Liverpool 3-1 Cardiff City
by James Nalton
at Anfield

LIVERPOOL got a glimpse of their future in their FA Cup tie against Cardiff City today.

The Reds won the game thanks to goals from Diogo Jota, Takumi Minamino and Harvey Elliott, but second-half substitutes Elliott and Luis Diaz drew cheers just as loud as those for the goals as they came on.

Elliott was returning to action following time out with a broken ankle suffered earlier in the season at Leeds.

The 18-year-old had looked to be a key part of Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp’s plans in those early stages of the season and he showed during this 30-minute cameo why the Liverpool coaching staff think so highly of him. 

He was lively from the outset. A spark in what hadn’t been the most entertaining of games.

He then made this count by adding the third goal, putting the tie to bed, if it wasn’t already, with a well-taken finish in front of the Kop — and celebrated accordingly.

Diaz, meanwhile, is the new signing who arrived from Porto towards the end of the January transfer window.

The 25-year-old Colombian was also involved immediately, taking advantage of a lapse in concentration among the Cardiff defence to set up Liverpool’s second for Minamino.

Their introduction followed what had been a fairly drab opening 45 minutes with Liverpool dominating possession but not doing much with it.

Naby Keita had returned from his Africa Cup of Nations duties with Guinea and set up Jota for a good chance in the opening minutes, but it was well saved by Cardiff goalkeeper Dillon Phillips.

Cardiff thought they may have had a penalty when Mark Harris was able to get in front of Ibrahima Konate, but neither referee Andy Madley nor the VAR saw a reason to award a spot-kick.

Minamino was lively as the half drew on, linking up with Jota to create a chance which Curtis Jones sent flying over the bar.

There was another scare for Liverpool when goalkeeper Caiomihin Kelleher brought down Mark Harris some distance outside the area, but the VAR decided Konate was covering sufficiently for it to be a yellow card rather than a red.

Jota eventually broke the deadlock in the second half, heading home from a pinpoint Trent Alexander-Arnold free-kick.

Minamino got in on the action, scoring his fifth goal in as many starts in the domestic cups. The Japan international has proven to be a useful squad player for Liverpool in the absence of Sadio Mane and Mohamed Salah.

Elliott then rounded off the win before Cardiff added a consolation goal through Rubin Colwill, giving the travelling fans something to celebrate before heading back to south Wales.

There was one more worrying moment for Liverpool as Diaz went down injured in the second half, but it was an impact injury from which he was able to recover and see out the rest of the game.

The new signing Diaz and returning wonderkid Elliott were the gloss on what was in the end a convincing win for Klopp’s side.

Liverpool will now face Norwich in the next round as they look to with the FA Cup for the first time since 2006.