Exeter were well worth their draw
Despite the tantalising prospect of a trip to Anfield for the League Two side, Exeter City might be a little disappointed that they didn’t win tonight. They were 2-1 up and bossing the game when Brad Smith stepped up to rescue his side. It was Tom Nichols who opened the scoring for Exeter after nine minutes, with Jerome Sinclair restoring parity for Liverpool three minutes later. Lee Holmes restored Exeter’s lead, taking advantage from an Adam Bogdan flap to score directly from a corner just before half-time, but Smith equalised for Liverpool after 73 minutes with a goal that came against the run of play. Exeter were excellent tonight, but hats off to Liverpool’s youngsters who showed great determination to dig in and get the draw.
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Full time: Exeter 2-2 Liverpool
Peep! Peep! Peeeeeeeep! It’s all over. Despite having led twice, Exeter are forced to settle for a draw and the trip to Anfield that comes with it. Having showcased some of their potential stars of the future, Liverpool showed great resilience to earn a replay they could really do without.
90+3 min: Chirivilla finds himself in possession on the edge of the Exeter penalty area, but is unable to find a way through the phalanx of defenders in front of him. Exeter hack clear.
90+2 min: Exeter win a corner and the delivery is good. In an attempt to get his head on the ball, Jordan Moore-Taylor falls over, prompting optimistic shouts for a penalty from the home fans.
90+1 min: The fourth official suggests four minutes of added time as Exeter embark on a counter-attack. Cameron Brannagan does superbly to track the run of Alex Nicholls into the box and clear a cross from the left.
90 min: We go into the final minute, with the score level.
88 min: Craig Woodman plays the ball into space down the channels, but there’s nobody there to capitalise and get on the ball. There are a lot of very tired players out there after a very entertaining game of football.
87 min: “Is it your hamstring? Is it your hamstring?” chorus Exeter’s fans as Liverpool goalscorer Brad Smith goes down holding his leg. Apparently it’s no more than a touch of cramp, as he soon declares himself fit to continue.
85 min: Exeter make a final substitution: Joel Grant on for Lee Holmes, who scored the Grecian’s second.
83 min: There’s a loud penalty appeal as Ojo goes down in the box under a challenge from a defender I must confess I can’t identify, but replays show the defender in question won the ball. My first impression was that it should have been a penalty, but it was incorrect.
81 min: Christian Benteke picks out a Joao Teixeira run into the Liverpool penalty area, but Bobby Olejnik is quick off his line to get down and save.
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80 min: After good build-up play on the edge of the Liverpool penalty area, Tom Nichols flashes a wonderful ball across the face of the Liverpool goal, but there’s nobody on hand to convert.
78 min: Liverpool win a free-kick near the corner flag. Brad Smith sends the ball into the penalty area, but it’s not quite near enough to Christian Benteke for the striker to get on the end of it.
77 min: Liverpool make their third change, with Joe Maguire coming on for Tiago Ilori, who is so exhausted he can hardly walk. With Jurgen Klopp having used all three of his substitutions, Lucas and Adam Lallana remain on the bench.
75 min: That was a good finish from the young Australian, who took full advantage of Moore-Taylor’s fairly poor effort to clear a cross from Sheyi Ojo to return the ball with interest, sending a low volley flashing past Olejnik.
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GOAL! Exeter City 2-2 Liverpool (Smith 74)
A half-hearted clearance from Exeter and Brad Smith fires home from about seven yards out to equalise for Liverpool.
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72 min: Danny Murphy says what we’re all thinking: “Why did Jurgen Klopp bring Adam Lallana and put him on the bench if he had no intention of throwing him on in an emregency situation if Liverpool were losing?”
71 min: Liverpool substitution: Jerome Sinclair off, Sheyi Ojo on for his debut. His first contribution as a senior Liverpool player is to get on the ball and send a wayward cross sailing over the bar and out of play.
69 min: Indeed, the way this game is going, it’s Exeter who are in charge, looking hungrier, fitter and more likely to score next. If they could extend their lead, you’d think that would be that.
66 min: Jordan Tillson gets down the left and picks out Lee Holmes, whose cross is cut out by Cameron Randall. Moments later, Tillson and Holmes combine to get in behind Liverpool’s defence again. On BBC, Danny Murphy points out that Tiago Ilori is looking very tired, going through the motions with his socks around his ankles. He can’t be the only player on this hugely inexperienced Liverpool team who is far from match fit.
