Chelsea vs Liverpool: The One Where Nil-Nils Are Fun

How Diego Costa celebrates a goal

Familiarity breeds contempt. A sentiment that never seems to ring truer than when Liverpool face Chelsea again and again and again. With the first leg remaining fairly tempered it was bound to bubble over last night — and definitely did. A lot.

After a fairly turgid display from both sides in the bigger and better cup FA Cup this weekend, it was good to see there was some fighting spirit in the players. Quite literally. But it wasn’t all Diego Costa’s crimes* against nature and the never-ending farewell tour of Saint Steven. Some actual football snuck in here and there.

Most surprisingly was the performance of, unrecognised by his own manager, Simon Mignolet. Some people *cough* presumed if you shot anywhere in and around his area that the goals would come flooding in. They. Did. Not. Mignolet produced some fine saves in the absence of injured Brad Jones and could just see out the season in his smashing purple garb.
 At the other end of the pitch was the only player Brendan Rodgers deemed worthy to heap praise on - Thibaut Courtois, deservedly so. Although I’d personally still like to see Petr Cech get a lot more games (that look a lot less like the Bradford one), Courtois earned his cup keeper place. He was brilliant over both legs of this semi-final as he was surprisingly forced into making actual saves by actual Liverpool. Something not too many could have been expecting with the likes of Lambert coming off the bench.

Was it a surprise to anyone that it was Branislav Ivanovic who popped up for the winner? Probably not. And if it was, you should really have a sit and think. He’s had previous in these situations (see Manchester City and Benfica for recent examples). And he did it all with a boot full of blood! That might be the most Branislav Ivanovic thing ever to happen at Stamford Bridge.

Just a flesh wound

Some actual surprises in Chelsea’s performance came from Brazil (not the Luis, Oscar or Costa variety). Willian ground out some solid defensive work last night. Amid the loss of possession, he did well to consistently win it back. And the introduction of Ramires seemed to be a turning point for Chelsea. There was some concern amidst the support me that there could be an upset on the cards with playmaker extraordinaire, Cesc Fàbregas, making an early exit. But somehow a finally fit Ramires looked to be just what Chelsea needed.

But no one is actually talking about the goal or how the ghost of Benitez’ zonal marking has come to haunt Liverpool. Surprisingly no one has even talked about *that* song crudely interrupting the glorious farewell tour but about a few other incidents.

It wasn't just the song that interrupted the farewell tour, but Gerrard found himself involved in a little tussle with man of the moment, Diego Costa, and wanted to share his inner most thoughts on that very matter. How did he try and share these thoughts? By pushing his head against Costa’s of course. Steven Gerrard seems to be under the impression that osmosis works on thoughts or that a meeting of the minds should be taken quite literally. Either way, it was deemed perfectly acceptable for all watching.

Other things that were definitely acceptable in the eyes of the men in black: Markovic’s forearm to the back of Filipe Luis’ head - triggered by headband envy no doubt. Jordan Henderson’s hand to ball defending. Most of whatever Martin Skrtel got himself involved in. Things that were retrospectively deemed not acceptable: Diego Costa.

There is no denying that Costa ensured his boot met with more than one ankle / shin / body part of your choice last night. There’s a million vines and coffee puns as evidence. He didn’t go out to do actual physical harm to anyone - just to annoy the living bejesus out every player on the pitch and when he was bored with that -- the away support. He should be lauded for getting some noise out of their end.

That aside, Costa did his job, and did it well. Despite not scoring he became a focal point of frustration for Liverpool’s squad who were weary trying to chase him down for 120 minutes. Like the man who was fined £25K today, Costa became a lightening rod that allowed the rest of the team to just do their jobs. Like him or loathe him, no one can deny that Costa ensured every single person watching last night was entertained.


Que Sera Sera, Chelsea are going to Wembley.

jb x

*other crimes are available