Dreams of the quadruple still alive for Liverpool
Liverpool’s dreams of a historic quadruple trophy haul remains on track after they beat Manchester City last Saturday (Apr 16) to progress to the FA Cup final.
In a repeat of February’s League Cup final which the Reds won, they will face Chel
sea in the May 14 showdown after Thomas Tuchel’s team defeated Crystal Palace in the second semi-final on Sunday to advance to their fifth FA Cup final in the last six years.
Liverpool started the game
in scintillating fashion, dominating the game and racing to a 3-0 first-half lead courtesy of Ibrahima Konate’s opening
goal and a Sadio Mane brace. City fought back in the second
half with goals from Jack Grealish and Bernardo Silva but it was too little too late.
Reds boss Jurgen Klopp hailed the performance among
the finest of his tenure: “Absolutely proud, incredible. The first half was one of the best we ever played. We did all the right stuff, we scored in the right moments. We were outstanding. I loved each second of it.”
Liverpool are embroiled in
a fierce title fight with City, who, at time of press, are one point clear of Klopp’s men at the top of the Premier League with seven games left. They could also face one another in
the Champions League Final.
However, Klopp insists the fixture congestion caused by their progress to another final will make the quadruple harder to achieve.
“The quadruple talk I can’t
believe it. Qualifying for this final makes the quadruple even more difficult,” he said. “I don’t think we have a full free week before the last matchday. But we beat the strongest team in the world and that’s a pretty special moment.”
Goals from Ruben LoftusCheek
and Mason Mount were enough for Chelsea to book their place in the final where they will be looking to avenge
the League Cup final loss. “We will be well prepared
because we play against one of
the best teams in the world,” said Tuchel.
“They are in outstanding form. It will be another hard fight. We will try to make it hard for them. It is unbelievably difficult to beat them. But that is what a cup final is about. We need everything at the top level.”
Meanwhile, Arsenal and Tottenham both slipped up in the Premier League as Cristiano Ronaldo’s hat-trick against Norwich in a 3-2 win saw the Red Devils reignite their top-four finish hopes.
Spurs were beaten at home
by Brighton 1-0, while the Gunners lost 0-1 at Southampton to slump to a third consecutive loss.
Ronaldo’s 50th club hattrick moved United above Arsenal into fifth on goal difference, three points behind Tottenham. United host Arsenal in a crunch Premier League game tomorrow (Apr 23).