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64 min: Exeter City substitution: Aaron Davies on for his fellow Welshman Christian Ribeiro. Like David Noble, he too has been struggling with injury but has played well tonight. He should have scored two goals.
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63 min: Ilori gets a good telling-off but no booking for bringing down Tom Nichols on the edge of the penalty area. Nichols gets the ball over the defensive wall, but it fails to deep under the bar. A decent effort; close but no cigar.
61 min: Exeter Cty substitution: David Noble off after a fine performance, 38-year-old Matt Oakley on. That’s Matt Oakley who was an FA Cup runner-up with Southampton in 2003.
60 min: Lee Holmes is unable to emulate his first half heroics, curling his corner to the near post, where it’s cleared. There’s less than 30 minutes to go and Liverpool trail 2-1.
60 min: Lee Holmes wins another corner for Exeter.
58 min: Christian Ribeiro towers above Connor Randall at the far post to get on the end of a marvellous cross from the left. He steers his header wide of the upright. Liverpool substitution: Nineteen-year-old debutant Ryan Kent off, Pedro Chirivella on for his second Liverpool appearance.
55 min: Jamie Read picks up a Alex Nicholls pass from deep on the edge of the Liverpool penalty area. Turning, he attempts to pick out Tom Nichols, but his pass is wayward and a good chance goes to waste. Not for the first time this evening, Liverpool looked in all sorts of bother under a high ball.
52 min: There are handbags between Jamie Read and Tiago Ilori after an on-the-ball tussle on the sideline results in the former slamming the latter into the advertising hoardings. Stuart Attwell intervenes, tells both players to behave themselves and play quickly resumes.
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50 min: Fine save from Exeter City goalkeeper Bobby Olejnik, who does well to palm a Christian Benteke bullet-header over the bar from close range. Connor Brannagan’s cross from the left flank was sublime.
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49 min: Penalty shout! Exeter City look to have an excellent claim for a spot-kick turned down when Christian Ribeiro goes down under a “challenge” from Kevin Stewart as he sprinted into the Liverpool penalty area from the right flank. Replays show he tripped over his feet. Naughty boy for appealing so emphatically.
47 min: Connor Randall tries to pick out Christian Benteke in the Exeter box, but the striker’s flick rolls out of play.
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46 min: Liverpool’s players were sent out of their poky dressing room several minutes before Exeter’s joined them and in the commentary box, Danny Murphy notes that rather than do stretches or sprints in a bid to get ready for the second half, they just stood around chatting.
Second half: Exeter City 2-1 Liverpool
Exeter City get the ball rolling for the second half. If they can continue getting in behind Liverpool’s full-backs and getting early crosses into the box, they have every chance of extending their lead. Liverpool have looked good going forward, but their defending has at times looked nothing short of atrocious. They should really be 3-1 up, as Christian Ribeiro missed a wonderful chance to score with a header not long before they went ahead.
Half-time: Exeter City 2-1 Liverpool
Stuart Attwell blows for half-time at the end of a full-blooded, highly entertaining 45 minutes of FA Cup final. Exeter City opened the scoring after nine minutes through Tom Nichols, prompting a period of dominance from Liverpool in which Jerome Sinclair equalised. Exeter City played their way back into the game and tormented their visitors with crosses, eventually scoring through one when Lee Holmes scored directly from a corner. He made Adam Bogdan look quite the chump in the process.
45+1 min: Oh dear. Adam Bogdan drops the second high profile clanger of his few appearances this season, allowing Lee Holmes to score directly from a corner. He made a complete dog’s breakfast of that, allow himself to be outmuscled and intimidated by Exeter’s strikers as the ball sailed from the boot of Lee Holmes out by the touchline and over his head into the back of the net. Exeter City lead Liverpool 2-1.
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GOAL! Exeter City 2-1 Liverpool (Holmes 45)
45 min: Lee Holmes scores directly from a corner.
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44 min: Exeter win a throw-in deep in Liverpool territory and the ball’s worked to Ribeiro, who wins a corner as he attempts to cross into the Liverpool penalty area.
