A few quick comments on the game – thought we played brilliantly apart from some dodgy moments in the final third, and a slow start after half-time. Having said that, there were also plenty of good moments in the final third. Indeed, the whole game was played there. Chucho the mad pitbull dog fella even scored from there.

I thought it was a definite, stone-wall 100% penalty for Carsley’s lunge on N’Gog. Nowhere does it say you have to make contact with the man, and while I think N’Gog ‘dived’, if he hadn’t he’d have been fouled anyway. If Carra had done that, I’d say the same. You cannot make sliding tackles in the box and miss the man. It’s rank bad defending.

To quote Andy Gray (heaven forbid), if you go to ground and you don’t win the ball, you’re in trouble.

That was probably the most one-sided game I’ve ever seen, and the most unbelievably out-of-nothing goal I’ve seen Liverpool concede.

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Match stats

Passes

Birmingham: 160 / 101 successful = 63% success rate
Liverpool: 618 / 533 successful = 86% success rate

Shots:

Birmingham: 5
Liverpool: 35

Tackles:

Birmingham: 81 / 38 successful = 46%
Liverpool: 93 / 67 successful = 72%

Interceptions:

Birmingham: 29
Liverpool: 20

Clearances:

Birmingham: 66
Liverpool: 22

Blocks (opponent shots blocked):

Birmingham: 10
Liverpool: 0