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Brave Ipswich

Liverpool edged brave Ipswich Town out of the FA Cup by the odd goal in five in a thriller that saw the lower division side come so close to collecting their first ever victory at Anfield.

The match appeared to be meandering towards the final whistle after a first-half goal in injury time which had apparently killed off Ipswich's gallant challenge and put Liverpool 1-0 in front.
The goal came unexpectedly when Houghton swept home a shot from the edge of the area after Ipswich had only half cleared a Mark Walters corner.

But Gavin Johnson equalised for the second division side with a spectacular header that saw the match burst memorably to life and sent it into extra time.

The home fans were stunned and the travelling supporters from East Anglia went wild with delight in the 81st minute when Steve Whitton crossed deep to the far post from the right and Johnson powered a header firmly into the roof of the net.

Five minutes into extra time, Ipswich took the lead, Mick Stockwell threading the ball through to Jason Dozzell who saw his first shot blocked by Bruce Grobbelaar's out-stretched boot but managed to force home the rebound.

But injury hit Liverpool were not to be denied and three minutes later, after Stockwell fouled Dean Saunders on the edge of the box, Jan Molby stepped up to curl a superb free kick into the top corner of the Ipswich net.

Two minutes later, substitute Ronnie Rosenthal's through ball found Steve McManaman racing through the inside right channel to loft a delicate chip over falling keeper Craig Forrest and into the net.

Ipswich never lost heart and carried on plugging away for the equaliser, but the biggest cheer for the rest of the match came a few minutes from the end when Ipswich's ex-Anfield star John Wark limped out of the fray with an injury after a typically heroic performance.

Graeme Souness said he was "delighted" to see his side get through against Ipswich after fielding a side featuring four injured players who he did not think would last 90 minutes never mind extra-time.

And in a tribute to the second division team, he forecast: "If they play like that till the end of the season they will be in the first division."

Said Souness: "We started the game with four people we didn't think would finish the game but they worked very hard and showed a lot of grit and determination and that's got us through. In the second half Ipswich were better than us but in extra time we dug deep. Ipswich played very well. They were full of running and determination, but in cup competitions someone has to win and someone has to lose."

Danish international midfielder Jan Molby, who scored a spectacular free-kick said: "It was just outside the box and although they put seven men in the wall I thought it was going to go in. We've a lot of experienced players and we played well in extra-time." 

Copyright - British Soccer Week

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