Liverpool FC won the FA Cup quarterfinal encounter against Stoke City yesterday by 2-1 at Anfield as goals from Luis Suarez and Stewart Downing booked another Wembley visit for the Merseyside club in this season.
Manager Kenny Dalglish has now reached the peak of his success since taking over as the Liverpool gaffer 14 months ago. The league position of Liverpool may not look quite convincing but the Reds, deprived of European football this season, have been superb in the cup competitions.
King Kenny got Liverpool their first piece of silverware in six years after a penalty shoot-out win over Cardiff City in the Carling Cup final at Wembley. And now the club legend has now set sights on completing a domestic double by winning the FA Cup.
The idea of playing the trio of skipper Steven Gerrard, Luis Suarez and Andy Carroll together seems to be working for Kenny and his head coach Steve Clarke. And now it’s quite obvious that the Scot will apply the same tactic for the remaining matches of the season as his side will try to achieve the difficult task of Champions League qualification.
The semi-final matches have been scheduled to play during the April 14-15 weekend where Liverpool could face their Merseyside rivals Everton, if the Toffees manage to beat Sunderland in their rematch following a 1-1 draw.
But April 15 coincides with the day of the Hillsborough disaster in 1989, where 96 Liverpool fans were killed in a stampede during a match. And Kenny Dalglish has made it clear that, as always, his team will not play on that day.
That will give a headache to the FA, who will either have to necessarily play Liverpool on April 14 or reschedule the matches at Wembley. Whatever decision is taken, the Reds will be back on the Wembley pitch for another Cup glory.