defender Jan Bednarek, and settled to the right of his goalkeeper, Lumley (44).
Liverpool’s joy of excelling in the FA Cup (Reuters)
Keheler continued his brilliance by blocking Slimana’s shot from close range at the beginning of the second half (48).
Another promising player, Dance (18 years old), Komas’s replacement, increased Liverpool’s lead when he received a ball on a golden platter inside the area from Elliott, who followed it up from close range into the goal (73).
Dance added his second and third personal goal for his team when he took advantage of a rebound from the goalkeeper and followed it into the goal (88).
Chelsea reached the quarter-finals by narrowly defeating its guest, Leeds United, from the second level (Championship), 3-2.
Leeds was the first to score through striker Mathieu Joseph (8), but Argentine coach Mauricio Pochettino’s men responded with two goals from Senegalese strikers Nicholas Jackson (15) and Ukrainian Mykhailo Modric (37).
Joseph equalized for the visitors at the beginning of the second half (59), before Connor Callagher snatched the winning goal in the first minute of stoppage time.
Chelsea will meet in the quarter-finals with another Championship team, Leicester City, which qualified on Tuesday by defeating its host Bournemouth 1-0.
Wolverhampton also qualified by defeating its guest, Brighton, with a single goal scored by its Gabonese international midfielder, Mario Lemina, in the second minute.
Wolverhampton will play in the next round with Coventry City from the second level and the first to qualify, beating Maidstone from the sixth level 5-0 on Monday.
The last quarter-final match brings together defending champion Manchester City against Newcastle.
The matches will be held on March 16 and 17.
2024-02-29 11:36:51
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