Luis Suarez managed to salvage a point for the Sloppy Reds, as an outstanding performance form Aston villa Goal Keeper shay given had the Liverpool fans on their toes for almost the entire match. Liverpool Manager Kenny Dalglish opted for a boring Formation of 4-4-2, with dirk Kuyt, Jordan Henderson, and Stewart downing returning to the lineup. Liverpool were in control of the game from the kick off keeping position well. Aston villa managed to score first ,when Chris herd curled a well placed shot into Alexander Doni's goal. The Brazilian could partly be blamed for the goal conceded as he failed to clear the cross properly as the ball fell into Barry Banan's feet who then checked the ball back to the middle of the 18 yard box for Chris Herd to pot into the top right corner of the Liverpool goal.
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| Chris Herd Takes Advantage of Liverpool's poor defending |
Liverpool were unlucky on several occasions, the first of which came when downing zipped a curling low cross in to the villa penalty area ,it cleared four Villa defenders ,with dirk Kuyt at the other end of it he managed to hit it toward goad only for Shay Given to clear it off the line and into the post ,leading to a Liverpool corner kick .Dirk Kuyt is likely to be running for the miss of the season as he managed to fluff possibly the best chance to equalize when he skied a shot from three yards away with Shay given nowhere to be found . Gabriel Abganglahor also missed a great opportunity as he failed to properly latch on to Chris Herd's Cross .with only Martin Skertel to beat he failed trouble the Liverpool Goal keeper as the ball flew into the crowd.
Time after time Downing got stranded in the middle of the field leaving Liverpool left back Jose Enrique to defend the Flank on his own. The former Aston villa player was eventually replaced by Craig Bellamy in the 63rd minute as Andy Carroll was also introduced replacing largely unanimous Jonjo Shelvey.
Luis Suarez had three penalty plea's waived away and received a yellow card for what referee deemed to be play acting when Barry Banan clipped his foot as he pulled away from the villa midfielder , the instant replay confirmed that there was actual contact .
The Uruguayan talisman managed to finally get on the score with a close range header. When Daniel Agger (substituted for Jose Enrique in 76th minute) hit the wood work and the ball bounced back into the 6 yard box.
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| Shay Given s outstanding Performance denied the Reds a much needed Victory |
Aston Villa managed to hold off pressure for the remaining 20 minutes of the game, as both Andy Carroll, and Steven Gerrard Efforts were brilliantly met with that of Shay Givens.
Liverpool Manager Kenny Dalglish had the following to say in the aftermath of the game:
““They got the early goal and that gave them something to hold on to. They had a great deal of resolve in trying to stem the flow of the game.
"From about 20 minutes before half-time until the end of the game I think the momentum was well and truly with us. We pushed forward and got a goal but I think we deserved more than that.
"The attitude and commitment of the players was fantastic and it was a bit like the old days coming back with the crowd willing a goal into the back of the net but it wasn't to be.
"The last one [penalty shout], when Dirk Kuyt takes it on his chest and the boy [Eric Lichaj] looks at him before he's controlled it. He lifts his arms up and the referee says to Dirk he never gave it because he thought the boy was unlucky then we've no chance.
"Somebody would need to be assassinated for us to get a penalty kick."
Liverpool will travel to Wembley to face Local Rivals Everton in what’s deemed to be a full action draw in the FA Cup Semi final .15 points behind the last champions league spot Liverpool owner John Henry certainly will not be impressed, more than 100 million $ invested yet unable to qualify for the elite competition. pressure sure in mounting on Kenny and his crew.
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