Suarez Brace At Britannia

Suarez celebrates...
Liverpool have booked their place in the quarter finals of the League Cup after Luis Suarez put two goals in the Stoke net. Manager Kenny Dalglish was visibly delighted at the result and clearly the Reds are taking this competition very seriously.

The Liverpool team saw a lot of changes from the eleven that started against Norwich but the likes of Reina, Carragher and Suarez still made the start. Tony Pulis also fielded a strong side in what was set to be a good battle.

The home side were first on the score sheet but it took nearly 45 minutes for either side to score. Liverpool had a fair few chances coming from the strike partnership of Suarez and Carroll, particularly when the pair had shots in succession. Carroll was denied by Sorensen and Suarez couldn't quite get his effort on target after the rebound.

Stoke however took their chance via Kenwyne Jones. A poor mistake from Coates, despite his best efforts to get back and redeem himself meant Walters was able to whip a cross in. Jones connected and put the header past Pepe Reina to put Stoke ahead.

Half time saw Liverpool take the booked Jamie Carragher off and replace him with Martin Skrtel. Stoke made no changes.

It didn't take long after the restart for Liverpool to find their equaliser, and what a goal it was!

Luis Suarez received the ball outside of the area and nutmegged Shotton. Taking the ball just inside the box, the Uruguayan hits it first time and the curling effort sweeps it's way round Sorensen and into the net at the far post. A truly sublime goal.

Stoke were unable to find another goal before the number 7 was at it again. The clock on 83 minutes, Liverpool were searching for a winner and Suarez was the man.

A beautiful ball from Jordan Henderson was met by Suarez, his header went straight past Sorensen and into the back of the net. Celebrations were led by Kenny Dalglish i think, his face was a picture! Brilliant to see.

Stoke brought on Peter Crouch in the dying minutes, much to the dismay of a vociferous Stoke crowd. Some tentative moments with Liverpool having to deal with corners and throw ins though were seen out and the Reds were into the quarter finals!

There were some decisions within the game that Tony Pulis wasn't very happy about post match, which is a shame really because i like Pulis, he's one of few managers i respect and i feel he was just being a bit of a sore loser last night. I think the referee made the right decisions on the incidents Pulis brought up and to be honest, Suarez was the difference between the two sides and i still feel whatever the referee did during that game, Suarez was out for revenge after the loss earlier in the season.

The draw for the next round is on Saturday and the 7 other sides joining Liverpool are Manchester City, Manchester United, Chelsea, Blackburn, Cardiff, Crystal Palace and Arsenal.