January 05, 2004

FA Cup Round 3 - Yeovil 0 Liverpool 2 For 45 minutes, Yeovil took the game to Liverpool and what little chances were created went the way of the home side. Jerzy Dudek was forced to fist clear from a Nick Crittenden free-kick before producing a stunning one-handed save to keep out Darren Williams' stinging drive. And Darren Way's hooked volley over the crossbar followed a fine exchange of passes in a flowing build-up of one-touch football from the home team. A touch of class from the side supposedly a class below. Liverpool's chances were embarrassingly rare and it took Gerard Houllier's side 51 minutes to even force a corner. El-Hadji Diouf shot wide just before half-time after Vladimir Smicer had found room to run into down the Liverpool right and cut the ball back. Diouf's frustration and desperation to force an opening earned him a first-half booking for a clear dive in the Yeovil penalty area. But Yeovil could have exacted a more telling punishment as they started the second half the way they had begun the first. Liverpool, apparently unaffected by any half-time criticism from Houllier, remained ponderous as Yeovil snapped and challenge down the left. And when a low cross fell to the feet of Nick Gall, it took a last-ditch challenge from Smicer to deny the striker an opening goal. That finally signalled a response from the visitors and Smicer was unlucky to see a scuffed shot bounce back off a post with goalkeeper Chris Weale beaten midway through the second half. But Heskey, a second-half replacement for Florent Sinama Pongolle, ensured there was to be no shock this time for a club that claimed 20 league scalps in the FA Cup during their non-league days. It took an incisive combination of passing to open the home side up, Murphy and Kewell setting Heskey up for a neat finish. Seven minutes later, Kewell fell under an innocuous challenge from giant defender Rodriguez and Murphy made sure of Liverpool's safe passage with an unstoppable penalty. source: BBC sport

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