Philippe Coutinho produced a moment of magic to earn Liverpool a much-needed 1-0 victory at second-tier Blackburn Rovers in their FA Cup quarter-final replay on Wednesday.
The Brazilian fired in an accurate low drive in the 70th minute at Ewood Park to earn Brendan Rodgers’s side an FA Cup semi-final date with Aston Villa at Wembley on April 19.
“Over the two games it was a difficult tie,” said Liverpool manager Rodgers.
“They are strong and well organised. We knew it would be difficult. But my players were brilliant.”
Coutinho seems to enjoy playing cup replays in this part of northwest England, having also scored the winner against Bolton Wanderers in the fourth round.
It was hardly comfortable and it was not pretty, but for Rodgers this victory was more than welcome.
Since Blackburn held out for a goalless draw at Anfield in their first encounter a month ago, Liverpool have seen their hopes of a place in the Premier League top four fade, with two defeats in three matches.
By Rodgers’s admission, it had placed extra significance on this competition, which Liverpool have not won since 2006, and particularly with the final falling on the day that departing captain Steven Gerrard celebrates his 35th birthday.
“I made the point to the players if we could get through to the semi-final, it could give us a kick on in the league,” Rodgers added.
“We have had two poor performances and been criticised. Tonight we performed very well.”
Rodgers made three changes to the team humbled 4-1 by Arsenal on Saturday, with Dejan Lovren coming in for his first appearance since the match against Blackburn at Anfield.
A narrow midfield of Lucas Leiva, Joe Allen and Jordan Henderson helped Liverpool enjoy the majority of possession in the first half, but both teams saw goal-scoring opportunities come and go.
With Rudy Gestede – Liverpool’s tormentor in the first game – only fit enough to come on for the final 26 minutes due to a hamstring strain, Blackburn had Jordan Rhodes as their lone striker for most of the match.
It meant players had to drive forward from midfield to offer support and Craig Conway almost benefited from doing so when an error from Mamadou Sakho nearly let him, only for the Frenchman to slide in and atone.
It was to be Sakho’s last notable involvement before he was replaced by Kolo Toure after appearing to injure his right hamstring.
Rhodes has 17 goals to his name this season, but he headed a glorious chance over the bar from Ben Marshall’s left-wing cross.
Quiet for most of the first half, Coutinho forced a smart save from Simon Eastwood in the Blackburn goal after Henderson’s corner caused problems shortly before the interval.
Liverpool goalkeeper Simon Mignolet had hardly been called into action in the first half, but he had to make two eye-catching saves to thwart Tom Cairney and Marshall early in the second.
The introduction of Gestede lifted the home fans and gave the Rovers players someone other than Rhodes to aim at, but Liverpool weathered the brief storm and took the lead six minutes later.
Coutinho’s poor right-wing corner was volleyed away, but the ball came back to him.
The former Inter Milan playmaker passed to Henderson, darted into space to receive the return ball, and arrowed a low drive in off the far post.
Blackburn manager Gary Bowyer waved his arms, urging his side to lift themselves again, and there was time for one last close call in stoppage time.
Eastwood went up to attack Adam Henley’s long throw-in and managed to slam in a shot on the turn, but Mignolet denied his fellow goalkeeper a famous equaliser to safeguard Liverpool’s place at Wembley.
“Our lads gave it a right good go,” said Bowyer.
“They had a taste for it and it was a great atmosphere in the stadium tonight.”
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The specs
AT4 Ultimate, as tested
Engine: 6.2-litre V8
Power: 420hp
Torque: 623Nm
Transmission: 10-speed automatic
Price: From Dh330,800 (Elevation: Dh236,400; AT4: Dh286,800; Denali: Dh345,800)
On sale: Now
Skewed figures
In the village of Mevagissey in southwest England the housing stock has doubled in the last century while the number of residents is half the historic high. The village's Neighbourhood Development Plan states that 26% of homes are holiday retreats. Prices are high, averaging around £300,000, £50,000 more than the Cornish average of £250,000. The local average wage is £15,458.
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
The Florida Project
Director: Sean Baker
Starring: Bria Vinaite, Brooklynn Prince, Willem Dafoe
Four stars
MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE – FINAL RECKONING
Director: Christopher McQuarrie
Starring: Tom Cruise, Hayley Atwell, Simon Pegg
Rating: 4/5
How much do leading UAE’s UK curriculum schools charge for Year 6?
- Nord Anglia International School (Dubai) – Dh85,032
- Kings School Al Barsha (Dubai) – Dh71,905
- Brighton College Abu Dhabi - Dh68,560
- Jumeirah English Speaking School (Dubai) – Dh59,728
- Gems Wellington International School – Dubai Branch – Dh58,488
- The British School Al Khubairat (Abu Dhabi) - Dh54,170
- Dubai English Speaking School – Dh51,269
*Annual tuition fees covering the 2024/2025 academic year
How much of your income do you need to save?
