Liverpool vs. Chelsea: Rating the Reds in the Carling Cup Clash

What a night for Liverpool. Kenny Dalglish and his Red men can go home happy after a 2-0 Carling Cup semifinal win over Chelsea—their second win over the Blues in nine days—and another notch in Dalglish's unbeaten streak against the Blues as a Liverpool manager.

Overall, the Reds have a lot to be proud of, but some performances stood out especially.

Here are the Liverpool player ratings in tonight's quarter-final. If you have any thoughts about tonight's performances that you'd like to share, as always, have at it in the comments section. 

Goalkeeper and Defenders

Pepe Reina

Reina didn't have to deal with too many serious threats tonight, but the ones he did—most notably, a fierce late-in-the-game from Fernando Torres, a face-off with Nicolas Anelka in dangerous territory—he handled beautifully.

Plus, a clean sheet is still a clean sheet. 7.0

Martin Kelly

The young defender won his bet with Jay Spearing, getting his first senior goal before his teammate did on a cracking connection from Bellamy's setup. He looked strong in his usual role as well, making some exhausting-looking runs and dismantling an on-goal attempt from Frank Lampard. 7.5

Jamie Carragher

Solid night for Carra, with some good counter-attacks; he proved that he's definitely not finished with the Reds. The most entertaining moment, at least for me, was seeing him go up against an on-form Romelu Lukaku.

As Blues Chronicle on Twitter put it, Carra "must be old enough to be his dad." Which feasibly could be true, if Carragher was around 15 when he hypothetically fathered Lukaku. Ick. 7.0

Sebastián Coates

The Uruguayan defender, an arrival in the August transfer window, hasn't seen a whole lot of action for the Red men yet. Tonight, he proved that maybe he deserves more playing time, breaking up the Chelsea attack with great confidence and skill.

He ran into a bit of disciplinary trouble and made a couple of mistakes early on, but overall, once he got settled, he came off looking like he'd been doing this all season.

Quite the dancer, too. 8.5

José Enrique

Of the two recent transfers from Newcastle United, it's clear which one is working better. José Enrique made some key clearances and defended with skill and composure.

He did overshoot a few attempted crosses, though, but still, it was overall a great night for the full-back. 7.5 

Midfielders

Jordan Henderson

Hendo looked a lot better today than he has in some previous performances—most notably setting the events in motion to create Maxi's goal.

He gave the ball away a couple of times and a trip of his won a corner for Chelsea, but overall he's improving, and should shape up to be a good return on Kenny Dalglish's investment. 7.0

Jay Spearing

On a couple of the broadcasts, Spearing was actually initially credited with Maxi's goal. He didn't have anything to do with it, but overall he did put in a solid performance. He worked really hard on the pitch and made some good tackles. His improvement work in the reserves looks like it's starting to show results. 7.0

Lucas Leiva

Not sure what could have possibly brought it on, but whatever it was, Lucas Leiva made it his mission to make sure Fernando Torres had as miserable a game as possible.

The holding midfielder, who hasn't been at his absolute best this season, put in a fantastic effort today and made some key interceptions. Hopefully, this injury won't see him on the sidelines for too long, as he is the best—and really only—DM option right now. 8.5

Maxi Rodriguez

Maxi, Maxi Rodriguez. After a lot of time on the bench toward the beginning of the season, Maxi has come out looking highly resurgent, scoring again on Chelsea for the second time in nine days.

He made at least one dud pass, but generally connected well with his teammates and was a key part of the attack tonight. 7.5

Strikers

Craig Bellamy (MOTM)

Bellamy was the architect behind the Reds' attack tonight, making some tremendous runs and setting up key plays. He set up both of Liverpool's goals tonight, the second on a brilliantly-delivered free kick.

And to put in that kind of performance after losing someone so important to you, as he did just coming off of the passing of Gary Speed, takes an incredibly steely resolve. 8.5

Andy Carroll

That missed penalty in the first half, which went straight to Ross Turnbull, sort of set the tone for the match for Andy Carroll.

Overall, he gave a relatively decent showing and better effort compared to some past performances with some good aerial action, but he had a great opportunity to show what he could do and nothing came of it. Better to be sure, but still somewhat frustrating. 6.0

Subs

Charlie Adam

Adam came on towards the end of the second half in lieu of the injured Lucas Leiva, and although he didn't wow quite like the Brazilian did, he kept the defense quiet and helped finish the job Lucas started. Nothing particularly impressive, but a solid effort. 6.0

Dirk Kuyt

Maxi might have earned his spot on the wing over Kuyt and proved he should stay there, but Kuyt was his usual engine self once he came on. Didn't play long enough to make quite enough of an impact to really give him a proper rating, though. N/A

Martin Skrtel

Skrtel came in for the last few minutes of the match for Maxi Rodriguez to shore up the defense, but not long enough to give him a decisive rating. N/A