Key events
Andy Hunter was at Anfield, and his report has landed. Here it is. Thanks for reading this MBM. Enjoy the rest of National Milk Day.
Arne Slot talks to ITV. “First of all, credit to them … they showed their style of play which is a big accomplishment … they were not afraid … a high press … were not afraid to go one v one as well … a big compliment to them … in the end the difference in quality makes a big difference … I think [Rio Ngumoha] did well … there were a few moments when the fans could see why we think he is a talent … pass, can change direction really fast … it’s a nice and special day for him … Trent didn’t have his best game against United and everybody fell over him … but the rest of the season he has been so good for us … I like his performance a lot today … and at Tottenham … I like the reaction of the fans at Tottenham and today as well.”
Jayden Danns, who has now scored three FA Cup goals, speaks to ITV. “Obviously delighted to get my goal … don’t know what it is but I’m buzzing … I’ve been out for a while, five months … coming back, first-team football is different … work as hard as I can … try to get into the groove … any opportunity sniff a goal out … there’s no frustration from me … I’m young … there’s still a lot more to do … looking forward to it … [Rio Ngumoha] is lightning … so proud of him … Stanley offered a lot … it was a good challenge, I think I did well … hopefully more to come … the manager’s put faith in me and I’m really grateful for the opportunity … hopefully he gives me more.”
An extremely charming interview on ITV with Josh Woods and Shaun Whalley. Both men are smiling warmly, soaking up the atmosphere, enjoying their moment, even if the emotions are bittersweet. Woods up first. “Honestly it was surreal … I was just trying to sum up all the emotions … trying to enjoy it and stay relaxed … the first half I was really nervous … I come out second half relaxed … they’re world-class players and on the counter they’re difficult to stop.”
Did he think his shot that hit the bar was going in? “Maybe in another lifetime! … I just remember hitting it and thinking please, please, please … then I fell over and never seen it … it was just amazing to be out here and I enjoyed every minute!”
Shaun Whalley adds: “I don’t think we were ourselves in the first half … second half we performed a lot better … we could have got back into it, Josh hitting the bar … Donald Love should have scored, shouldn’t he?! [grins] … I wanted the assist! … but it wasn’t to be … it was just an incredible moment for us all … I want it to happen again now!”
A shock was never on the cards. But Stanley did have their chances, Donald Love in particular missing a glorious one from six yards out, Josh Woods hitting the bar. The League Two strugglers gave a good account of themselves, keeping title-chasing Liverpool honest from the first minute until the last. Arne Slot’s side will be delighted with their afternoon’s work, though. A first goal for Federico Chiesa, a pearler and a warm aural hug for Trent Alexander-Arnold, a barnstorming cameo from Jayden Danns, and an impressive debut from 16-year-old Rio Ngumoha. Plus no new injury concerns. Everyone will be happy in their own way.
FULL TIME: Liverpool 4-0 Accrington Stanley
Liverpool go through to the next round as expected. Stanley will be proud of their efforts.
90 min +5: Liverpool knock it around the back as time runs out.
90 min +4: After a bit of stretching, Crellin is good to continue. He’ll make it to the end.
90 min +3: Crellin goes down with a bit of cramp.
90 min +2: Bradley crosses low from the right. Awe sticks a leg out and sends the ball looping towards the top-right corner. It’s dropping in, so Crellin has to palm over the bar. Nothing comes from the corner. A freak own goal would have been harsh on Awe and Accrington Stanley.
90 min +1: The first of five additional minutes goes by without incident.
GOAL! Liverpool 4-0 Accrington Stanley (Chiesa 90)
O’Brien and Tsimikas do-si-do near the centre circle, hands around each other. A fun moment, and a free kick for Liverpool. The ball’s shuttled to Chiesa on the right. He strides towards the box and pearls a low drive across Crellin and into the bottom-left-hand corner. Lovely finish, with a smile to match.
88 min: … as does Whalley, who advances down the right before creaming a shot straight at Kelleher.
87 min: Chiesa really wants that first goal for his new team. He cuts in from the right and, with everyone expecting a curler towards the left-hand side of the goal, swivels and aims for the bottom right. The ball pings off the base of the post and away. He smiles wryly …
86 min: A niche but fun stat courtesy of Seb Hutchinson on ITV: Jayden Danns has become the second player in Liverpool’s history to score his first three goals for the club in the FA Cup. Jason McAteer the first.
84 min: Ben Woods hits a long free kick towards Rawson, who from the edge of the Liverpool box heads harmlessly into the arms of Kelleher.
