Reds crush Roker dream

Reds crush Roker dream

Graeme Souness barely batted an eyelid as Liverpool celebrated their third FA Cup triumph in seven seasons. But beneath his promised, unruffled exterior, the Anfield boss went through the mill only 48 hours after his discharge from hospital, before Sunderland were ultimately denied a second Wembley fairytale.

 

No-one inside the windy, storm-swept stadium was more relieved than his personal physician when Michael Thomas put the second division club on the slide in the 47th minute. Up until then not only Souness, who underwent a massive heart by-pass operation just 33 days ago, but every Liverpool fan was suffering palpitations as the Wearsiders threatened a repeat of their 1973 sensation against Leeds.

 

But, like Bristol Rovers, Ipswich and Portsmouth before them, they could not break the lucky streak the Merseysiders have ridden in this competition all season.  And when Ian Rush scored for the fifth time in three finals after 68 minutes, to eclipse the long standing record of Stan Mortensen, Liverpool were home and dry and more importantly, from their point of view, back in Europe. It could have all been so different, though. Sunderland, one of seven outsiders to win in the previous 110 finals, were passionate, committed and inspired by the ghosts of Porterfield and Stokoe.

 

The omens were in their favour too. Liverpool were in the dressing room they used before their shock defeat by Wimbledon, Sunderland in the same one as 19 years ago and the Duchess of Kent was waiting to present the trophy as she had to Bobby Kerr. And on a saturated pitch, a greasy defender's nightmare, they had their chances. First they survived a third minute chance when Ray Houghton sent Thomas racing through to blaze over. And Rush tested Welsh international Tony Norman with a sharp half volley.

 

But far from being cowed, Sunderland turned the tide with Bruce Grobbelaar risking his neck to get down and touch round Anton Rogan's fierce 25-yard drive. From the corner Kevin Ball's header presented John Byrne with a chance to maintain his record of scoring in every round but the Irishman mis-hit his shot badly.

 

A misjudged Jan Molby pass, one of many, was pounced on by Gordon Armstrong and to Liverpool's relief his shot flew wide off Mark Wright. After penalty appeals for a Rob Jones challenge on Peter Davenport, Byrne cut through but shot wide and Liverpool looked a little punch drunk.

 

While they persevered with their patient passing, it was the direct approach which brought them back into the game. Twice Jones was involved, first with a long ball from which Dean Saunders extended Norman and then with a run down the right and a cross from which young Steve McManaman headed over.

 

The England Under-21 striker, who had been tipped to be the match winner in the absence of John Barnes, was robbed of the breakthrough by a cock-eyed decision a minute before the break.

 

Middlesex referee Philip Don ignored a clear trip by Paul Bracewell after the former Everton player had been left wallowing in McManaman's wake.

 

It took McManaman less than two minutes of the second half to put the record straight, beating Brian Atkinson and then being fouled by Armstrong in the delivery of a magnificent chip into the path of Thomas. McManaman was already rolling in pain as the 1.5 million pound England midfielder belted his right-foot half-volley into the far corner.

 

Having won the title and Littlewoods Cup with Arsenal, his fifth goal since his move was a significant contribution to the completion of his domestic collection. Norman had to be at his best to keep Sunderland afloat, touching over a deceptive volley by Molby while Saunders headed against the bar in the 66th minute. Within two minutes the Welsh striker set up the decisive second, Thomas turning a pass on for Ian Rush's deadly right foot to stroke the ball into the far corner and provide a massive compensation for a season disrupted by injuries.

 

After that it became a familiar story, Liverpool arrogantly keeping possession and taunting Sunderland, who deserved better for the magnificent way they had stretched both the Merseysiders and Graeme Souness' nerve.

Rush breaks record

Ian Rush celebrated his record-breaking Wembley day and then insisted: "Whoever said the Liverpool era was over got it wrong."

 

After netting his fifth Wembley final goal which sent the Cup back to Anfield, the Welshman beamed: "I didn't know it was a record but someone told me about it and I am delighted."

"But it doesn't mean anywhere near as much as much to me as picking up another winners medal."

 

Rush said that the presence of Graeme Souness on the bench had been a real boost for the players. "We won it for him and we won it for ourselves."

Maybe, by our standards, we have had a bad year but we have still won the cup. Next year, I believe we will be challenging in the League and in Europe when we have got a full side."

"It's not been the best of years for me on the goalscoring front and I've had lots of injury niggles. I just wish that the season wasn't over because I feel I am back in my sharpest form."

 

Michael Thomas, who lit the Liverpool torch with one of Wembley's great goals, joked: "Never mind that volley - what about the one I missed after two minutes?" "But I've scored goals which have won the league and the FA Cup. Now all I need is one to win the European Cup. Having Graeme back today helped a hell of a lot and it was a great lift for the team."

Souness defies medical opinion

Graeme Souness almost upstaged the royal party at Wembley as he emerged for the FA Cup Final against Sunderland. With the two teams lined-up in the centre of the pitch about to be presented to the Duke and Duchess of Kent, Souness emerged from the tunnel flanked by Liverpool doctor Mark Reid and club physiotherapist Phil Boersma.

 

Souness just made it onto the pitch as the band struck-up the National Anthem.

He stood to attention on the line at the tunnel end, and as he completed his walk to the Liverpool bench the Anfield fans chanted "Souness" to welcome him back, after his triple heart by-pass operation.