43 min: Exeter win a free-kick wide on the right, almost in line with the edge of the penalty area. Again the delivery is good, but Liverpool clear.
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40 min: Fantastic play from Exeter City, with Lee Holmes getting two superb crosses in quick succession into the Liverpool penalty area. Up from defence, Christian Ribeiro is on hand to meet the second with a meaty header which he sends no more than a foot wide of the left upright with the goal at his mercy. Another marvellous opportunity goes a begging.
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39 min: From about 30 yards out, Liverpool midfielder Kevin Stewart runs on to the ball and unleashes a low drive that takes a deflection en route to goal. In the Exeter goal, Bobby Olejnik gets down to his right to save.
38 min: Liverpool win a free-kick just inside their own half, which Jose Enrique lofts towards the edge of the penalty area for Christian Benteke to attack in the air. The Belgian wins the header, but can’t control it and Exeter clear.
36 min: Lee Holmes tries to send a cross into the penalty area from the left, but his effort is put out for a corner. Christian Benteke is on hand to head the ball clear when it’s curled into the penalty area.
34 min: Brannagan plays the ball up to the corner flag for Jerome Sinclair to chase, but the Liverpool goalscorer is immediately surrounded by defenders and loses possession, allowing Exeter to clear their lines.
33 min: Another Liverpool corner and again, Exeter clear.
32 min: Liverpool corner, which Cameron Brannagan swings into the penalty area. Christian Riberio rises to clear.
27 min: Lee Holmes and Craig Woodman combine down the left wing for Exeter and win a throw-in. The ball’s worked across the right, from where it’s sent into the penalty area and falls nicely for David Noble in the penalty area. He blasts over from about 10 yards before halfheartedly appealing for a penalty after going down under a challenge from Connor Randall. He should have scored - that was a marvellous opportunity.
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24 min: Tiago Ilori is forced to dive in and concede a corner after good work down the right by Read. Nothing comes of it and Liverpool clear their lines.
23 min: Liverpool win a free-kick down near the corner, which Cameron Brannagan plays shortish to Connor Randall up from the right-back position. He advances down the inside-right before unleashing a diagonal shot that fizzes wide of the top left-hand corner.
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21 min: “I bet even Jurgen Klopp doesn’t know most of the guys on this team,” writes Marie Meyer. “But that’s OK - according to ex-NFL coach Jerry Glanville, there is no need to bother, that’s why they have numbers on their backs. He reportedly didn’t know the names of some of his established starters.
“He is also said to have once cut a starter from the squad, telling him he he was free to look for another team to join, during the half-time team talk. The story goes that it was a road game, Glanville opened his wallet, pulled out $2,000 in cash, and told him to find his own effing way home.”
20 min: Exeter alleviate the pressure by getting the ball out of their own half and winning a throw-0in deep in Liverpool territory. Benteke wins the ball and clears it upfield, where Jordan Tillson wins it back. Scrappy stuff.
18min: Replays suggest Exeter’s defenders could and have done a lot better in the build-up to Liverpool’s goal. As Benteke went to ground, assorted defenders left it to each other to deal with the loose ball and Sinclair was able to take advantage of their hesitation to pounce and poke home.
15 min: Since going a goal behind, Liverpool’s youngsters have completely bossed Exeter and continue to turn the screw now. Teixeira picks up the ball on the edge of the Exeter penalty area and shimmies a little to his left before unleashing a low drive. His effort is deflected wide for a corner, from which nothing comes.
GOAL! Exeter City 1-1 Liverpool (Sinclair 13)
Liverpool have fought back well since Exeter City opened the scoring and gain just reward when Jerome Sinclair scores his first senior goal for the club. A challenge on Benteke in the City penalty area resulted in the ball squirming towards Sinclair, who slotted low into the corner from about 10 yards.
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11 min: So, back to Exeter City’s opener. Jamie Read hared down the right and sent a low cross into the penalty area. Unmarked after beating Jose Enrique for speed, Tom Nichols stuck out his leg and did the rest.
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10 min: More on the goal shortly, but Liverpool have won a corner after good work from Brad Smith down the left and uncertainty in the Exter defence. The ball’s swung in and only half-cleared, at which Smith tests Olejnik from distance.