82 min: Liverpool stroke it around patiently. Meanwhile, milk-float-related guilt will out, and here’s a milky missive from Guilty of North Wembley: “In the early 70s my sister and I (aged 7 and 5 respectively) one day found ourselves waiting in the car in a pub car park while our dad popped in for, I suppose, a swift half (different times etc.) After a while boredom set in and we noticed that there was a milk float parked beside us. We jumped out of dad’s Hillman Imp and into the no-door-having milk float. I cannot recall whether it was myself or my elder, longer legged sister, but one of us started it, but the accelerator and it lurched forward and crashed into the car in front. Horrified, we jumped back into the Imp and prayed. Our dad came out minutes later, got in and we drove off. We never told. I bet that milkman had some explaining to do. Please accept my rather belated apologies dear Milkie, whether you are still servicing the doorsteps of Alperton, or have moved up to that great round in the sky.”
80 min: Chiesa tries to turn provider this time, romping down the middle and feeding Elliott to his right. Elliott’s shot-cum-cross falls just behind Danns, who attempts a fancy backflick that doesn’t come off.
79 min: Quansah powers his way down the middle and finds Chiesa out on the right. Chiesa, desperate for his first Liverpool goal, cuts into the box and tries a curler towards the far corner. The ball’s never getting through a crowded box, though.
78 min: A change apiece. Mooney replaces Walton, while Endo makes way for the 17-year-old midfield prospect Nyoni.
GOAL! Liverpool 3-0 Accrington Stanley (Danns 76)
Liverpool take the sting out of the game with some sterile possession. Then suddenly Danns springs into action. He steals the ball off Love and barrels down the middle, slipping Chiesa clear to his right. Chiesa shoots. Crellin parries, but the ball falls to Danns, who absolutely larrups a shot into the net. That’s superb play from Danns.
74 min: McConnell sprays a lovely ball down the inside-right channel for Chiesa, who enters the box hoping to shoot. Ben Woods forces him to a tighter angle, and Crellin turns the ball around for a corner. Nothing comes of that.
73 min: Nothing comes of the Stanley corner.
72 min: Ngumoha can’t beat his man down the left and ships possession. O’Brien advances and wins a corner. Before it can be taken, Ngumoha makes way for Danns. He’s sent on his way with a lovely ovation. He’s played well and showcased so much promise.
71 min: Coyle larrups a long ball forward. Kelleher claims on the edge of the box with Whalley lurking.
69 min: Rawson clears Tsimikas’s corner. Chiesa has been busy, but otherwise, Liverpool aren’t threatening much in this second half.
68 min: Chiesa drops deep and releases Nunez down the inside-right channel. Nunez enters the box and shoots, but his effort is blocked well by Rawson and deflected out for a corner.
66 min: Stanley are going for it now. Whalley wins a corner down the right. It falls to Henderson on the edge of the box. He shanks his shot woefully. Another decent chance goes by. This is impressive stuff from the League Two side.
65 min: Ben Woods wins a corner off Bradley down the left. From the set piece, Woods plays short to Whalley, who crosses long. Love rises six yards out, only to send a free header over the bar. It was surely easier to score. That would have put the cat among the pigeons.
63 min: Josh Woods and Martin are replaced by Conneely and O’Brien.
62 min: A long pass down the middle nearly releases Walton, but the offside flag goes up. Quansah had the situation covered anyway.
60 min: Elliott is back up but walking gingerly. Going to continue, though, by the looks of it. Meanwhile Liverpool make a double change, McConnell and Bradley coming on for Morton and Alexander-Arnold. Warm applause for Trent as he departs. So much for his supposed falling out of favour.
58 min: Henderson extends a leg to challenge for a loose ball and stands on Elliott’s instep. That’s going to hurt. Elliott in a lot of pain, and Henderson in the book.
57 min: Josh Woods busies himself down the right and wins a corner. It’s sent long to Woods himself. He heads goalwards from the left-hand corner of the six-yard box. Jota is forced to turn it around the post for another corner. This one’s played short, and Woods drives his way in from the left, sending a rising effort crashing off the crossbar! What a fine goal that would have been.
55 min: Some glorious one-touch football by Liverpool, involving Nunez, Chiesa and Elliot, flicking their way down the inside-right channel. Alexander-Arnold is released into the box, but he faces a tight angle and can’t get a proper shot away. That would have been a very pretty goal.
53 min: Martin has the opportunity to free Whalley down the inside-right channel, but overcooks the pass. Half a chance for Stanley there.
51 min: Chiesa probes down the right and reaches the byline, stop-starting to make room before delivering his dinked cross. Nobody in red attacks an inviting ball.
49 min: Nunez is fine to continue. When play restarts, Ben Woods finds a small pocket of space inside the Liverpool box on the left. He hammers a low curling shot goalwards, but the ball can’t make its way through a crowded box.
