PLAYER RATINGS: LIVERPOOL 2-1 NORWICH CITY

Liverpool sealed qualification to the quarter finals of the FA Cup, for the first time since 2015, with a comfortable 2-1 victory at home to Norwich. Taki Minamino netted a first half brace to settle the game. Read on for player ratings from the match.

Alisson – 6.5

Started poorly with some overhit passes straight out of play under no pressure. Settled into his groove as the game wore on and made an excellent save from Rowe late on to preserve the lead. Unsighted for Rupp’s strike from distance.

Milner – 8

First half he was terrific. He was on hand with a sliding challenge on a couple of occasions to deny them a goalscoring opportunity. He also bombed forward a lot and swung crosses into the box. Second half he wasn’t as influential. Rowe beat him for pace too easily to get that shot away. Still a decent outing for the 37 year old.

Konaté – 6.5

Another who started slowly and gave the ball away a few times. Grew into it as well and was generally comfortable till late on. For their goal, Rashica just dances past him before laying it off for Rupp to strike. Didn’t cover himself in glory there.

Gomez – 7

In the frantic opening minutes, he got us playing by calmly chesting one long ball down and finding a teammate. His pace was on show tonight as he turned the afterburners on to put out some fires. Played one or two underhit diagonals across the face of his own goal which almost got him in trouble. Pocketed Pukki and beat him to almost every ball.

Tsimikas – 7

A battling performance as always. He enjoyed himself out there tonight as he brought out his box of tricks and flicks. Made several runs on the outside but his teammates didn’t play him in. His cross to Origi led to the opening goal. Rest of his crosses were meat and drink for Gibson and co.

Henderson – 6.5

Wasn’t involved as much as you’d have expected. Pressed well at times, got too easily bypassed by Norwich’s interplay at times. One such occasion saw him trip his man and take a booking. Unlucky to see a whipped effort blocked by Gibson. Given a breather after an hour. We lost a bit of control after that.

Oxlade-Chamberlain  – 6.5

An okay performance, got a few shots away, clipping the outside of the post on one occasion. Won the ball back well a few times. Gave it away in a dangerous area late on to groans from the Kop. Just a solid, if unspectacular shift.

Jones – 7

Looked like a man possessed tonight. Pressed maniacally and won the ball back well. He was very purposeful on the ball and was unlucky not to score when his curled effort after cutting in from the left, clipped the top of the crossbar. Lost the ball once or twice but it was much improved from Curtis. Popped it off much quicker and wasn’t caught on it as he has been in recent weeks.

Minamino – 9

Lined up on the right wing and dropped deep to get involved in phases of play. Took his two goals with clinical accuracy. The first came when Origi played him in after collecting Tsimikas’ cross, with Taki having only Krul to beat. The second goal was spectacular.

A corner was half cleared to him at the back post and he unleashed a thunderous shot past Krul as it went in off the post. Worked so hard chasing down everything. Was extremely unselfish in the second half when he tried setting up his teammates instead of go for a hat trick.

Origi – 6

Unselfish layoff for Minamino’s first goal. Didn’t do anything else of note. Lost out on too many duels. Eased out of the way by Gibson whenever the ball came his way. Took the wrong decision to shoot on one attack with Tsimikas in space down the left.

Jota – 5.5

Not involved much. Very quiet first half. Got into it more second half and saw two efforts go close. One driving run into the box opened up space for him but his shot was blocked by Gibson. His header at the back post from Elliot’s cross went over.

Substitutes

Elliott – 6

Gave the ball away too often, with one giveaway seeing Norwich break away and score. He had a few chances to play his teammates in but the passes weren’t quite on the money. He did make the effort to create chances however, with his right footed cross finding Jota at the back post.

Morton – 5

Misjudged a number of balls up in the air and looked a little lost when Norwich swarmed forward.

Diaz – 7

Looked very lively in his short cameo at the end. Thought he’d scored when he sent one defender with a dummy before curling his shot just past the top corner. He then saw another shot charged down, making it easy for Krul. Taken out by a horrendous challenge by Byram but he bounced straight back up.

Mané – N/A

Came on with Diaz and played through the middle. This might be his new position going forward. He didn’t really get into it, losing a few aeriel duels and then Elliott underhit a through ball when he was running through on goal late on.

Jürgen Klopp

The gaffer made 10 changes to his side after the intense final on Sunday. Skipper Jordan Henderson is the only player that retained his place. His side went 2-0 up in the first half and sought to control proceedings second half.

A sloppy bit of play saw Norwich pull one back and make it nervy briefly. His side saw it out without any real problems however. Loved the Mane/Diaz double sub late on. Into the last eight!