I think the best part about this match (well, other than the result and Emile's double) is that no one had his leg broken. We're worried about Sami's hammy of course, but all in all, this victory appears decidedly less Pyrrhic than the last one at Ewood.
Djimi was superb tonight, looked comfortable on the ball, moved forward well with the ball at his feet, passed well and simply and made some great 'tackles'. Surely done enough to make GH have a think about giving him another go at leftback - esp with Riise being in poor form for a whilst now. Special mention to Diouf - great player, loves the club, loves playing. Has been our most consistan player all season, and did well last season out wide too. Maybe the press will finally stop this £9million flop' rubbish that's spouted in the media. El Hadji Diouf, Diouf, Diouf Won't you score a goal for me... (to the tune of Agadoo!) We're gonna miss him in January/February...
Sorry I'm new to this site. Hi. This comes from the Sporting Life site, I hope I can post more, thanks, Peter Blackburn 3 Liverpool 4 By Martyn Ziegler, PA Chief Sports Reporter Graeme Souness suffered a serious case of deja vu as his old club Liverpool triumphed at Ewood Park for the second time this season to knock Blackburn out of the Carling Cup. The match was almost a carbon copy of the game last month which led to such bitterness between Souness and rival manager Gerard Houllier. Lucas Neill was sent off in the Barclaycard Premiership game for the challenge which broke Jamie Carragher's leg and he saw red again tonight - on his first start since returning from suspension. There was more replication. Blackburn took the lead through a well-crafted goal, Neill was sent off and Liverpool equalised from a penalty before going on to win. There was controversy in this one too. Neill could have little complaint about his dismissal for tripping Florent Sinama-Pongolle but there was certainly a case for Djimi Traore being sent off minutes before for fouling Andy Cole when he was last man. Dwight Yorke's excellent header had given Blackburn hope of ending their dismal run but after Neill had been red-carded and Danny Murphy fired home the resulting penalty it looked a tall order. So it proved as Heskey twice headed home to put the Reds into the hat for the fourth round and Harry Kewell killed the game off, though Barry Ferguson and Dwight Yorke earned Rovers some respect late on. It was Liverpool's victory on September 13 which began the current rot at Blackburn, and this defeat made it six losses in eight matches. Blackburn's disappointing form was reflected in the ocean of empty seats at Ewood Park - even though Liverpool had managed to completely fill the 7,000 seater Darwen End stand. They had something to cheer early on as Heskey warmed Brad Friedel's hands with a low shot from 20 yards before Liverpool put together a lovely passing move. Murphy arrowed a pass to Heskey who laid it back simply for Anthony Le Tallec to try to bend a shot beyond Friedel but he was a couple of yards wide. Blackburn began somewhat nervously but their confidence was boosted when David Thompson intercepted Igor Biscan's hopeless pass and fired in a tremendous shot that was only a foot wide. The match then drifted into the doldrums before a chance finally arose when Traore fouled Cole on the edge of the penalty area when he looked to be the last man. Referee Mike Riley is not normally one to hold his cards back but he did not even book Traore and Barry Ferguson nearly made Liverpool pay anyway when he clipped the crossbar with the free-kick. Liverpool did not learn from that escape as Rovers went ahead in the 35th minute. Thompson's skill earned him space to produce a good cross and Yorke rose unchallenged to guide a header in off the post. Andy Cole came close to producing a wonderful chipped goal, catching Chris Kirkland off his line from 30 yards but missing the angle of post and bar by inches. Just as things were looking good for Blackburn, Neill was sent off for tripping Sinama-Pongolle just as he was about to shoot. This time Riley had no hesitation, and no real choice, in reaching for his pocket and Neill trudged off disconsolately before Murphy fired home the penalty. Heskey blazed over wildly with only Friedel to beat early in the second half but in the 49th minute he made no mistake. El Hadji Diouf picked out the England striker and he powered a perfect header past Friedel. Thompson was only