GOAL! Exeter City 1-0 Liverpool (Nichols 9)
Exeter go in front with as simple a goal as you’ll ever see. A cross from the right, Tom Nichols stretches every sinew and pokes the ball into the bottom left-hand corner.
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7 min: Liverpool striker Jerome Sinclair finds himself in space down the right flank, but delays in getting his cross into the penalty area and loses his opportunity. Exeter City clear their lines.
6 min: Christian Benteke tries through to pick out Jerome Sinclair with a ball from touchline to midfield, but it’s cut out by Tom Nichols, who sprints through the centre for Exeter City. He runs down a blind alley and is dispossessed.
5 min: For Exeter, Jamie Read attempts to latch on to a through-ball towards the edge of the Liverpool penalty area, but Tiago Ilori is alert to the danger and clears.
4 min: Connor Randall plays a back-pass to Adam Bogdan, who hacks the ball down the field. The pitch is looking very gluey early doors and will only get more sticky as the game progresses.
2 min: Sprinting down the left flank for Exeter, Lee Holmes gets the better of Connor Randall and sends in a cross. It sails straight into the arms of Exeter City goalkeeper Bobby Olejnik. Moments previously, Joao Teixeira had done the same for Liverpool, giving Liverpool goalkeeper Adam Bogdan his first touch.
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1 min: “It’s a huge moment for some of those lads to pull on the Liverpool shirt for the first time,” says Danny Murphy, who’s doing co-comms for the BBC. “Especially the local lads. It’s a moment they’ll remember for the rest of their lives.”
Exeter City v Liverpool kicks off
On a muddy pitch that looks a bit threadbare and is showing the effects of the recent weather, Liverpool kick off, while Exeter City’s fans provide a relentlessly loud soundtrack.
Not long now: Rather than concentrate on the players who aren’t here, we ought to focus on those who are. All 22 are lined up in the tunnel and emerge led by Stuart Attwell. Liverpool’s wear white shirts, white shorts and white socks. Exeter City’s wear red and white striped shirts, black shorts, black and red hooped socks. St James Park seems to be rocking and it’s nearly time for kick-off. Paul Tilson emerges from the tunnel and hands Jurgen Klopp a gift-wrapped present.
Paul Tisdale speaks ...
On Liverpool’s team: “Liverpool haven’t got their strongest side. I have to say, I don’t know a great deal about their team, but they are Liverpool players. Anything can happen and we hope they have a very uncomfortable night.” Just to clarify: he is wearing a pork pie hat.
Jurgen Klopp speaks ...
The Liverpool manager is interviewed in the tiny tea-room at St James Park and says that while it is very nice and “has everything that you need”, he bemoans the fact that there is no cup with his name on it to be seen. He goes on to say that he hopes they serve coffeee, because he prefers it to tea.
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Combined career league starts in Liverpool's starting XI: 571. Combined career league starts among Exeter's seven substitutes: 2,065.
— Narrow The Angle (@NarrowTheAngle) January 8, 2016
No, that really is Liverpool
The BBC will be delighted with that Liverpool side, which has surely justified their decision to move this fixture to Friday night prime time. According to the very reliable source that is Wikipedia, Jurgen Klopp fields five debutants in Ryan Kent, Kevin Stewart, Cameron Brannagan, Tiago Ilori and Connor Randall, while four other players: Adam Bogdan, Brad Smith, Joao Teixeira and Jerome Sinclair boast six first team appearances between them. WHatever the numbers, it’s an incredibly inexperienced team. In the centre of defence, comparatively elder statesman Jose Enrique comes in from the cold to make his first appearance of the season, while Christian Benteke is the only player approaching first team regular status in the side.
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Exeter City v Liverpool line-ups
Exeter: Olejnik, Woodman, Brown, Ribeiro, Read, Moore-Taylor, Tillson, Noble, Holmes, Nichols, Nicholls.
Subs: McAllister, Oakley, Davies, Morrison, Hoskins, Hamon, Grant.
Liverpool: Bogdan, Randall, Tiago Ilori, Jose Enrique, Smith, Stewart, Brannagan, Kent, Teixeira, Benteke, Sinclair.
Subs: Lallana, Lucas, Fulton, Ojo, Chirivella, Maguire, Masterson.
