Battered Birmingham Go Down 7-0
Liverpool crushed struggling Birmingham 7-0 to progress to the semi-finals of the FA Cup.
Sami Hyypia gave Liverpool the lead after just 54 seconds, heading in a Steven Gerrard free-kick.
Four minutes later Peter Crouch scored with a downward header then added another on 38 minutes.
In the second half Liverpool added to the rout with goals from Fernando Morientes (59) John Arne Riise (70) before an own goal by Oliver Tebily made it 6-0.
Then in the last minute Cisse completed the humiliation, leaving a shell-shocked Birmingham boss Steve Bruce with what he called ‘ the worst night I have ever experienced’.
“Sometimes football kicks you in the teeth,” he said.
“I’m shell-shocked, disappointed and humiliated. It was men against boys, a result possibly waiting to happen with the patched up side we have got.”
“There are a lot of dented egos in the dressing room. There is very little to say to them. They are humiliated.”
“We have got Manchester United and Chelsea coming up. It’s going to be a big test for us all, myself, my staff and my managerial ability to try to lift everyone if I can.”
Liverpool manager Rafael Benitiz believed luck played a part in his biggest win while in charge .
“I’m delighted with the final result and the performance of the players,” he said.
“Sometimes you cannot score goals after 30 attempts - as against Charlton - but here every time we shot it was a goal.”
“We have quality. The strikers are really good, and in this case, we had a lot of luck.”
“We are closer to the final and we will try to do the same things, play well, but in one game anything can happen.”
