As both teams walked onto the pitch in London surrounded by fans, journalists and corporates – it was safe to say no one really knew which way the game would go. Liverpool, in questionable form, especially since Daniel Sturridge has picked up another knock that has seen him sit even more games and Aston Villa, in their best form for a considerable amount of years going into the game on the back of an impressive and moral boosting 1-0 victory against a strong Tottenham side.
The game started with Liverpool willing to sit off the villa midfield who were controlling large parts of the first half an hour of the game, early on Charles N’Zogbia hit a strong shot from 25 yards on goal but it was the outstretched arm of Simon Mignolet that the Frenchman found rather than the desired target of the back of the net – a warning shot if you like for the 3 defenders of what they had to defend against for the rest of the game. Villa academy graduate Nathan Baker went off with a knee injury early into the second half and saw the inclusion of Jores Okore to play the rest of the game, Okore in his first few involvements with the ball looked shaky, that was about to be proven costly when Raheem Sterling set up Philippe Coutinho after Jores Okore couldn’t get the ball from out of the penalty area, the Brazilian duly placed the ball in the back of the net with the help again of a deflection from Jores Okore.
A Villa team under Paul Lambert may have deflated with that goal going in but Delph, Grealish and Cleverley kept making it tick in the midfield, playing through Gerrard and Allen with smart triangles and 1 touch passing. 6 minutes gone, Grealish jogs down the left hand side and holds up the ball smartly for Delph to make his traditional late dash into the box, Grealish places it on Delph’s boot and Delph cuts it back for Benteke to place with power and venom into the bottom far corner, the Claret and Blue of Wembley erupts and the two sides go in honours even with the emphasis on Villa who have played the best football.
The second half starts with Balotelli replacing the ineffective Lazar Markovic, Rodgers hoping to get some more focus and goals into the side being 1-1 at the break, but it doesn’t stop Villa midfield dictating and Grealish to use his trickery fool the Liverpool defenders. Somewhat on the counter down the Villa left comes a ball from defence which is chased by Benteke, he back heels it to Grealish, who is slightly behind Benteke – Grealish bursts forward to commit a man before playing a cheeky reversed pass into Delph’s left foot – Delph wiggles off Emre Can and lashes the ball into the near post. 2-1 and it doesn’t seem like there is much hope for a lifeless Liverpool.
Liverpool do go close though with minutes ticking. A corner throw into the penalty area sees a glancing header to the far post headed off the line by Kieran Richardson. Minutes from time also, Mario Balotelli has a header go narrowly over the bar after good work down Liverpool’s left hand side in the second half – but truthfully, it was Liverpool’s to lose and in so many other big games, they did – against a lesser opposition.
Villa will bowl into Wembley on the 30th May brimming with confidence against an scarily inform Arsenal side, littered with European super stars, but one thing a superb manager in Arsene Wenger might under estimate is not just a rejuvenated Benteke or a developing Jack Grealish but a passionate set of Villa supporters who are proud and happy to be following Villa again, sometimes that does make the difference.
