The last thing we needed was another match on the fixture list, but Liverpool will be heading to the Midlands Lancashire in ten days time after failing to create enough — or capitalizing on what they did — as a dogged Bolton Wanderers side held on to force a replay at the Macron Stadium.
With the second leg of the League Cup semi-final coming up on Tuesday, Reds boss Brendan Rodgers made a handful of changes to the side that held Chelsea at Anfield earlier in the week and it certainly showed with his disjointed at the worst of times and just short on luck at the best of them. Good chances fell to Jordan Henderson, Philippe Coutinho and Fabio Borini, but Trotters ‘keeper Adam Bogdan was more than up to the task as a string of fine saves and near misses kept the hosts frustrated throughout.
Although the visitors put in a defensive performance to be proud of, the rest was very much a product of our own making. Too often than not it was a case of a pass being hit just a little too hard or a little too soft or a little too late or a little too early as our build-up play broke down in the final third. A veritable wall of White behind the ball for much of the match didn’t help of course, but at this level you have to be able to find holes and gaps — something we did on occasion, but not nearly with the frequency one would expect or with enough quality in the end product.
At the end of the day, there’s not much more to say really; while we kept Neil Lennon’s side to a minimum amount of chances, the Northern Irishman will certainly be the happier of the two managers when all is said and done. The veteran attacking pair of Emile Heskey and Eidur Gudjohnsen played their roles well, defender Matt Mills was lucky not to pick up a second yellow card when he tripped up the on-rushing Lazar Markovic on the edge of the area and former Reds midfielder Jay Spearing will tip his hat to referee Kevin Friend for not pointing to the spot after his nudge sent Henderson tumbling over in the box.
Contentious, sure, but those are the breaks.
When it comes to the early rounds of the Cup, you’re damned if you do and you’re damned if you don’t and Rodgers will get a little bit of both in the coming days. A decent run out for the likes of Jose Enrique, Javier Manquillo and Joe Allen will do them some good with the three of them likely to feature heavily when the Europa League resumes in a few weeks time, but the upset in our structure was plain to see without Lucas — who did make a second half appearance — keeping things ticking along and Steven Gerrard, who missed out completely, pulling the strings in the middle.
To be fair, we’re alive to fight another day. When the fixture pile-up really starts to take its toll then we can debate whether or not this is a good thing, but there’s no question that at this late hour Chelsea would be more than happy to swap places with us. When you put it that way, letting a Championship side force a replay doesn’t look quite as bad anymore…
–Steven