The more you save, the sooner you can retire. Tuan Phan, a board member of SimplyFI.com, says if you save just 5 per cent of your salary, you can expect to work for another 66 years before you are able to retire without too large a drop in income.
In other words, you will not save enough to retire comfortably. If you save 15 per cent, you can forward to another 43 working years. Up that to 40 per cent of your income, and your remaining working life drops to just 22 years. (see table)
Obviously, this is only a rough guide. How much you save will depend on variables, not least your salary and how much you already have in your pension pot. But it shows what you need to do to achieve financial independence.
Globalization and its Discontents Revisited
Joseph E. Stiglitz
W. W. Norton & Company
Sarfira
Director: Sudha Kongara Prasad
Starring: Akshay Kumar, Radhika Madan, Paresh Rawal
Rating: 2/5
Dust and sand storms compared
Sand storm
- Particle size: Larger, heavier sand grains
- Visibility: Often dramatic with thick "walls" of sand
- Duration: Short-lived, typically localised
- Travel distance: Limited
- Source: Open desert areas with strong winds
Dust storm
- Particle size: Much finer, lightweight particles
- Visibility: Hazy skies but less intense
- Duration: Can linger for days
- Travel distance: Long-range, up to thousands of kilometres
- Source: Can be carried from distant regions
What are the influencer academy modules?
- Mastery of audio-visual content creation.
- Cinematography, shots and movement.
- All aspects of post-production.
- Emerging technologies and VFX with AI and CGI.
- Understanding of marketing objectives and audience engagement.
- Tourism industry knowledge.
- Professional ethics.
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Zayed Sustainability Prize
Key recommendations
- Fewer criminals put behind bars and more to serve sentences in the community, with short sentences scrapped and many inmates released earlier.
- Greater use of curfews and exclusion zones to deliver tougher supervision than ever on criminals.
- Explore wider powers for judges to punish offenders by blocking them from attending football matches, banning them from driving or travelling abroad through an expansion of ‘ancillary orders’.
- More Intensive Supervision Courts to tackle the root causes of crime such as alcohol and drug abuse – forcing repeat offenders to take part in tough treatment programmes or face prison.
if you go
The flights
Emirates have direct flights from Dubai to Glasgow from Dh3,115. Alternatively, if you want to see a bit of Edinburgh first, then you can fly there direct with Etihad from Abu Dhabi.
The hotel
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Located in the heart of Mackintosh's Glasgow, the Dakota Deluxe is perhaps the most refined hotel anywhere in the city. Doubles from Dh850
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Events and tours
There are various Mackintosh specific events throughout 2018 – for more details and to see a map of his surviving designs see glasgowmackintosh.com
For walking tours focussing on the Glasgow Style, see the website of the Glasgow School of Art.
More information
For ideas on planning a trip to Scotland, visit www.visitscotland.com
Ultra processed foods
- Carbonated drinks, sweet or savoury packaged snacks, confectionery, mass-produced packaged breads and buns
- margarines and spreads; cookies, biscuits, pastries, cakes, and cake mixes, breakfast cereals, cereal and energy bars;
- energy drinks, milk drinks, fruit yoghurts and fruit drinks, cocoa drinks, meat and chicken extracts and instant sauces
- infant formulas and follow-on milks, health and slimming products such as powdered or fortified meal and dish substitutes,
- many ready-to-heat products including pre-prepared pies and pasta and pizza dishes, poultry and fish nuggets and sticks, sausages, burgers, hot dogs, and other reconstituted meat products, powdered and packaged instant soups, noodles and desserts.
House-hunting
Top 10 locations for inquiries from US house hunters, according to Rightmove
- Edinburgh, Scotland
- Westminster, London
- Camden, London
- Glasgow, Scotland
- Islington, London
- Kensington and Chelsea, London
- Highlands, Scotland
- Argyll and Bute, Scotland
- Fife, Scotland
- Tower Hamlets, London
The specs: 2018 Chevrolet Trailblazer
Price, base / as tested Dh99,000 / Dh132,000
Engine 3.6L V6
Transmission: Six-speed automatic
Power 275hp @ 6,000rpm
Torque 350Nm @ 3,700rpm
Fuel economy combined 12.2L / 100km
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COMPANY%20PROFILE
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EName%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EKinetic%207%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EStarted%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%202018%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EFounder%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Rick%20Parish%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EBased%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Abu%20Dhabi%2C%20UAE%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EIndustry%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Clean%20cooking%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EFunding%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20%2410%20million%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EInvestors%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Self-funded%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
Superliminal%20
%3Cp%3EDeveloper%3A%20Pillow%20Castle%20Games%0D%3Cbr%3EPublisher%3A%20Pillow%20Castle%20Games%0D%3Cbr%3EConsole%3A%20PlayStation%204%26amp%3B5%2C%20Xbox%20Series%20One%20%26amp%3B%20X%2FS%2C%20Nintendo%20Switch%2C%20PC%20and%20Mac%0D%3Cbr%3ERating%3A%204%2F5%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
Zayed Sustainability Prize
