Liverpool Cruise Through
For 45 minutes, there was a real danger of panic setting in. Manchester United were 1-0 up, playing well, controlling the game and it looked like we were going to go in at half time with a real battle on our hands. We'd played well too, created chances of our own, but 1-0 was a worrying scoreline. But ultimately, United had already thrown this away in the first leg and all it needed was one Liverpool goal to end the tie. And then a piece of true magic from Phillipe Coutinho did just that. A wonderful, jinking run that poor young Varela had no answer to, before a delightful chipped shot over David De Gea of the highest quality. And that was that. Game over. United had no answer, Louis Van Gaal made some bizarrely poor substitutions and we were easily the better side in the second half. Overall, although United arguably had the better chances in the first half, either side could have won it and I think 1-1 is probably a fair result. So I'd thought I'd do something a little different tonight: player ratings.
Liverpool (73/110)
Simon Mignolet - 6 - Solid, not tested much but when he was called into action he dealt with everything that came his way, although the early chance for Lingard could have been avoided if he'd dealt with it. Helpless for the goal.
Nathaniel Clyne - 4 - Arguably his worst game in a Liverpool shirt, beaten time and again by Martial. Booked, conceded the penalty, an all-round torrid game for Clyne. But he's been excellent in recent weeks and should bounce back.
Dejan Lovren - 7 - Struggled at times in the first half but was excellent in the second, worked well as a partner alongside Sakho and was done no favours by Clyne at right back.
Mamadou Sakho - 9 - An absolute colossus. Multiple incredible tackles in high pressure situations, over twice as many clearances as anyone else on the pitch and the highest pass rate of anyone. An absolutely terrific performance from Sakho - his best in an LFC shirt until now.
James Milner - 6 - Put in a shift at left back and ran all day long. Some good crosses, some poor crosses, but a solid performance nevertheless out of position whilst failing to have a strong imposition on the match.
Jordan Henderson - 6 - Not a bad night for Henderson, but you could definitely tell that he was ill as he was subbed in the second half. Outshone by the man next to him, but always works hard and does a job for the team.
Emre Can - 8 - Another player who was an absolute monster in the middle of the park. The most tackles of anyone, some excellent passing, Can broke up the play better than anyone and made a mockery of the man opposite him in the middle of the park.
Adam Lallana - 7 - Some good stuff today from Lallana, but not his best performance. Some lovely jinking runs, intelligent passing and some very good play all around. Continues his really good run of form.
Roberto Firmino - 7 - Another good display from the Brazilian, as he had an overall positive impact on play before being brought off late on for Christian Benteke. Some clever play and some really positive signs of link up with Coutinho.
Phillipe Coutinho - 8 - Earns his rating on the quality of his goal alone, which single-handedly won the tie for Liverpool. But a good display all around for Coutinho, who came into his own in the second half as United ran out of steam.
Daniel Sturridge - 5 - An abject performance from Sturridge, who multiple times got in really really good one on one positions and promptly gave the ball away. A very frustrating night, culminating in a display of really poor attitude when he was subbed on the hour mark and Liverpool looked better when Origi came on.
Divock Origi (on 68) - 6 - Another positive display from Origi, with some good runs but nothing really to shout about.
Joe Allen (on 71) - 6 - Again, some good runs and passes but nothing really stands out from his performance off the bench.
Christian Benteke (on 85) - N/A
United (69/110)
David De Gea - 8 - Once again arguably United's best player on the night, as he made another string of top saves to keep Liverpool from winning the match. Harsh to criticize him for Coutinho's goal.
Guillermo Varela - 4 - Much like his opposite number Clyne, Varela never looked comfortable at right back and was beaten multiple times by Coutinho and Milner before his fatal error for the goal that cost United the tie. Looked thoroughly out of his depth. Hauled off at half time.
Chris Smalling - 6 - Poor positioning and failed to cover Varela for Coutinho's goal and made one or two other small errors but other than that another solid performance from United's best starting central defender.
Daley Blind - 7 - A good performance from Blind, keeping Sturridge very well marshalled for most of the match and some good passes out of the back. Picked up a booking.
Marcus Rojo - 7 - Some marauding runs down the left caused Clyne problems and did a decent job defensively and yet inexplicably pulled off for Darmian just after the hour mark. Could and maybe should have made it 2-0.
Michael Carrick - 7 - Ran the midfield well for United in the first half, but struggled to have the same impact in the second and struggled to deal with Roberto Firmino at times. Tired as the game went on and brought off with twenty minutes left.
Marouanne Fellaini - 5 - Could easily have been sent off twice for two horrible elbows, or at least picked up two yellows. Struggled to impose himself on the game and resorted to throwing his weight around. Poor performance, and a thuggish one at that.
