So the long and winding road out of the Liverpool door began for Steven Gerrard on a winter evening in Kingston upon Thames. An unlikely location for the beginning of the end, a six-month valediction that will moisten the eyes of most ardent supporters and one at which he dragged his side away from the precipice of ignominy. Not for the first time.
Gerrard played a key role in Liverpool’s progression into round four, only days after announcing his departure from the club at the end of the season, when he will join a Major League Soccer club in the US. Aside from scoring twice, he was the fulcrum of his side, an inspiring influence on a night that required character and talent in equal measure.
How Brendan Rodgers may miss him if he remains at the helm next season. Two goals for Gerrard, either side of half-time, demonstrated how much he still has to offer on the pitch, even if his game-time requires close management in the latter days of his career.
Gerrard was eight when the Culture Club were famously felled by the Crazy Gang. He has already gone a long way to banishing those painful memories by winning the FA Cup twice in his career, playing an integral part in both the successes of 2001 and 2006 but most notably the latter. He was barely able to hobble around the Cardiff pitch against West Ham before his remarkable bolt from the blue provided late drama and eventual glory.
Of the many eulogies awarded to the Liverpool captain over the weekend, one from Gérard Houllier, his former manager and mentor, felt particularly pertinent. “He was the type of player you wanted to follow, you could go to war with him,” said Houllier, remarking that on the big occasions, when it matters most, Gerrard turns up.
This third-round fixture will not be remembered as a standout one in the 34-year-old’s career, but against an AFC Wimbledon side spurred on by nostalgia and the spirit of 1988, how they needed his presence in midfield.
Kingsmeadow was awash with blue and yellow, a throwback to Wimbledon’s former glory years when the atmosphere prickled and the tackles bit. A temporary home this may be but the club who reformed from the ashes when joining the Combined Counties league in 2002 will hope to bottle the spirit evident here whenever they move on.
This was not like most places that Liverpool visit. Scaffolding was erected across the stadium to provide extra room, with the crowd within spitting distance of the pitch. A few club directors were spotted in a local greasy spoon cafe, Fat Boys, just a few hours before kick-off. That was the kind of night this was, humble surroundings for so-called Premier League royalty. Banners around the ground bore tribute to the formation of the original club in 1889, one torn apart following the franchise move to Milton Keynes.
After Gerrard had given Liverpool an early lead, Wimbledon fought back with stunning intensity. They were all over the red shirts and a defence that has at times appeared feeble this term was opened up time and again in the first half. Gerrard’s first goal was simple yet brilliantly executed. It was the captain who started the move, spraying a pass out wide right before continuing his run into the penalty area. He timed it perfectly, accelerating and stooping to head low past James Shea.
Adebayo Akinfenwa, the 16-stone brute of a Wimbledon centre-forward, had vowed before the game to ruin Gerrard’s last FA Cup campaign before obtaining his shirt at the full-time whistle. Akinfenwa – who in the matchday programme described his favourite meal as a quarter chicken, five chicken wings, chips and corn on the cob – equalised for Neil Ardley’s side in the 36th minute and Liverpool were on the ropes, yet at least one part of the forward’s ambitions never came to fruition.
Gerrard made another crucial contribution with a defensive header on the line at the beginning of the second half. It was the captain who dragged Liverpool out of a woeful rut as the game wore on and, as Houllier attested to previously, produced something when it mattered most.
Wimbledon were the better of the sides in the second half and an upset was very much on the cards.
However, when Phillipe Coutinho was brought down on the left edge of the opposition penalty area shortly after the hour there was a sense of inevitability at the outcome.
Gerrard stepped up and, with everyone in the ground in anticipation, curled the ball wonderfully into the top right-hand corner of Shea’s net. For all Liverpool’s failings, it was a fine way to book a place in the fourth round and a home meeting with Bolton Wanderers.
Liverpool would have been out of sight had Rickie Lambert shown more composure when fed in by his captain but, in the end, Gerrard had already done enough.