 

And as the Royal Party made their way to the Royal Box, the Duchess of Kent went to the Liverpool bench and sat alongside Souness, obviously wishing him all the best in his recovery.

But Souness was keen to deflect attention away from himself to the final itself. He said: "It's not about me. It's about Liverpool and Sunderland playing for the FA Cup final."

Souness' decision to sit on the bench was a surprise with many expecting him to watch from the VIP box and Souness, well known for his excitability on the touchline, confessed he has been forced to calm down his act.

 

"Because of my love for the game I have been too excited on the odd occasion but now I understand the situation," he said. "It's not a case of wanting to be different. It's a case of having to be different. Maybe I have been guilty of taking football too seriously." "In a perfect world the doctor said he would rather I stay at home, but he understood how much I wanted to be at Wembley." "This is the first time I have been to a FA Cup final. I never made it as a player and I wasn't going to miss it as a manager."

Red faces

A medals mix-up left Football Association officials sporting faces as red as the shirts of Cup winners Liverpool at Wembley on Saturday.

 

Dejected Sunderland players stared in disbelief at their medals after the 2-0 defeat for each one received from the Duke of Kent was labelled "FA Cup winner 1992".

When they suggested an exchange of medals afterwards Liverpool players responded: "You must be joking - we've won the Cup". Then they took a closer look after being told of the gong gaffe and the swap was arranged on the pitch before the laps of honour.

 

The medals were handed to the Duke for presentation by Football Association Chief executive Graham Kelly. More than an hour after the match he said: "I know nothing about this. I handed the medals to the Duke so perhaps they were in the wrong box or the boxes were labelled incorrectly."

 

Sunderland manager Malcolm Crosby joked: "I think we should have kept the medals. If they want to hand them out like that it's up to them."

 

Liverpool caretaker boss Ronnie Moran said: "The Sunderland lads came over to our players at the end and told them about the problem. Most of them swapped on the pitch and there were just one or two missing, but that's all sorted out now."

 

One player who could not wait to get back to the dressing room with his winners' medal was Sunderland's Irish striker John Byrne.  He declined to join his colleagues on the lap of honour and so missed the medal exchange. As he returned to the dressing room he said: "I've got a winners medal here and I'm going home now before anyone finds out."

 

Team-mate Gordon Armstrong said: "At least I had a winner's medal to hold for about 30 seconds."

 

Liverpool goalscorer Ian Rush added: "I couldn't understand it, but they soon put it right. It was good of the Sunderland lads to come up and tell us so soon."

 

Football Association spokesman David Bloomfield said: "It was a simple mistake. The players resolved it among themselves."

Moran pays tribute to match-winner McManaman

Liverpool stand-in manager Ronnie Moran hailed whizz-kid winger Steve McManaman as the comeback hero at Wembley after the Anfield giants lifted the FA Cup with a 2-0 win over Sunderland.

 

McManaman, 20, destroyed the dream of the Division Two side in a one-sided second half after being switched from left to right and making the vital opening goal for Michael Thomas.

 

"We don't usually individualise at Liverpool," said Moran, the veteran coach who has been in charge since Graeme Souness underwent open heart surgery a month ago. "But Steve's switch in the second half changed the game for us."

 

McManaman, local hero on Merseyside, was playing only his second game since a knee operation on April 9 and would have been only a substitute had England star John Barnes not failed a fitness test on a thigh injury yesterday.

 

Moran said: "Steve has come back and has done no real training since the operation. He only played in a reserve game at Nottingham Forest on Tuesday, but I never considered it a gamble playing him today because nothing ever bothers him. He can come straight back into it without any problems at all."

 

McManaman's run down the right and a superb through ball with the outside of his right foot opened the way for Michael Thomas to strike home a vicious volley. "I never saw much of Michael's goal," said McManaman. "There were two players on me and I knew I just had to flick the ball through before they could get in a tackle. I just aimed for the space and Michael did the rest."

Moran explained: "He had the surgery on the knee to remove a piece of bone. He has always been a lad of tremendous potential and today he proved how good he is. He's come through to make the best of the situation with all the injuries we have had this season and now he has got a great chance to go on from here. We are back in Europe and apart from the result and winning the Cup, that's the biggest thing to a club like this."

 

Moran admitted: "Our passing wasn't sharp enough in the first half and give credit to Sunderland, they had a couple of chances to score. I even thought they might have had a penalty but then right on half-time we could have had one too so it evens itself out. Once we got the break in the second half we were on our game. But we never eased up because you need a third goal before you can get the cigars out."

 

Sunderland manager Malcolm Crosby admitted: "I thought we did very well in the first half, but sadly we didn't put our chances away when we had them."

 

Republic of Ireland striker John Byrne, who had scored in every previous round, miskicked with the goal at his mercy in the 13th minute and admitted: "I should have done better but to be fair Liverpool gave us a lesson in football in the end."

 

Crosby said: "Byrne knows he had a chance and it was one that we usually expect him to take. But this was the FA Cup final and I can't be too critical because it's been a magnificent job just to get here."

 

And Crosby, who earned a one-year contract in the last few weeks after taking on a caretaker role following the dismissal of Denis Smith four months ago, added: "I can't complain. The players are all disappointed but I've been round to remind them that they have the best job in the world, playing football, getting paid for it and coming to Wembley once in a blue moon."