Flashback: Top five cup wins over Manchester City
Ahead of Liverpool facing Manchester City in the first leg of their Champions League quarter-final tie, we have picked out five classic cup encounters between the sides.
Read on to relive a collection of memorable Reds wins in knockout competition...
January 1981: League Cup semi-final
En route to winning the League Cup for the first time, Liverpool were paired with City in a two-legged semi-final. Ray Kennedy’s 81st-minute goal at Maine Road gave Bob Paisley’s side the advantage going into an Anfield decider that saw the hosts book a place at Wembley. In front of an expectant home crowd, Kenny Dalglish got the Kop roaring when he increased the aggregate scoreline with an early opener and, despite Kevin Reeves pulling a goal back for City, the Reds marched on to the final.
March 1988: FA Cup quarter-final
Dalglish’s 1987-88 team reached the semi-finals of the FA Cup in style with a 4-0 thumping of City at Maine Road. The Reds were without injured striker John Aldridge but Craig Johnston deputised admirably in an unfamiliar role as he helped his team to a comfortable win. Jimmy Frizzell’s team could not cope with the brilliant link play of John Barnes and Peter Beardsley as they came out second best. Ray Houghton netted the opener before Beardsley added a second from the penalty spot; Johnston and Barnes later completed the rout.
October 1995: League Cup third round
This was the week when Roy Evans’ Liverpool side fired 10 goals past Alan Ball’s City at Anfield in the space of three days. First up was a League Cup third-round clash that saw the holders start brightly when John Scales netted early. Despite going on to create a hatful of chances, no further goals arrived until the last 15 minutes when Eike Immel conceded from Robbie Fowler, Ian Rush and Steve Harkness in quick succession.
February 2001: FA Cup fifth round
Gerard Houllier’s Liverpool kept up their bid for FA Cup glory as they beat City 4-2 in a fifth-round clash at Anfield. Kopites were roaring when Jari Litmanen opened the scoring from the penalty spot after seven minutes, and Emile Heskey increased the lead just four minutes later. Former Manchester United and Everton star Andrei Kanchelskis pulled a goal back for Joe Royle’s side but a penalty from Vladimir Smicer and a further goal from Markus Babbel made it 4-1. Shaun Goater then netted a late consolation goal as Houllier’s Reds ran out worthy winners.
January 2012: League Cup semi-final
Back in 2012, Dalglish’s Reds booked their Wembley final ticket with a thrilling semi-final win over City. In the first leg at the Etihad Stadium, Steven Gerrard’s penalty secured a 1-0 aggregate lead for Liverpool, but that was wiped out after 31 minutes at Anfield as Nigel de Jong levelled things up with a fine strike in front of the Kop. Another Gerrard spot-kick restored the hosts' lead before the break, but they were heading out on away goals after Edin Dzeko netted midway through the second half. Craig Bellamy had other ideas, however, the Welshman capping arguably his finest performance in a red shirt with a late goal to take his team to Wembley.