Villa stuns liverpool, reaches fa cup final

London - Fabian Delph destroyed Steven
Gerrard's hopes of a fairytale Liverpool send-
off by scoring the winner as Aston Villa
reached the FA Cup final with a 2-1 victory
on Sunday.
Liverpool captain Gerrard, who turns 35 on
the day of the final, had hoped to bring down
the curtain on his Anfield career with a third
FA Cup winner's medal, but instead it is Tim
Sherwood's Villa who will tackle holders
Arsenal on May 30.
Philippe Coutinho gave Liverpool the lead at
Wembley with a deflected finish in the 30th
minute, but in-form Villa striker Christian
Benteke equalised six minutes later before
Delph snaffled a 54th-minute winner.
"I'm delighted. We were underdogs, but we
believed we could win it," Sherwood told BT
Sport.
"The final will be a great occasion. You can't
win this cup with an easy route. If you win it,
you have to beat the best, and Arsenal are
right
It is 15 years since Villa last reached an FA
Cup final and 58 years since they achieved
the last of their seven successes in the
tournament, but victory was just reward for a
side who have been transformed since
Sherwood succeeded Paul Lambert as
manager on Valentine's Day.
Liverpool, without a trophy since Brendan
Rodgers became manager in 2012, could
have few complaints about the outcome.
And with seven points now separating them
from the Champions League places in the
Premier League, Gerrard's farewell before he
joins the Los Angeles Galaxy would appear to
be the last significant occasion on their
calendar this season.
"You can always lose a game, but you hope
you play well and give yourselves an
opportunity. But we were second-best,"
Rodgers said.
"We looked as if the occasion got to us.
Sometimes you can want to win too much."
Villa's tactic of looking to hit Benteke at the
earliest opportunity quickly forced Liverpool
back and Simon Mignolet was forced to tip
over a shot from Charles N'Zogbia, who was
deputising for the injured Gabriel Agbonlahor.
Mid-way through the first half, both teams
made changes that contributed to the opening
goal, with Jores Okore replacing the injured
Nathan Baker at the back for Villa and
Liverpool reverting to a 4-2-3-1 formation.
Minutes later, Okore's failure to deal with
Jordan Henderson's tame square pass
enabled Raheem Sterling to roll the ball into
the path of the onrushing Coutinho, who stole
into the box and scored via a deflection off
Okore's knee.
Rodgers's tactical switch had brought
immediate dividends, but his side's lead
would not last long.
With Liverpool still readjusting to the new
system, Delph raided into space down Villa's
left and cut the ball back for Benteke to steer
home his ninth goal in seven games.

Liverpool's play was crying out for an
attacking focal point and at half-time
Rodgers sent on Mario Balotelli for Lazar
Markovic, which saw Gerrard repositioned in
front of the back four in another re-shuffle.
But it was Villa's football that bristled with
attacking intent and nine minutes into the
second half they went in front with a neatly
worked goal.
Benteke cantered down the left flank and
back-heeled the ball to Jack Grealish, Villa's
apparently nerveless 19-year-old playmaker,
who rolled a pass into the box for Delph, and
the England man stepped inside Dejan Lovren
before scoring with his right foot.
It should have been 3-1 just after the hour,
but when the ball rolled into Kieran
Richardson's path after Lovren had slid in to
thwart Grealish, the former Manchester
United man miscued his shot.
Gerrard has made a habit of producing
Hollywood endings, but this time the
occasion proved beyond him, with his goal-
bound header cleared off the line by
Richardson four minutes from time.
Liverpool might yet have snatched an
equaliser, but Balotelli saw a goal ruled out
for a marginal offside call and with that,
Gerrard's dream evaporated.
- AFP