February 06, (THEWILL) – With three second-half goals, Liverpool defeated Cardiff to go to the FA Cup fifth round on Sunday lunchtime.
Cardiff frustrated their more illustrious hosts throughout the first half, aided by a boisterous 6,000-strong away crowd, despite the Reds not being at their best.
After nutmegging and turning his man in one fell swoop, Diogo Jota’s individual brilliance almost handed Liverpool the lead before four minutes, but he could only shoot straight at goalkeeper Dillon Phillips from close range.
Just before the 20-minute mark, attacker Mark Harris stepped past Ibrahima Konate and fell to ground under the Frenchman’s slightly awkward charge. Cardiff believed they should have got a penalty, but Liverpool survived a VAR review.
Midway through the half, the visitors’ first notable effort arrived. On the break, Will Vaulks retrieved the ball before cutting inside and sending a shot across Caoimhin Kelleher’s goal, but it was not enough to trouble the keeper.
Until the 34th minute, Liverpool failed to create another clear-cut opportunity. Jota and Takumi Minamino exchanged nice passes before the former’s kick was missed and the loose ball dropped to Curtis Jones inside the box, where the midfielder conspired to lift his shot over the bar.
Two minutes later, Roberto Firmino flashed a delicate header over, but that was it for the half, which was greeted by a thunderous roar in the away end.
After come flying out of his box and catching Harris on the calf in no man’s land, Liverpool finally woke up and took control of the game after the break, but only after Kelleher survived another VAR check for denying a goalscoring opportunity AND major foul play.
When Jota headed Trent Alexander-brilliant Arnold’s free-kick delivery into the bottom corner, the hosts broke the deadlock, and the floodgates opened.
Jota blasted a shot just wide before new signing Luis Diaz and the returning Harvey Elliott were brought to thunderous applause, and both would have an impact on the scoreboard.
Diaz first dispossessed a sluggish Perry Ng on the byline before squeezing the ball into a dangerous area for Minamino to gleefully slam home. Elliott was then played out in the box by fellow substitute Andy Robertson, who controlled the ball well before firing a lovely shot past Phillips.
After Firmino was robbed of the ball in midfield, young striker Rubin Colwill scored a wonderful consolation for the Championship side, latching onto Isaak Davies’ through pass and slamming a low effort into the back of the net.
Jude Obafemi is a versatile senior Correspondent at THEWILL Newspapers, excelling in sourcing, researching, and delivering sports news stories for both print and digital publications.
