Aston Villa 3-4 Liverpool
Liverpool made it through to the Worthington Cup semi final for the second time in three years, after a thrilling victory at Villa Park.
Hyypia, Diao, Riise and Babbel were in the starting line up in place of Biscan, Hamann, Smicer and Carragher.
The game was delayed for well over an hour, following a problem which led to a long wait for Villa fans who were queuing up to collect tickets.
After a wait of over an hour an twenty minutes, the Liverpool fans had to wait another 15 minutes of action before the first goalscoring opportunity arrived for the Reds, and it fell to Danny Murphy, whose powerful shot from just outside the box clipped the side netting.
Despite the lack of chances in front of goal in the opening quarter of the match, the forwards of both sides were looking lively, with Vassell causing problems down the left hand side for Villa, and at the other end, Baros and Owen were proving to be a handfull for the Villa defence.
But the referee, Graham Barber, was also making his presence known in the early stages, when he handed out two needless bookings to Murphy and Hyypia in the opening quarter of an hour of the match.
Barber was also the focus of attention on 23 minutes, when he awarded a penalty to Villa following a poorly timed challenge in the area by Traore, bringing down Lee Hendrie in the process.
Darius Vassell was the man who stepped up to take the kick, and he confidently put the ball past Kirkland, who was sent the wrong way.
Villa's lead lasted just four minutes though, as Danny Murphy curled a brilliant free kick into the top corner of the net after a foul on Baros by former Red, Oyvind Leonhardsson.
Dion Dublin was close to restoring the home side's lead on 32 minutes, but his powerful header from close range saw Kirkland produce a fine save with Kirkland also managing to hold onto the ball.
Stephane Henchoz joined his central defensive partner in the referee's notebook on 37 minutes for deliberately obstructing Vassell just outside the 18 yard area. The resulting free kick was forced out for a Villa corner, from which John Arne Riise had to make a goal-line clearance, blocking a well hit shot by Dion Dublin on the near post.
As with the last round at home to Ipswich, Markus Babbel was taken off early, though this time didn't even make it to half time, when he was brought off with over five minutes of the first half still to play, Carragher being the man to replace him.
A strong finish to the half from Aston Villa failed to see them create any further chances though, and the first half ended all square.
Liverpool started the second period brightly, and a Steven Gerrard free kick which was curled towards the back post needed just the slightest of touches, but the ball was narrowly missed by everyone and sailed wide if the far post.
The Reds were enjoying their best spell of the match, and it came as little surprise when Milan Baros struck Liverpool's second of the night shortly after the break.
John Arne Riise controlled the ball on the left side of the Villa 18 yard box before setting up Baros on the opposite side of the pitch, who fired low across Peter Enkelman's goal and into the far bottom corner of the net for his 8th of the season.
Riise, Murphy and Gerrard all saw long range efforts fail to trouble the Villa 'keeper, before Steve Gerrard made Villa's task even more difficult by adding a third for Liverpool after 67 minutes.
Milan Baros made a good run into the Villa penalty area and after trying to take the ball past a couple of Villa defenders, Baros just failed to keep his balance, though Gerrard was on hand to pick up the ball and he smashed a low shot past Enkelman.
The home side were determined to make a comeback though, and Thomas Hitzelsberger unleashed a 25 yard drive on 73 minutes which beat Kirkland and halved Liverpool's lead.
Houllier's second substitution was to introduce Emile Heskey to the action with Michael Owen leaving the field and within a couple of minutes of his entry, Heskey played a part in the build up towards another Liverpool attack, which concluded with Gerrard striking a fierce drive at the Villa goal but Enkelman was right behind the shot and parried the ball to safety, while at the opposite end of the field, Mustapha Hadji was close to scoring a wonderful goal when he chipped a curling shot aimed towards the top corner of the goal, but the ball flew inches wide with Kirkland beaten.
It was classic end to end cup football, and both sides were equally likely to score next, but to the home fans' delight, it was Aston Villa who were next on the scoresheet, after a 15 yard shot by Dion Dublin deflected off the leg of Henchoz and past Kirkland to level the scores with just minutes to go.
There was still time for yet more drama however, and it was provided by Danny Murphy with the Reds' midfielder firing in the winner in the 92nd minute after good work on the right by Gerrard to set up the chance.
Five minutes of added time were played but Liverpool defended everything which Villa threw at them in the final stages of the game, to hold onto the lead and make it into the last four of the competition.