narrowly wide at the other end following a free-kick routine, but Liverpool continued to press and when Biscan set Kewell free with a wonderful pass and it looked to be curtains for Blackburn but he stabbed horribly wide. It mattered not for Diouf skinned Martin Taylor on the left and crossed to the back-post where Heskey had a simple header. There was some hope of a recovery when substitute Brett Emerton broke through Liverpool's defence but Cole missed his cross and Steven Reid was a yard off target with the follow-up. Liverpool won another penalty after Kewell raced clear on the break and was brought down by Vratislav Gresko. Murphy allowed Heskey the chance for a hat-trick but Friedel saved both his spot-kick and the follow-up. Gerrard sliced over, then Friedel produced a brilliant tip over to deny Heskey, but Liverpool were not to be denied and Diouf, causing havoc at will, cut through again to allow Kewell to finish from close range. All that was left was for Ferguson to crown an impressive personal performance by rounding off some excellent first-time passing with a firm shot past Kirkland, then Yorke to make it 4-3 with a great turn and shot - the last kick of the game. Teams Blackburn Friedel, Neill, Babbel, Martin Taylor, Gresko (Johansson 84), Reid (Gallagher 82), Ferguson, Tugay, Thompson (Emerton 59), Cole, Yorke. Subs Not Used: Jansen, Yelldell. Sent Off: Neill (40). Goals: Yorke 35, Ferguson 81, Yorke 90. Liverpool Kirkland, Biscan, Henchoz, Hyypia (Riise 45), Traore, Le Tallec, Gerrard (Hamann 81), Murphy, Diouf, Heskey, Sinama Pongolle (Kewell 45). Subs Not Used: Finnan, Dudek. Goals: Murphy 41 pen, Heskey 49, 61, Kewell 79. Att: 16,918
Welcome Lostin! Just as a heads up, try not to post articles in their entirety, as we can get into copyright trouble. Links are preferable. If there wasn't a link, that's more of a gray area. Again, welcome aboard. Hope to hear more from you soon.
Strange that Lucas Neill will receive the same length of ban for the foul on Pongollle as he did for the disgraceful leg-breaker on Carragher. Either way, what a w@*%er.
Well done the lads - we NEVER looked in any trouble even when one down (although I'm glad there weren't four more minutes of injury time) Plaudits to Sky TV and the match sponsors for awarding the Man of the Match award to: Emile Heskey who did put two away with his head admittedly, but looked very poor with the ball at his feet and how obvious was it that he wasn't going to score the penalty. To his credit, Heskey looked suitably suprised withthe award. Unlucky El Haji, the sponsors were probably an opticians. One more thing: The Sky pundits were Ray Houghton and Jason MacAteer - the latter now seems to hate the club he used to love saying that LFC's problem was "there is no team spirit anymore". Get him!
To add to this, Souness has been quoted as saying: "Barry Ferguson was the best player on the pitch".
The pair of Huns deserve each other. Seems those who actually were nuetral observers with eyes thought Diouf was the man. Three goals made should be enough for MOM.
Great result, although disappointed we allowed Blackburn to score 2 late goals to make it closer then it needed to be. Regardless of that, we're through to the next round and Heskey is scoring goals which is good. Will Hyypia be ok for the Fulham match??
Interesting comment from GH on Dioufy: Houllier said: "I think Dioufy has had some really good games for us this season and it's a shame he won't be available against Fulham, although I'm not happy with him for picking up too many bookings. "In the first half against Blackburn he wasn't as good in the first half but when I moved him to the left in the second he did very well. "Harry played behind Emile which gave Dioufy a chance to show what he could do on the left. He did very well because he can get an early cross into the box with his left foot or just dribble and beat defenders with his rig
From the official site: El-Hadji Diouf gave a magnificent second half display against Blackburn in the Carling Cup and the fans certainly agreed as the Senegal star was voted top man. Diouf was a clear winner, in fact, one of the biggest marginal vote victories ever seen on Liverpoolfc.tv with 4,248 votes ahead of second placed two goal Emile Heskey who got 661.
IMHO we missed Dioufy vs Fulhmam. Although Murphy did ok (and scored a great pen) he really didn't take his chance to impress and try and dislodge the 'Serial Killer'.