After waiting six long years, Liverpool finally ended their trophy-drought by beating Cardiff at Wembley to win the 2012 Carling Cup.
The match had to be decided by penalites after an exciting 120 minutes of football couldn’t separate the two teams.
Joe Mason took the lead for the Welsh side by nutmegging Pepe Reina in the first half. On 60 minutes Martin Skrtel poked the ball into the net after Downing, Carroll and Suarez combined to set up the chance.
The game was still locked at 1-1 after 90 minutes, so extra time was needed. Substitute Dirk Kuyt lashed the Reds’ into the lead in the 108th minute and it looked like the game was over.
But instead of focusing on possession and dominating the rest of the game, Liverpool seemed to go into defensive mode and allowed Cardiff to come at them in the final ten minutes.
After going 116 minutes without being allowed to win a corner, Cardiff suddenly won three in quick succession. From one of those set pieces Ben Turner managed to scramble the ball home with just two minutes remaining.
A tight penalty shoot-out ensued, with Liverpool just edging out their opponent 3 – 2.
There was some cruel irony as Anthony Gerrard missed Cardiff’s final penalty, and a few minutes later his older cousin, Steven, was hoisting the Carling Cup.
Monday, February 27, 2012
Wednesday, February 1, 2012
Why do Liverpool Fans Still Hate Michael Owen?
I’ve never understood the whole ‘hating Michael Owen’ thing.
I’m a Liverpool fan for life.
But I’m still a Michael Owen fan.
I get tired of hearing the “Where were you in Instanbul” chants every time he plays against the Reds. Liverpool’s been to other big finals since his departure, what about those?
I’m not saying that I agree with Owen leaving the club. He should have stayed.
I don’t think that he should ever have been allowed to go, and the club should have been performing better in the league at the time. But neither of those two things happened.
Owen should be regarded as an Anfield legend – he scored 118 goals for Liverpool, which is seventh on the list of the club’s alltime goalscorers.
I’ll always remember the 2001 FA Cup Final as “The Michael Owen Final” (in the same way that 2006 was Steven Gerrard’s final)
I heard a Liverpool fan going off the other day about how Owen left Merseyside for LFC’s biggest rivals: Manchester United! Shock horror!
Except he didn’t leave Liverpool for Manchester United!
He went to Real Madrid.
Just like Steve McManaman and Xavi Alonso.
You’ll never hear Alonso being jeered when he comes to Anfield.
From Madrid Owen went to Newcastle, and when they were suddenly relegated to Division One, he issued a ‘please come get me’ to Premiership managers – understandable for a player of his stature. It’s not as if he begged to go to United, Sir Alex pounced on the opportunity.
And I know the animosity mainly stems from Owen wanting to leave at one stage when Liverpool was achieving next to nothing and a lot of average players were being bought. It must SUCK to be such a class player and still be in a team with players like Igor Biscan, Milan Baros and Salif Diao. I can’t blame him for wanting to leave that.
Just like I wouldn’t have blamed Stevie Gerrard for going to Chelsea when the team had a crap manager and the players around him were nowhere near premiership-quality.
The difference is that Stevie didn’t go and he will go down forever as a Liverpool Legend and Hero, nothing will diminish his status. And his loyalty, passion and dedication deserve nothing less.
I’m not saying Owen should be thought of in that category, that reverence is reserved for life-time servants like Gerrard and Jamie Carragher. But I do feel that it’s short-sighted to suddenly hate Owen because he no longer plays for the club we love.
I’m a Liverpool fan for life.
But I’m still a Michael Owen fan.
I get tired of hearing the “Where were you in Instanbul” chants every time he plays against the Reds. Liverpool’s been to other big finals since his departure, what about those?
I’m not saying that I agree with Owen leaving the club. He should have stayed.
I don’t think that he should ever have been allowed to go, and the club should have been performing better in the league at the time. But neither of those two things happened.
Owen should be regarded as an Anfield legend – he scored 118 goals for Liverpool, which is seventh on the list of the club’s alltime goalscorers.
I’ll always remember the 2001 FA Cup Final as “The Michael Owen Final” (in the same way that 2006 was Steven Gerrard’s final)
I heard a Liverpool fan going off the other day about how Owen left Merseyside for LFC’s biggest rivals: Manchester United! Shock horror!
Except he didn’t leave Liverpool for Manchester United!
He went to Real Madrid.
Just like Steve McManaman and Xavi Alonso.
You’ll never hear Alonso being jeered when he comes to Anfield.
From Madrid Owen went to Newcastle, and when they were suddenly relegated to Division One, he issued a ‘please come get me’ to Premiership managers – understandable for a player of his stature. It’s not as if he begged to go to United, Sir Alex pounced on the opportunity.
And I know the animosity mainly stems from Owen wanting to leave at one stage when Liverpool was achieving next to nothing and a lot of average players were being bought. It must SUCK to be such a class player and still be in a team with players like Igor Biscan, Milan Baros and Salif Diao. I can’t blame him for wanting to leave that.
Just like I wouldn’t have blamed Stevie Gerrard for going to Chelsea when the team had a crap manager and the players around him were nowhere near premiership-quality.
The difference is that Stevie didn’t go and he will go down forever as a Liverpool Legend and Hero, nothing will diminish his status. And his loyalty, passion and dedication deserve nothing less.
I’m not saying Owen should be thought of in that category, that reverence is reserved for life-time servants like Gerrard and Jamie Carragher. But I do feel that it’s short-sighted to suddenly hate Owen because he no longer plays for the club we love.
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