Luis Suarez and http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Stewart-Downing-c34221 scored for Liverpool as the Reds beat Stoke City in the FA Cup quarterfinal clash at Anfield.
Suarez put Liverpool ahead after 22 minutes, but the lead was cancelled out four minutes later when Stoke’s striker Peter Crouch headed one in, against his former club. Downing then grabbed the winner in the 57th minute to send the Reds through
to the next round.
The victory for Liverpool keeps them in the hunt for a cup double. Earlier, the team won the Carling Cup, beating Cardiff City in the final on a penalty shoot-out.
Liverpool, who beat http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Jordan-Henderson-c19102.
The Anfield side put the pressure right from the start, with Rodriguez coming close to scoring in the 3rd minute from a http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Steven-Gerrard-c34196 free kick. However the Argentine was unable to keep his effort on target as his header was just wide of the
post.
However, Liverpool’s 20 million pound striker, Suarez who earlier said he wanted to stay at Anfield, put the home side ahead in the 23rd minute after exchanging a brilliant one-two with Maxi Rodriguez and blasted the ball into the bottom corner
past Stoke City’s goalie, http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Thomas-Sørensen-c34994.
The lead proved to be short lived though, as the lanky Potters striker http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Peter-Crouch-c29741, a former Liverpool player, restored parity within four minutes as he headed home from a controversial corner.
The corner was awarded to Stoke, when the ball had taken a deflection of http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Ryan-Shawcross-c31996 before crossing the goal line and the referee wrongly adjudicated it as a corner.
However, Stoke made the most of the set piece. Crouch rose up to meet Matthew Etherington’s corner and his strong header was too much for http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Pepe-Reina-c29672 to keep out.
Stoke then had the opportunity to go ahead, when http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Jonathan-c18993 Walters outpaced Martin Skrtel to get inside the box, but his effort was well off target.
During the second half, Liverpool turned the heat on Stoke City and started to dominate the proceedings with the home side enjoying a considerable percentage of possession. Suarez came close to reclaiming http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Liverpool-c39809’s lead, when he got at the end of a Gerrard
free kick but his header went wide of the post.
However, the constant pressure paid dividends for the Reds as Downing’s left footed shot in the 58th minute, went flying into the back of the net after he created a good move from the right.
After that, the Liverpool’s defence stood firm and the Potters never really threatened to grab the equalizer as Liverpool continued to dominate the play.
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