Liverpool edged past a determined Blackburn Rovers to book their place in a Wembley semi-final.
A dull first half saw Liverpool with plenty of the ball but doing very little with it, as was pointed out by way of Kevin McCallum’s unusual comparison.
Liverpool a bit like Zimbabwean land grabs in the first half: lots of possession, but it resulted in waste and little use of any worth.
— Kevin McCallum (@KevinMcCallum) April 8, 2015
In fact, the only moment of note in the first half was Mamadou Sakho’s exit from the game. An injured hamstring meant that Kolo Toure would be making an early entry. Seemingly speaking for many Liverpool supporters, Paul Tomkins expressed his concern.
Sakho looks screwed. Must mean Kolo Toure coming on. Time for me to find my adult nappies.
— Paul Tomkins (@paul_tomkins) April 8, 2015
In the second half, things were much livelier than the bore fest offered up in the first forty-five minutes. Eventually, Phillipe Coutinho produced another moment of magic for Liverpool, slotting in the only goal from a tight angle.
Coutinho goal http://t.co/LOo3amFrmp RT @MostarLFC
— LFC Online (@Liverpool) April 8, 2015
With BT Sport making a big deal out of a Joe Allen handball that nobody else appeared to see…
BT Sport 'experts' seriously suggesting that the Joe Allen 'handball' was a penalty. Football punditry is beyond dreadful.
— David Martinez (@DMARTINEZ_85) April 8, 2015
The Liverpool midfielder could have won a penalty when he went down in stoppage time. Kevin Friend was having none of it…
Should have been a penalty (stepping on Joe) but ok, we went though! #LFC #JoeAllen https://t.co/i7RRnqKeip
— Kit ฅ^•ﻌ•^ฅ (korokit @ HIVE) (@kitlumi) April 8, 2015
But at the other end, Blackburn’s goalkeeper Simon Eastwood nearly conjured up his very own ‘Jimmy Glass moment’, only for Mignolet to keep hold of the ball and Liverpool’s slender lead…
Ultimately, there wasn’t quite enough for Blackburn to stop Liverpool taking a step closer to throwing Steven Gerrard an FA Cup Final birthday/farewell party.
Coutinho’s goal was ultimately the difference, but Rovers stood toe-to-toe with Liverpool for over 180 minutes of football, and rightly received credit at the end of a good cup run.
Credit to Blackburn, touch of class from Coutinho. Both sides gave 100%. Happy days. #FACup #Wembley :):):)
— colin murray (@ColinMurray) April 8, 2015
#rovers getting a standing ovation which they richly deserve for their efforts in the FA Cup this season.
— Paul Wheelock (@PaulWheelock) April 8, 2015
