Swansea City knocked the Capital One Cup holders out of the competition this evening with a shock 3-1 win against Liverpool at Anfield.
A first-half header from Chico Flores gave the visitors a lead, and they looked to have settled it when Nathan Dyer doubled this advantage with 15 minutes left.
Substitute Luis Suarez nodded in Steven Gerrard's free kick to pull his side back into the match soon after, but a Jonathan de Guzman strike in stoppage time put the result beyond doubt.
Swansea reached the League Cup quarter-finals for the first time with the win, and here Sports Mole dissects a miserable day against his former club for Brendan Rodgers.
Match statistics:
Liverpool:
Shots 18
On target 10
Possession 42%
Corners 2
Fouls 7
Swansea:
Shots 16
On target 10
Possession 58%
Corners 4
Fouls 6
Was the result fair?
You'd have to say yes. Swansea had the lion's share of possession despite playing away from home, and you could see that Brendan Rodgers's philosophy lives on at the club. Neither side were spectacular by any means, but Swansea looked more dangerous going forward than Liverpool.
Liverpool's performance
Poor. Yes, they had a second-choice side out, but that side included big-money players like Stewart Downing and Jordan Henderson, as well as experienced campaigners such as Joe Cole and Jamie Carragher. They were toothless up front in the first half and, although the introduction of Steven Gerrard and Suarez livened them up a bit, they still didn't pose too much of a threat to the Swansea goal.
Swansea's performance
Not the best that they have ever played under Michael Laudrup, but after coming to Anfield and walking away with a two-goal win and more possession he can't have too many qualms. He will be particularly happy with the link up play between Pablo Hernandez and Michu up front.
Sports Mole's man of the match
Michu. Or Pablo Hernandez, take your pick. Both were lively all game and produced some slick passing between themselves. At times Liverpool's defence struggled to deal with them. The fact that Liverpool's best player was either Jamie Carragher or Brad Jones tells you everything you need to know.
Biggest gaffe
There is only one winner for this - Stewart Downing's miss. Gerrard fired a shot that was tipped on to the post, with the rebound falling straight to the England international. However, with the goal gaping he could only scuff his shot embarrassingly wide of the post.
Referee performance
One sign of a good referee is that you don't notice him too much, and Lee Probert kept under the radar for most of the match. He didn't have any big decisions to make and kept his cards in his pocket when necessary.
What next?
Liverpool: Liverpool will stay at Anfield for their next game, but things don't get any easier as they host Newcastle United.
Swansea: Things don't get easier for Swansea either as they will host league leaders Chelsea on Saturday.
Barney Corkhill
