FA Cup review: Liverpool score five to beat Oldham

League One side Oldham threatened to cause a major upset when they played Liverpool at their famous Anfield Stadium in the FA Cup third round tie. Robbie Simpson scored with a long-range shot to give the Latic a stunning 1-0 lead after 28 minutes. The goal shocked the home team and gave them a wake-up call that spurred them into action. The Reds were level within two minutes when a deflection by Craig Bellamy leveled the score. Captain Steven Gerrard scored a penalty on the stroke of half-time to give the hosts a 2-1 lead which calmed their nerves.

Second-half goals from Jonjo Shelvey, Andy Carroll and Stewart Downing gave Liverpool a comfortable victory, although the final score of 5-1 did somewhat flatter the home side as the League One visitors had ensured It was an entertaining and absorbing game. Liverpool manager Kenny Dalglish had made eight changes to the squad that lost 3-0 at Manchester City earlier this week, but his squad still had eight full internationals.

Oldham have beaten Manchester City and Everton in the FA Cup in recent years and had they shown a better finishing touch in front of goal and had a bit more luck, they could have doomed Liverpool to an early exit from the competition. of the Cup this season. The visitors were quick to come out of the blocks and could easily have scored three goals in the first twenty minutes. Oldham’s top scorer Shefki Kuqi was unlucky when his shot went into the side of the net, while Luca Scapuzzi was well placed but fired wide and Tom Adeyemi missed but headed the ball over the crossbar. Simpson finally broke the deadlock with his spectacular long-range effort giving the visitors a well-deserved lead.

Oldham’s joy was short-lived as Craig Bellamy deflected Jonjo Shelvey’s shot towards goal and then Gerrard scored a penalty after Maxi Rodríguez was fouled. The visitors started the second half with the same illusion that they had started the first, and threatened to tie on more than one occasion. Liverpool finally took control of the game when Shelvey scored in the 69th minute and late goals worth £35 million. Andy Carroll scored his first goal at Anfield this season and Stuart Downing’s late stoppage-time goal was the first he’d netted for the club, giving a misleading appearance to the result that shouldn’t undermine Oldham’s performance in the match. night, which was a credit to lower league football.