Capital One Cup Semi-Final: Chelsea vs Liverpool game review and Player Ratings
By Kris Whelan
Aug 10, 2013; Washington, DC, USA; Chelsea defender John Terry (26) takes a shot against AS Roma while Chelsea forward Demba Ba (19) during the second half at RFK Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Paul Frederiksen-USA TODAY Sports
Capital One Cup semi -final player ratings: Chelsea vs Liverpool
Chelsea were at home to Liverpool in the second leg of the Capital One Cup semi-final. The aggregate score going in to the game stood at 1-1 and Chelsea had an away goal, which is an advantage of course.
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The first half was frantic and aggressive, aggressive definitely the best way of putting it. Liverpool definitely had the best chances of the game through Coutinho and Moreno, who both had shots terrifically denied by Chelsea goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois.
Chelsea had more possession but when it came to the final shot, they were lacking and didn’t test Mignolet. His only call to action was to neatly collect a low hard cross from Ivanovic. There was some controversy as Diego Costa seemed to have intentionally stood on Emre Can, the referee didn’t see the possible red card incident apparently.
However, the referee made up for it, in a sense…He didn’t give Chelsea what seemed to be a clear penalty when Skrtel took down Costa. The intensity was definitely not lacking in the first half.
The second half of the game was much of the same, intense and aggressive. However it was Chelsea that were a lot more productive in this half, Mignolet was put to the test 3 times but that doesn’t tell the full story. He pulled off some incredible saves and even tackles.
This has been a game for the goalkeepers, both played excellent in normal time. Henderson was lucky to stay on the field after handballing it while already on a yellow card. Chelsea rallied for the last few minutes but the Reds hung on to drag the game to extra time. Over 90 minutes, both teams had chances and extra time was probably the fairest way to decide the game.
It wasn’t long in to the first half of extra time when Ivanovic broke away from Glen Johnson to convert a header after a great cross from Chelsea. Henderson had a great chance to equalize but bottled his header in to an open goal.
Chelsea managed the clock very efficiently after they went ahead and Liverpool continued to get frustrated. Chelsea were always in control after scoring and were good for their victory. Over all it was a very aggressive game, scrappy at times but it definitely showed that the passion of the cup lives on.
Next: Chelsea FC player ratings