Swansea City looked to be in the process of pulling off a big League Cup upset at Anfield until Mario Balotelli entered for Liverpool. He found the back of the net for the first time in a domestic competition for his new club before a fortunate Swans red card helped Liverpool to find 95th minute winner in their 2-1 triumph.
Liverpool vs. Swansea: Final score 2-1, Dejan Lovren wins it late
The Swans led late into the first half. Then Mario Balotelli and some unfortunate refereeing struck.
Gareth Copley
There weren't many chances for either team in the first half, and Swansea were particularly poor. Lazar Markovic had a brilliant opportunity in the 28th minute, but badly shanked his attempt after Jordan Henderson played him in. Fabio Borini looked like he might have found the back of the net from the edge of the box in the 34th minute, but Gerhard Tremmel came up with a brilliant stop.
Both sides produced more of the same until the 65th minute, when a couple lucky bounces set up a chance for Marvin Emnes. His finish was all skill, however, and he directed a stunning volley past Brad Jones from 12 yards to put Swansea ahead.
In response, Liverpool brought on Balotelli, who made a huge impact less than 10 minutes after entering the match. He got on the end of a cross by Fabio Borini in the 86th minute, poking in the equalizer and eliciting a booming response from the Anfield crowd.
Extra time looked to be in store until the 92nd minute, when Federico Fernandez was shown a straight red card for a tackle on Coutinho. The referee’s decision to show red was a curious one -- the challenge wasn’t particularly late, wasn’t high, wasn’t likely to cause injury to Coutinho and didn’t deny him a clear goal-scoring opportunity.
While the ensuing free kick didn't lead directly to the goal, Swansea's lack of bodies in defense was almost certainly a contributing factor in their demise. In the 95th minute, Dejan Lovren rose to meet a free kick by Coutinho and hit a header into the ground that bounced up and past Tremmel to win the match for Liverpool.
Liverpool: Jones, Johnson, Lovren, Toure, Manquillo, Lucas, Henderson, Borini, Coutinho, Markovic (Lallana 70’) Lambert (Balotelli 79’)
Goals: Balotelli (86’), Lovren (90’)
Swansea: Tremmell, Taylor, Williams, Fernandez, Rangel, Fulton (Carroll 88’), Shelvey, Montero, Emnes, Dyer (Routledge 67’), Gomis (Bony 81’)
Goals: Emnes (65’)
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