A dismal outcome

One of my most favourite stadium, Wembley Stadium was chosen as the location for the sensational second semi-final between Liverpool and Aston Villa. The team qualifying was supposed to meet Arsenal for the FA Cup Final. The crowds were on their complete razzle-dazzle to witness this mammoth-of-a-match. As me along with 4 of my friends took our seats, the players already started entering the ground.

I’d not like to accept it but, Liverpool was not up to the mark during this season. They did play some great games, but the usual charisma and charm witnessed in the team was missing. However, I still wanted them to win this match and beat Arsenal in the final. Moreover, I also wanted them to win this match, because it was Steven Gerrard’s Birthday, and also his last match with Liverpool, as he is supposed to join LA Galaxy for the Major League.

As Liverpool was playing as the away side, they were in yellow and Villa was in their usual blue and claret colors. The match started off with a fast pace, and the 12’ there was complete silence in the stadium when N’Zogbia shot from about 20 yards was safely tipped out for the corner by Mignolet. At 30’ Coutinho hit the first goal for Liverpool, which had the crowd singing and screaming. It was the first appearance at Wembley for Coutinho who passed the Villa defense, before dinking one past given and into the nets. Villa 0-1 Liverpool.

Joy knew no bounds for us, the Liverpool supporters. But our fun was short-lived with Beteke gave a smooth finish to a pass from Delph. Delph received the ball at the half-way line from Grealish, and passed it on to Benteke, who then converted into a fine goal. Villa 1-1 Liverpool. The crowds were literally on their feet by now. There were again many few hits and misses by both the teams, but none of them made any major impact.

Then at the 54’ our hopes of entering the finals were almost broken when Delph got another one for his team. It was a great team effort, where Grealish received the ball from Delph and then passed again to Delph, who swiftly stroked past Mignolet with a smooth right foot and into the goal. Villa 2-1 Liverpool. Liverpool players were seen trying their best until the last minute, but failed to get an equalizer. At the final whistle, the scores were Villa 2-1 Liverpool.

Our dreams of entering the finals and giving an amazing send-off to our captain were squashed terribly. But, I agree that Aston played much better than Liverpool. They were calm, composed and quick, and it worked in their favor.