Has Liverpool missed their chance to progress in League Cup?

Chelsea keeper Thibaut Courtois pulled-off a number of saves as the Blues drew 1-1 with Liverpool in the Capital One Cup semi-final first leg

Liverpool and Chelsea drew 1-1 last night in the first leg of their Capital One Cup semi-final. In the second half the Reds had enough chances to claim a win, with a big second leg at Stamford Bridge still to come.

Chelsea opened the scoring on 18 minutes through an Eden Hazard penalty, before youngster Raheem Sterling struck for the Reds just before the hour mark.

Following that equaliser Liverpool had a number of chances to score a second crucial goal and had a total of 19 shots on goal, of which seven were on target.

Luck

A combination of Chelsea’s Thibaut Courtois and his goal kept Brendan Rodgers men at bay. The Belgian international was in fine form pulling of a string of fine saves in the Chelsea goal and keeping the Blues on level terms.

Courtois admitted after the game that Chelsea were slightly luck and sometimes a keeper needs his goal to come to his rescue, referring to Steven Gerrard’s effort that hit his post.

The former-Atletico Madrid loanee showed last night why he is being preferred as first choice to Petr Cech, as he was simply outstanding. Top teams tend to have top keepers and Chelsea definitely have one of those.

Change

The first-half Liverpool were stifled and only really tested Courtois once through a long-range effort from Liverpool captain Steven Gerrard. The rest of the efforts on goal were long-range efforts, that failed to hit the target.

The second half was a different story though as Reds boss Rodgers tweaked his tactics slightly and they suddenly looked more dangerous, with Sterling managing to throw off the shackles of John Obi Mikel and Nemanja Matic.

The tweak to his team made the Reds actually look like an attacking force, unlike in the first half. Chelsea looked very nervous and could count themselves lucky that they did not leave Merseyside on the end of a defeat.

Decent

Chelsea came into this game on the back of a 5-0 mauling of Swansea at the Liberty Stadium on Saturday. They would have been full of confidence and in high spirits after moving five points clear at the top of the Premier League table.

However, Liverpool have found form in recent weeks and have now suffered just one defeat in their last 15 games in all competitions.

The draw at Anfield may well turn out to be a decent result for Jose Mourinho’s team, especially with the second leg to come at Stamford Bridge, were Chelsea will be major favourites to claim victory.

Sometimes it is better to be lucky than good and in the half hour of last night’s game Chelsea were definitely the former.

Missed

Everybody connected with Liverpool may look at second half and the way that they played as a missed opportunity to grab a lead to take to Stamford Bridge.

The second leg at Stamford Bridge will be a very different game. The Blues have the best home record in the top-flight and have won all their home games in the Premier League this season. It will certainly be a difficult task for Rodgers and his team to go to southwest London and emerge with a win.

A Liverpool win on Chelsea soil looks unlikely, especially after the way that the Blues have played at home this season, as they are a winning machine. However, Liverpool have won at Chelsea in the past against the odds and if they play like they did in the last half an hour of this game they will have a chance.

For me though everybody connected with the Reds may well be thinking what might have been if they could have forced a second goal at Anfield? Whatever happens Liverpool looked to have rediscovered their confidence and who knows they may just pull off the result needed to make it to the final.

Has Liverpool missed their chance to progress in Capital One Cup?