Jesse Lingard - 7 - Lively performance first half from the youngster but like others couldn't impact the game in the second. Should have scored early on.
Juan Mata - 6 - A really average performance from Mata, with some decidedly poor defensive tracking back giving James Milner plenty of chances to run early on. Didn't really impact the game in an attacking sense. Missed a good chance.
Antony Martial - 8 - Sensational down the left, carving Nathaniel Clyne apart and thoroughly deserving of his goal. Easily United's best outfield player on the night and showed more of why he's so loved at Old Trafford.
Marcus Rashford - 6- Another youngster who played okay but struggled to really have an impact on the match and unable to get anything off of the exceptional Sakho in the second half. Faded quickly out of the game.
Luis Antonio Valencia (on 45) - 6 - Another man who had no impact on the game as it drifted away from United in the second half. Struggled to cope with Coutinho but made no critical errors.
Matteo Darmian (on 62) - 6 - A bizarre sub choice from LVG who had no chance of turning the game around with United needing three. Did a job but nothing special.
Bastian Schweinsteiger (on 70) - 5 - Looked his age as he struggled to stop Liverpool taking total control of the game in the final 20 minutes. Deservedly booked for a horrible tackle after being skinned by Lallana.
Meanwhile in the Europa League, the sensational Aubameyang scored twice as Dortmund beat Spurs 2-1 on the night to secure a thoroughly deserved 5-1 aggregate win. I do not envy the poor sods who have to play them in the last eight! Oh...wait...damn.
England Pull Off A Miracle
Embarrassing. Humiliated. Torrid. Dreadful. All words used to describe England at the halfway point of their incredible World T20 match with South Africa. And they were all accurate, because England's bowling display was so poor as to beggar belief. Topley, Willey and Jordan were all absolutely awful and it took a really good spell in the middle overs from the spinners to restrict South Africa to a paltry 230. Yes 230 off 20 overs. We were that bad. Hashim Amla, Quentin De Kock and JP Duminy were the chief beneficiaries, all scoring in the 50s, all making their half centuries in less than 30 balls. It was a demolition job, only Adil Rashid and Moeen Ali (1-35 and 2-34 respectively) coming out with any dignity, as both Topley and Jordan went at over 16 runs per over, Topley conceding 33 off his couple and Jordan a staggering 49 off his three. Let's not let what happened next gloss over this. This was one of the worst displays of bowling in England's T20 history, and the fast bowlers should be ashamed of themselves.
But what happened next was sensational. Because England chased it down. Jason Roy started as he meant to go on, plundering 21 off the opening over and smashing 43 off 16 balls to get England off and running. He was adequately supported by Stokes and Hales, who both made it into the teens and got out as England scored 89/3 off the powerplay six overs to give themselves a real chance.
And from there it was all about one man. Joe Root, whose exceptional 83 off 44 balls was nothing less than immaculate. Supported by Jos Buttler, he kept England in the match in the middle overs with some fast scoring, before taking it away from South Africa in the back ten, scoring fast and hard to leave England needing a run a ball off the last two overs before he finally departed. And despite losing two wickets in the final over whilst only needing one run, making things unnecessarily nervy, England finished the job.
This was a match in which no bowler came out unscathed, a display of batting ferocity in which five of England's top six had a strike rate of over 150, with the openers both scoring at over two runs a ball and Root, who dominated the innings, getting somewhere close to that, as South Africa's top six scored as fast and as hard. This was the sort of match that South Africa will not be able to believe that they lost, or England that they won. It was something else. But it was a ferociously brilliant display from England's batting order. They have quality all the way down and on a day like today, when they showed it, it was magnificent to watch.
Santner And Sodhi Put Aussies In A Spin
And earlier in the day, New Zealand completed their second win in two matches against arguably the two favourites for the tournament, as having butchered India, they took after Australia and after setting a mediocre 142, successfully defended it, as once again their spinners came to the fore. More and more this is looking like a spinner's wicket, which is why England's marshalling of the South African spin bowling was so impressive. But once again it was Mitchell Santner who struck, taking 2-4 in his first two overs to effectively take Australia out of the match. He conceded heavily in his final two, but combined with the superb efforts of Ish Sodhi who took 1-14 off his four and the terrific fast bowling of Mitchell McClenaghan, who took 3-17, Australia simply had no answer to a terrific New Zealand bowling attack. It means that barring a spectacular collapse from the new favourites for the tournament, either India or Australia won't be making the last four, and New Zealand have all but booked their place, and you can't see anyone, except perhaps Chris Gayle, stopping them now.
The Hard and Fast Section
- How good a central defender is Toby Alderweireld?
- City drew PSG in the UCL. Bring it on.
- Barcelona got Athletico, the only side capable of beating them.
- And Bayern and Real walk to the semis. Typical.
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