Liverpool Advance To The Final Four

Credit: @liverpoolfcw | Instagram

Liverpool left it late, as a Zara Shaw dagger deep into extra time booked the Reds place in the FA cup semifinals. Gareth Taylor’s side came into this game the favourites, but his team understood a job still needed doing. Charlton did not come into this game in the best of form, the hosts had not won in their last three games, giving away their lead at the top of Super League 2. Liverpool were entering this matchup high on confidence, coming out on top in a five goal merseyside derby thriller the weekend prior. 

First half summary:

The away side started the much more dominant team, dominating the ball but not creating many clear cut chances. There was not much to write home about in the opening twenty five minutes, Liverpool’s most meaningful chance coming via a Charlton defender, a cross from Alice Bergstrom on the right hand side was flicked on by Lobato, her header was diverted towards the Charlton goal, but it flicked the top of the bar.

Gareth Taylor’s side had a huge chance to open the scoring right before half time, Cornelia Kapocs whipped the ball in from the left, it found Denise O’Sullivan in the middle of the six yard box, but on the stretch she poked it over the bar from close range. 

Second half summary:

Liverpool’s creative struggles continued into the second half, however they did have the ball in the back of the net on the 77th minute but it was disallowed, Martha Thomas with a wonderfully improvised flick, but she had drifted offside. 

Apart from a few half chances that was it for ninety minutes, a testament to Charton’s defensive display, but Taylor’s side was struggling to create many opportunities in normal time.

Extra-time summary:

Liverpool had another goal taken away from them five minutes into extra time, it was Thomas once again, she had handled the ball before taking her shot inside the box, which gave the referee no choice but to rule it out.

The away side were really starting to up the pressure on their opposition, a corner on the 104th minute was swung in from the left-hand-side, Jenna Clark was the one in the box to divert the header towards goal, but it was cleared of the line by N’Dow.

The Reds finally found their well deserved breakthrough on the 115th minute mark, another corner whipped in from the right this time, Clark once again met the cross, her header smashed against the post and then it was one big scramble in the box, Clark headed it once again, this time it hit the bar, Charlton could not clear the lines and the ball found its way to the 18 year-old Zara Shaw, her shot found the bottom right corner to give Liverpool the lead with five minutes to go.

A monumental moment for the youngster, her first appearance from the club since the 16th of February in 2025. An ACL injury has kept her out for over a year and she comes up with the goal on her first game back.

That was game over, the ladies came out with a 1-0 win away from home and are now in the FA cup semi finals. A great opportunity for Taylor’s side to get some silverware this season.

What does this win do?

Another victory for the Reds, which now means they are on a run of five games unbeaten in all competitions. A different kind of win for the away side, they had to really dig deep and keep believing that the breakthrough would come if they just kept creating chances.

A cup shock on the same day, as Brighton knocked out Arsenal, makes this competition that bit more winnable for Liverpool and I am sure with the form they currently believe they can win this trophy.