Liverpool have booked their place in the FA fifth round after a 3-1 victory over Cardiff City at Anfield this afternoon, although they didn't have it all their own way against the Championship club.
The first half was a frustrating one for the home side, who failed to find the back of the net despite dominating possession. Things could have gotten much worse for them after the interval after an incident involving Republic of Ireland international Caoimhín Kelleher.
The goalkeeper was perhaps lucky to remain on the pitch for the whole game.
With the scores at 0-0 at the start of the second half, the Irishman came rushing out of his goal to stop a Cardiff counterattack. He mistimed it, missing the ball and taking down Mark Harris.
The referee initially gave the goalkeeper a yellow card, a decision that stood after a lengthy VAR check. However, many felt he fortunate to remain on the pitch.
You can watch the incident below.
Caoimhin Kelleher gets away with a yellow card pic.twitter.com/kZk2NTjsUT
— Irish Soccer News (@IreNews8) February 6, 2022
The challenge was a wild one, while some could also argue that he denied a clear goalscoring opportunity.
Speaking on ITV after the game, both Roy Keane and Ian Wright said that the Cork native was perhaps a bit fortunate to avoid a red card on this occasion.
Wright: I don't think it was an obvious scoring opportunity, because Konate gets around.
I think they were looking at the challenge. The challenge was something he probably could have gone for, that's what me and Roy were saying.
He has caught him there, it's pretty high. He has caught him.
Keane: He's not in control is he? He has gotten very lucky with the sending off and it could have been a bad injury.
He got very lucky...
He has gotten the benefit of the doubt. Sometimes it is one of those ones that the home team gets it, he's very lucky.
Wright: I don't think they got that one right. I think for the foul play he could have gotten sent off for that.
This was a rare mistake from Kelleher, who has impressed whenever he has been given the opportunity to play for Liverpool.
The 23-year old is likely to feature on a few more occasions this season, most notably in the Carabao Cup final. Roy Keane seems to be a big fan of his.
Speaking before the Cardiff game, the former Ireland assistant manager said that he was impressed with the goalkeeper during their brief time together at international camps.
Apparently when he was younger he started off as an outfield player, possibly a striker. He obviously wasn’t very good because they pushed back.
He’s obviously done very well for himself. Martin (O’Neil) brought him into the senior squad when we were with Ireland and what you’d say about him is he has a fantastic temperament and that’s what you need to be a good goalkeeper particularly at the big clubs.
He’s done very well, great with his feet, a real maturity about him when he came into the Irish squad when I was there with Martin - a real nice presence about him.
He wasn’t giddy around the place, his training, his attitude was spot on and it’s good to see him get some minutes for Liverpool.
Liverpool would manage to secure the victory in the end, with second half strikes from Diogo Jota, Takumi Minamino, and the returning Harvey Elliott handing them the win.
They will now face Norwich City in the next round, with Kelleher no doubt hoping to continue his run of games in this competition.
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