The often maligned and undervalued Cup tournaments were created to provide matches like the one that Manchester United and Liverpool gave this Sunday to all who had the privilege of watching it. There is no League in the world that can offer in such a condensed and feverish way such a carousel of football deaths and resurrections, of theatrical blows and fortune, or decisions about the time. Everything is in that Cup that is played in a match, the kill Kill what the Brazilians call it. Without the option of replay, perished in the quarterfinals due to the tight schedule, everything was decided at Old Trafford after extra time, two unforgettable hours of football that ended with the victory (4-3) of Manchester United, which is a worse team than Liverpool, but once again he showed that football is played with more than just the feet or the head. It is also played with the soul.
Fifteen minutes after so much tremor, and as is tradition, the Cup draw was held in the calm of the British television studios with the rights to broadcast the tournament. Of the 732 teams that entered the fray in the 143rd edition of the oldest tournament in the world, only four remain. One of them, Coventry, plays in the second division and will meet in the semi-finals against Manchester United. The other duel will be between Chelsea and the defending champion, Manchester City. The matches, as the canons dictate, will be held at Wembley on April 20 and 21.
While waiting for new adventures, the echoes of what happened at Old Trafford will resonate for some time. Liverpool would have won the tie if it weren’t Liverpool. Of course then I still wouldn’t have had a choice. Klopp’s boys, dressed in that green and white jacket that recalls the one the team wore in the mid-nineties, came back from a game that was defined at the beginning for United by a goal from the arriving McTominay. It was a desperate call for Liverpool, who rebuilt themselves and scored three goals in the last ten minutes of the first half. The first, Japanese midfielder Endo, was disallowed due to Salah’s offside. But there was no fault with the shots that MacAllister and the Egyptian striker scored.
Liverpool dressed in their usual clothes, went to overtake their rival to the door of the dugout, stole the ball from him and stripped him naked. He shook Manchester United, who gritted their teeth not to leave the game and survived attacks that would have knocked anyone out. With an advantage on the scoreboard, Liverpool obviously did not defend themselves. He tightened the screws and went for the third goal. Onana, excellent, denied it to Darwin Núñez. United did a lot by chasing the ball while the coaches opened the carousel of changes. Salah, who is believed to be in poor physical condition, left the game. So did the industrious Mainoo, teenage pillar of the local midfield. Nothing could be played without fresh legs that were integrated into a game without reins or any vocation to hold them.
There was no hope for United in an epilogue that seemed controlled by the uncontrolled Liverpool. Until the highly criticized Brazilian winger Antony turned like a dancer in the area and nailed the equalizer into the net. Almost immediately Elliot hit the post for Liverpool, but Old Trafford had already come to a boil and, for the first time, Liverpool was seen to pale, which could have remained in the mold if Rashford had resolved a handball in the last option of the match. by hand against goalkeeper Kelleher who went inches from the post.
What is common in contemporary football overtime is that the pace is lowered between fatigue and concerns about the result. None of that happened at Old Trafford. Elliot was right to put Liverpool ahead halfway through that coda, but Rashford equalized in the 112th minute and opened an amazing finale in which a corner in favor of Liverpool led to a counter and a two for one and goalkeeper that the young Ivorian Amad Diallo, an unexpected guest at the party, solved it with a send placed to the inside of the post furthest from the goal defended by Kelleher. The ball touched him and entered behind the goal line between suspense and noise.
Also in the tie in which Wolverhampton received Coventry, several wonders happened. The visitors, a mid-table team in the second division, had the game won until a final stretch in which the Wolves came back with a second goal from the Galician Hugo Bueno just before starting an extension in which Coventry scored in the seventh and the tenth and final minute and took an epic victory (2-3).
The other Championship team in contention, Leicester, also defended their chances fiercely. He equalized Chelsea’s two-goal lead at Stamford Bridge. Marc Cucurella opened the scoring, Palmer increased the lead before the break and Leicester equalized after the break thanks among others to Disasi, who gave them a surreal own goal. In the end everything was resolved (4-2) in stoppage time with two goals from Chukwuemeka and Madueke when Leicester defended itself with a man less and the stands booed both the local players and coach Pochettino.
Manchester City had less trouble to leave Newcastle behind (2-0) with two goals from Bernardo Silva who already had the tie decided shortly after half an hour. That was exactly how long Liverpool fans spent at Old Trafford chanting Jürgen Klopp’s name after the defeat.
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