Sport 19-12-2002 Late Murphy Goal Books Liverpool`s Date With Blades who: Liverpool what: Beat Aston Villa 3-4 in Worthington Cup quarter-final where: Villa Park, BIRMINGHAM when: Last night snippet: "On a night of chaos and drama, second-half goals from Milan Baros, Steven Gerrard and Danny Murphy took Liverpool a step closer to their second Worthington Cup final in three years," says The Telegraph`s Christopher Davies after a thrilling 3-4 victory for the visitors at Villa Park. "Murphy`s free-kick had earlier cancelled out Darius Vassell`s 23rd-minute penalty to leave the teams all square at the interval. Barros and Gerrard then put Liverpool ahead and even though Tomas Hitzlsperger and Dion Dublin kept Villa`s hopes alive, Murphy struck again in the 90th minute to take Gerard Houllier`s team into the last four." "We have been short of confidence but we were never short of character," says Houllier, quoted in The Independent. "All through the game, we showed great spirit and, to get out of the bad spell, we need the attitude to be right. To score four goals away made it a fantastic game and I`m glad we avoided extra-time with the Everton game coming up this weekend." Unfortunately, the game was marred by a chaotic hour-and-twenty-minute delay because 17,000 fans were still outside queuing to collect their tickets at the scheduled 7.45pm start, reports The Sun. "We have been in our seats since seven but have had to take the boys out because they are terrified," says an unnamed mother of two boys, aged 9 and 11, who decided to make their way home just as the game started at 9.05pm. "They`ve just let a bunch of hooligans into the family enclosure and they were swearing and yelling at everyone..." In the semis, Liverpool will now take on Sheffield United, while Manchester United will play the holders Blackburn Rovers over two legs in the weeks beginning January 6th and 20th. [... more]

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