MATCH REPORT: Stoke City vs Liverpool [Capital One Cup semi-final]

Jordan Ibe gives the Reds an advantage over their opponents going into the second leg of their Capital One Cup semi-final tie. 

Liverpool were going into this game on the back of a "passive" defeat to West Ham in the league. At least that was the view of Jurgen Klopp after the match. The manager was looking for a strong comeback but they faced tough competition. However, the Liverpool injury list included a lot of the team's big names which meant that this wasn't the strongest team that Klopp would have liked to field today, and it didn't get much better for him during the match as three more players were added to this list.

Dejan Lovren leaving the field with a hamstring injury, adding to the long list of already injured Liverpool players
Image from: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/football/teams/liverpool/12081866/Stoke-City-v-Liverpool-Capital-One-Cup-semi-final-first-leg-live.html

Stoke City may have lost to West Bromwich Albion last weekend due to a goal in added time, but they had beaten Everton and Manchester United emphatically in the weekends previous to this, which meant that Liverpool would have to find a way to deal with that front trio of Bojan, Marco Arnautovic and Xherdan Shaqiri. 

It was the away side that started the match the stronger of the two and they pushed forward from the starting whistle. They didn't get their first chance until the eighth minute though when Roberto Firmino played the ball across to Adam Lallana. He had a little bit of space so he decided to take the shot on from outside the box and it forced a good first save out of Jack Butland who turned the ball away with a strong hand. 

Liverpool also got the second chance this time coming from Firmino. The ball was cleverly worked into the Stoke box once again and the midfielder fired the ball towards the goal on the turn but the Stoke defender got across well to send the ball out for a corner before it could cause any problems.

Ibe replaced Philippe Coutinho who left the field with a hamstring injury and he had a chance minutes after he entered the field. He made a direct run at the defence and took it on himself. He didn't set himself right though and the ball swerved high and wide of the target. 

Stoke registered their first chance of the half towards the half hour mark when they won a corner. The ball was swung in low to the penalty spot where Bojan had made a run behind the Liverpool defence. He completely misjudged his touch causing the ball to ricochet off his body. A few seconds later the ball landed to Glen Johnson and he decided to have a go, but his shot didn't come close to hitting the target. 

In the 37th minute, Liverpool finally got their reward. James Milner, who had replaced the injured Lovren, played a great ball down the right flank to Lallana who beat the offside trap. The midfielder crossed the ball into the box and Joe Allen tried to hit a shot at Butland's goal, but he got his touch wrong and instead played a square pass to Ibe coming into the box. The winger did what Allen couldn't and curled the ball under the diving keeper and the covering defender. 

Ibe and Firmino celebrating the important Liverpool goal
Image from: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/football/teams/liverpool/12081866/Stoke-City-v-Liverpool-Capital-One-Cup-semi-final-first-leg-live.html

Stoke didn't sit back after this; instead they went straight down the other end with Johnson whipping a brilliant cross into the box. Arnautovic got ahead of his defender and made a connection with the ball but the wet ball skimmed across his head and finished wide of the far post. 

Just before the end of the first half, Shaqiri won his side a corner and Johnson almost pulled his side back into the game. He beat Allen to the ball and hit his shot on target, but a brilliant save from Mignolet protected Liverpool's first half lead. 

The second half was definitely much brighter for the home side. Less than 10 minutes in, Kolo Toure gave away a free kick which is crossed into a dangerous area of the box and Glenn Whelan is the first player to the ball, but he was knocked off balance as he went to take the shot. Ryan Shawcross was next to have a go and he managed to fire his shot at a Liverpool defender on the turn. The last of the chances was a wild shot that ended up flying high over the crossbar. 

Liverpool did have a few chances though. Ibe was keen to add to his tally and he made a direct run into the box from the left side before cutting back to get some space from his defender. He decided to hit the low shot towards the near post, but he could only find the side netting. 

Butland suffered a scare not long after when he was played the ball back by one of his defenders. The keeper tried to clear the ball from his penalty area with his first touch but only managed to rebound the ball off Firmino on the edge of the box. Much to his relief though, the ball landed neatly back into his gloves instead of causing him any problems. 

At the other end of the field, Ibrahim Afellay tried to hit a low, hard shot at goal from outside the box, but it took a deflection off a defender. This caused the ball to loop up and Simon Mignolet had to back track quickly to tip the ball over his crossbar before it could sneak into the goal. 

In the dying moments of the match, Jonathan Walters got some space in the Liverpool box and instead of taking on the shot first time, he seemed to hesitate. He still managed to get his shot away before the defenders closed him down but the ball skimmed past the far post. 

Klopp applauds the travelling Liverpool fans after his team beat Stoke
Image from: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/football/teams/liverpool/12081866/Stoke-City-v-Liverpool-Capital-One-Cup-semi-final-first-leg-live.html

This result gives Liverpool a good advantage going into the second leg of this semi-final, especially as they will be playing it at Anfield. Klopp will also be impressed by an improved performance from his side compared to the West Ham game. However, he should feel slightly worried as Coutinho, Lovren and Toure were all added to the very long growing injury list.

Stoke will still feel that they can take this tie from Liverpool as they are only behind by one goal. Mark Hughes also knows that his side can perform in the big games as they have already beaten a number of big teams this season. He will need to figure out a way to get that brilliant trio into the game in the next leg though as Liverpool seemed to deal with them very well and snuff out most of their chances during the build-up play.