Liverpool 2 Manchester City 2

The noises emanating from Anfield in the build-up to Wednesday evening's Carling Cup semi-final second leg indicated that Liverpool were highly motivated for the match.  It was also probably fair to assume that the trophy was accorded higher priority by Liverpool than it was by Manchester City.  This, together with home advantage and a one-goal lead from the first leg, seemed on the surface to give Liverpool a slight but important edge.

Looking at the teams, Liverpool's and City's selections seemed to lack some genuine cutting edge up front, but both possessed ample options on the bench. City went into the game with two holding midfielders, in Barry and De Jong, and only one out-and-out striker. This seemed a little surprising, given the situation in the tie, even allowing for the caution of Roberto Mancini.

Anyway, there was a lively and feisty opening to the proceedings, with lots of midfield jousting.  Liverpool sought to pose some questions early on, and Steven Gerrard's yellow card was symptomatic of their approach. Craig Bellamy was to the fore, but they were lacking the finish, or indeed that final ball.

In the first twenty minutes or so, Manchester City enjoyed some possession, but seldom in areas which constituted a threat to the Liverpool goal.

Liverpool managed to fashion an incisive move around the twenty-four minute mark, but Bellamy was correctly given offside. By this stage, Kenny Dalglish was showing signs of some agitation on the touchline, even though his team was in the ascendancy on the night, and in the tie overall. He clearly realised that the margin between success and failure was still quite meagre.

Sure enough, on thirty-one minutes, Nigel De Jong put City ahead with an absolute beauty of a shot, following some neat build-up work on the left hand side.  Game on, as they say!

That goal seemed to rouse Liverpool from the lethargy into which they had momentarily sunk. As chances were still at a premium, I wondered to myself whether they would introduce Andy Carroll at some point, and go the more direct route. However, this did not occur, and instead the left foot of Stewart Downing began to exert more influence.

When the Liverpool equaliser came, it was by virtue of a contentious penalty award, after Micah Richards was deemed to have handled the ball. It seemed a little harsh, but in fairness Richards did have his hands up, which never helps a defender's cause, and the referee was in very close attendance, enjoying a perfect view of the incident.  Whatever the merits of the award, Steven Gerrard duly converted the spot-kick, and there was some predictable remonstrating with Phil Dowd by the City players after the half-time whistle.

Even though they were behind again on aggregate, City were still very much in this tie, and they made a positive gesture by bringing on Sergio Aguero at the beginning of the second period.

Liverpool maintained their impetus at the start of the second half, and Joe Hart was forced to make several classy saves.  After he superbly denied Martin Skrtel, there was a lovely little moment when Dirk Kuyt gave the goalkeeper a little pat on the gloves, to acknowledge the quality of the save. Proof that chivalry and sportsmanship still exist in the hard-nosed world of professional football!

As the half progressed, more space became available, as Liverpool looked for the clincher, and City strove for a goal of their own. This striving eventually paid off, as the otherwise ineffective Dzeko made it 2-1. 

City's joy was short-lived, however, as not long afterwards Bellamy levelled matters again with a fine goal after a pleasing move.

In trying to force extra-time, City made little headway, and in the end Liverpool were able to hang on relatively comfortably for a 3-2 aggregate triumph.

The auguries for Liverpool were favourable before kick-off, and overall they exhibited more desire, as well as having more incentive, even if they benefited from that controversial penalty decision.  Their joy and relief was reflected in Dalglish's elation at the final whistle.

So a Liverpool versus Cardiff final at Wembley.  The Merseyside team will be strong favourites on paper, but as we all know, football is not played on paper, it is played on grass!