Cardiff, Manchester City and Liverpool Make Carling Cup Semis
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November 30, 2011 TheFreshOutlook  |
Cardiff, Manchester City and Liverpool defeated Blackburn, Arsenal and Chelsea respectively to progress to the semi-finals of the Carling Cup.
The Welsh club Cardiff City faced an emotional evening following Sunday’s tragic loss of their national team manager Gary Speed and Tuesday evening’s match was proceeded by a moving tribute to their hero that involved the managers of both sides and Football Association of Wales (FAW) chief executive Jonathan Ford laying wreaths on a large Welsh flag placed pitchside.
Blackburn had the better of the early running; Grant Hanley having a goal-bound header cleared off the line by Peter Whittingham, but an energetic Cardiff snapped at their heels. This attitude forced their first goal on 19 minutes.
Icelandic midfielder Aron Gunnarsson robbed a ponderous Morten Gamst Pedersen in midfield before sliding in the predatory Kenny Miller. The Scottish international took the ball wide to the left with his first touch but then coolly slotted through the legs of the advancing ‘keeper Mark Bunn.
Cardiff continued to press and when Miller beat Hanley on the by-line and skipped past Bunn they smelt a second. But he saw his effort blocked on the line and an almighty goalmouth scramble ensued in which Cardiff couldn’t squeeze the ball home, hitting the post at least once in the process.
Blackburn had their chances; David Dunn forced a full-length save from Cardiff ‘keeper Tom Heaton with a 25-yard volley and the same player blazed wildly over as he lost his footing having made his way infield from the right.
But as soon as Cardiff made it 2-0 the game was all but finished. The exceptional Whittingham’s deep corner was nodded back towards goal by Anthony Gerrard and Slovakian midfielder Filip Kiss got the final touch to the ball barely a yard from goal.
Both sides missed further chances late on as an emotional night drew to a close in the Welsh capital that sees its team in the final four of the competition for the first time since 1966.
In London, two north-east clubs were the victors after making the Tuesday night trip to the Big Smoke.
Liverpool were at Chelsea with the pre-match build-up split between the pressure being placed on Andre Villas-Boas after Chelsea’s spluttering month and the fury of Kop boss Kenny Dalglish that Liverpool were playing just 48 hours after their 1-1 draw with City at Anfield on Sunday in the Premier League.
Both sides made vast changes to their usual line-ups and the quality sometimes dipped in the encounter for that reason.
The tight game was decided by two second half goals in the space of five minutes.
Andy Carroll had already missed a first half penalty when Craig Bellamy raced down the right and crossed perfectly for Maxi Rodriguez to score his second goal against Chelsea in two matches following their recent league encounter.
Five minutes later the Welshman was again involved as his free-kick found an unmarked Martin Kelly in the area who nodded past Ross Turnbull.
The win means that Dalglish is now unbeaten in 13 matches in charge of Liverpool against the Blues.
Manchester City were reliant on a more regular performer for their victory at Arsenal as Sergio Aguero scored a stunning goal to seal their semi-final berth.
It is City’s first win at Arsenal for 36 years and keeps them on the path of a second trophy in two years following their FA Cup win over Stoke City last year.
Edin Dzeko pounced on an error to start a counter-attack following an Arsenal corner. He evaded two challenges and fed Adam Johnson who continued the charge. He spun on the edge of the box and fed the Argentine Aguero who finished expertly from 12 yards.
By Leigh Gruffydd Sanders
[Image courtesy of joncandy]
