Playmaker Philippe Coutinho was Liverpool’s FA Cup saviour again as his solitary goal beat Blackburn 1-0 yesterday to book a Wembley semi-final with Aston Villa.
The Brazil international pulled a last-minute stunner out of the bag to beat Bolton at the second attempt in the fourth round and scored a less spectacular, but arguably far more important, goal with plenty of time to spare in a replay against Blackburn, another Championship side.
Three days ago, in the wake of the crushing 4-1 defeat to Arsenal which put a huge dent in the Reds’ Champions League hopes, Coutinho had claimed: “Winning the cup would save our season”.
And after his side had toiled for 70 minutes he took it upon himself to keep that dream alive with a drilled finish after a swift interchange with Jordan Henderson.
It booked the seven-time winners a 24th FA Cup semi-final with only Arsenal (27), Manchester United (27) and Everton (25) having appeared in more.
The game was far from pretty but with Wembley tantalisingly close it was about getting the job done and Coutinho rose above all others to add the piece of class which did just that.
The goal the game was crying out for came with 20 minutes to go.
Coutinho’s corner failed to clear the first man but the ball came back to the Brazil international who played a quick one-two with Jordan Henderson before drilling an angled low shot through a crowded six-yard box and inside the far post.
Having conceded as many goals (six) in their previous 180 minutes as they had in 12 matches prior to that, an 11th clean sheet in 20 fixtures eventually secured Liverpool’s passage to the cup semi-finals at Wembley on April 19.
However, they were indebted to goalkeeper Simon Mignolet once again who, at the second attempt, held on to counterpart Simon Eastwood’s shot after he had charged upfield for a stoppage-time throw-in.
A top-four place may ultimately prove to be beyond Liverpool – trailing Manchester City by seven points with seven games to go – but a first piece of silverware for Brendan Rodgers would provide some consolation.
“From start to finish, I thought we were brilliant tonight,” Liverpool’s captain on the night Henderson told BT Sport.
“Now we have a tough game against Aston Villa at Wembley, but it gives the club a good lift.”