47 min: Rawson stood on Nunez’s foot while clearing that corner. No VAR, though it surely wouldn’t have been a penalty anyway. But that’s a sore one, and the big striker needs some treatment. Meanwhile here’s Rob Moore on “the fading of milkmen as a profession … I believe there should be a sizeable crop of people in their late 20s with dairy delivery in their DNA on Craggy Island. Perhaps Pat Mustard was a more selfless hero than we think.”
46 min: Within 30 seconds of the restart, Nunez forces a save from Crellin and Chiesa sees a snapshot deflected into the side netting. Nothing comes of the resulting corner. But what an introduction that would have been.
Liverpool get the second half started. They’ve made one change, swapping out Szoboszlai for Chiesa. Stanley have replaced Hunter and Khumbeni with Coyle and Henderson.
Half-time milk delivery. “When I was growing up, our milkman was called Derek,” begins Tim Woods. “He whistled every day and always had a smile. When asked about it once, he replied (in a thick West Country accent for full effect): ‘I just like deliverin’ milk.’ Oh, and the silver tops shot up when the milk froze and the birds picked at the cream at the top. Simpler times. Or maybe they weren’t, I can’t really remember.”
“The cream may well rise to the (gold) top, but it’s then pecked by magpies, robins, canaries, owls, bluebirds and any other avian species which happen to be around,” writes Richard Hirst. “Liverpool had better be worried about who they draw in the next round.” Indeed. Cardiff already through, as well. Beaks being sharpened in anticipation.
“I can attest to the fact that you can hit 50 mph in a milk float with a suitably steep incline,” adds Neil Palmer. “Although I wouldn’t like to mention what happens to the crates of empties on the back.”
Half-time advertising break. Nice cold, ice cold moves.
HALF TIME: Liverpool 2-0 Accrington Stanley
The scoreline is justified by the amount of possession Liverpool have enjoyed. But Stanley have given a good account of themselves.
GOAL! Liverpool 2-0 Accrington Stanley (Alexander-Arnold 45)
Redemption for Trent! He picks up possession to the right of the Stanley D and pearls a rising shot into the top-left corner. Crellin, at full stretch, has no chance whatsoever. Alexander-Arnold opens his arms to receive the acclaim and smiles warmly. Thing about milk is, the cream always rises to the top.
Photograph: Phil Noble/Reuters
44 min: Anyway, milk. “Judging by your preamble the suggestion is ‘milkmen’ could be extinct,” begins Alec Campbell. “They might well be in some areas. However milk delivery in glass bottles is available in lots of places. We have glass bottled milk delivered three times a week. As well as being pioneers of electric transport and recycling they now even have websites. Certainly beats dragging it from the supermarket, plus it might help support more sustainable local businesses. Here’s an example. There will be more.”
42 min: Stanley clear the corner, and now it’s their turn to counter from a set piece! Hunter starts on a dribble into Liverpool territory, with the hosts light at the back. Morton does extremely well to recover and extend a leg to poke the ball away from Hunter. For a split second there, Liverpool were exposed.
41 min: Jota dribbles down the left and feeds Nunez, who takes a snapshot that’s deflected over for a corner. Tsimikas to take from the left.
40 min: Morton has a dig from distance. The ball flies into the Anfield Road end. “It’s worth pointing out that Shaun Whalley has some good karma due his way this afternoon, following his last trip to Anfield,” writes Adam Berry. “Many remember the Mighty Shrews coming from 2-0 down to clinch a draw with Klopp’s title-bound side in 2020, but few remember the replay where poor Shaun was robbed by a VAR call that went back three phases of play to desperately find a reason to disallow the goal (yes, I’m still bitter). Shrewsbury subsequently conceded an own goal to lose 1-0, and be denied a fifth-round tie at Chelsea. Here’s hoping his luck changes today!”
39 min: Awe diddles Nunez with a graceful Cruyff Turn. Nominative determinism in full effect.
37 min: Jota scampers down the middle and dinks the ball forward for Morton, who mistimes his run slightly. Instead of shooting from the edge of the box, he can only hook right for Elliott. Now the shot comes. But it’s an easy snaffle for Crellin.
35 min: Stanley haven’t been rocked by the goal, and continue to hold their shape and nerve. On the whole, they’re defending – and playing – well. “After all the unmerited flak he got against Man Utd, nice to see Trent provide the killer pass for Liverpool’s superb counter-attacking goal,” writes Colum Fordham. “Ngumoha has impressed thus far. Fast, pretty technical young winger. Obviously drinks milk as prescribed by Ian Rush.”
