In the cold light of day I thought we were a little disappointing. I was convinced we were about to win it on penalties, simply because just like when we won against AC Milan, West Ham, Birmingam and Cardiff, it looked like it was our day.
The truth is if we're honest that we had ridden if not a tidal wave of good fortune to draw the game it was certainly a pretty large ripple. Sterling missed two chances one of which was practically an open goal, they had to my mind an absolute cast iron penalty turned down, while on numerous other occasions a combo of Mignolet and pure luck kept us level. At the other end we had an Origi header to show for our endeavours, and to mymind were second best all through. Speaking to guys in the pub after (where we get a huge cross section of sensible fans from all teams) everyone I spoke to was to a lesser or greater extent of the same opinion.
There were positives, Lucas being the best player on either team chief amongst them. Clyde had another fine match and Coutinho had his moments, while Toure again did little wrong. Mignolet did well after his customary howler (which doesn't make up for it), while Milner was as usual our best midfielder, then also an infinitely better left back than the truly hapless Moreno.
Up top though we were toothless, with once again our top goalscorer (incredibly he still is) not getting any minutes. Firmino has obvious ability but bugger me he's annoying, like Luis Garcia without the good bits to keep you interested. I thought he was awful yesterday, while Sturridge looks to me only sufficiently fit to be able to play for an hour or so right now. We were physically dominated throughout the two hours of play up there, and even Origi when he came on transformed us somewhat, showing that variation is sometimes the spice of an attack.
All in all in a match which meant massively more to us than them (or at least it ought to have), I was left feeling a little flat. I wouldn't have given a f*** about the performance had we won on penalties (just like I didn't in those previous matches) but given we didn't, I may as well at least be honest about it. The much better team on the day won, simple as that.
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