Referee: Stuart Attwell (Warwickshire)
#ECFC: Olejnik, Woodman, Noble, Ribeiro, Holmes, Nicholls, Moore-Taylor, Reid, Nichols, Tillson, Brown.
— Exeter City FC (@OfficialECFC) January 8, 2016
The #LFC starting line-up and substitutes against @OfficialECFC in full pic.twitter.com/l95QBokAdi
— Liverpool FC (@LFC) January 8, 2016
The wisdom of Paul Tisdale ...
Considering he’s an undeniably talented, hard-working and in-demand manager, it might seem a mite infantile to keep harping on about Paul Tisdale’s sartorial style. That’s a risk I’m quite happy to take when it comes to discussing a man who came up with the following gem.
“How can you make players feel like they can beat anybody?” he once asked. “That’s why I wore a cravat for six months. I said to the players: ‘When I’m stood there, looking down the touchline 20 yards away, and the other manager’s got his tracksuit tucked into his socks, I’m 1-0 up. How are you going to be one-nil up before you start?’ They might be four inches taller than you, but you’ll stand alongside them and know the manager’s got his cravat on.”
Early team news ...
Exeter midfielder David Wheeler may miss out with an ankle injury, but Paul Tisdale could welcome back midfielder David Noble and defender Christian Ribeiro, who have both been sidelined since early November.
Liverpool, by contrast, are suffering something of an injury crisis that has prompted no little debate - informed and otherwise - about the methods of their manager and their effects on athletes forced to gad about in a far more vigorous fashion than they are used to. Liverpool look likely to travel south with no fit centre-backs, while Jon Flanagan could feature despite having played just 90 minutes of football over two under-21 games following an 18-month lay-off with injury.
The hipster manager derby ...
Jurgen Klopp’ hipster credentials are well-documented, with the German having earned his stripes during his successful stint as manager of Borussia Dortmund. Many English football fans might not be aware they have their own equivalent in Paul Tisdale, an accomplished cricketer and Exeter City’s nattily dressed gaffer, who is not averse to wearing a pork pie hat or deerstalker hat on the touchline, as well as a cravat and gentleman’s country tweed. The second longest serving manager in English football despite being aged just 42, Guardian writer Stuart James captured Tisdale’s essence in a nutshell by describing him as “a forward-thinking man with old-fashioned values” in an interview which you can read by clicking on this link.
What chance an upset?
Bottom tier side playing at home? Tick. Pitch in bad nick? Possibly, depending on the weather. Ramshackle stadium with ye olde terracing? Tick. Sophisticated Premier League visitors beset by injuries? Tick. Tiny away dressing room with just one toilet? Tick. On the evidence above alone, the needle on the Guardian’s upset-o-meter is swinging into the red zone, although the bookies seem inclined to agree. Despite their pedigree, Liverpool go into the game as warm order 4-6 favourites, while Exter are 9-2 to win over 90 minutes. The draw is priced up at 10-3.
The FA Cup third round starts here ...
In Exeter, to be precise, where local side Exeter City entertain a facsimile of a Liverpool first team squad that has 13 players sidelined through injury and is managed by a Premier League newbie who is unwilling to select several fit senior players fatigued from having played four games in 11 days over the festive period.
Having decided the temptation to broadcast an FA Cup match between a League Two side and Liverpool was too much to resist, the BBC have decided to move this match to a Friday night and broadcast it live for the benefit of the many football fans among their audience, not counting the 1,347 Liverpool fans actually going to this match. Many of them will have had to take the day off work to attend and will be unable to get the train home this evening unless they leave 90 minutes before kick-off to catch the last one. If they leave even earlier, they might get back in time to listen to assorted BBC presenters, commentators and pundits waffle on about the romance and magic of a competition out of which their own employers and other broadcasters seem hell bent on slowly suffocating the life.
But enough carping. Complain too much around here about the ills affecting the game of football too often and you tend to get people writing in to enquire if you “even like football”. Here, for them, is some footage of Ronnie Radford scoring a goal 44 years ago to prove that the FA Cup contains more magic than a Harry Potter book of spells. Rest assured you’ll be seeing plenty more of it this weekend. Kick-off is at 7.55pm (GMT), but we’ll be here with team news and build-up before that.
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