Reo-Coker rues pivotal intervention

One fateful error from on-loan Lionel Scaloni cost West Ham the FA Cup, and players from both sides accepted the critical moment that swung the 125th final Liverpool’s way.

Scaloni, who may have played his last game for the club with his loan from Deportivo at an end, was the key figure in the dramatic final minutes of normal time with West Ham clinging on to a 3-2 lead.

First Scaloni kicked the ball out of play near his own corner flag with Djibril Cisse down injured. Even at that point Teddy Sheringham rushed up to tell the right-back he should have belted the ball way down field to waste time.

Then when Liverpool gave the ball back to West Ham, Dietmar Hamann cleverly managed to make sure the ball was unlikely to run out of play for a goal-kick that would have virtually killed off the game.

With Fernando Morientes about to challenge, Scaloni could not risk the ball not running behind and had to clear, managing only to plant the ball at Steven Gerrard’s feet.

West Ham skipper Nigel Reo-Coker admitted: “Thirty seconds from the end we would have liked that ’return’ from them, after the ball had been kicked out for someone to get treatment, to have been allowed to roll out for a goal-kick, but these things happen in a game.”

Gerrard took possession, gave John Arne Riise the chance to plant the ball into West Ham’s box, and when Danny Gabbidon’s headed clearance fell at Gerrard’s feet some 35 yards out, the Liverpool skipper crashed home the equaliser that sent the game into extra-time.

Reo-Coker said:”You cannot take anything away from Gerrard, it was a fantastic strike and goal.

“Obviously he’s the last person you want the ball to drop to in the final minute of a cup final. But these things happen.”

“It was a fantastic team effort for us, and just a moment of magic from Steven Gerrard, but that is what he is about.”

Jamie Carragher summed up the Liverpool view of the incident, saying: “I suppose when we threw the ball back to Scaloni in the last seconds of normal time after he’d kicked it out for treatment to one of our lads, it would have wasted more time if it had gone out for a goal kick and not been kicked back to Stevie.

“But that is the way it goes. West Ham fans would think it should have rolled out, wouldn’t they!”

West Ham defender Danny Gabbidon summed up the feeling of every Hammers fan when Gerrard shaped to crash the ball home.

He said: “I can hardly talk I am so upset, we deserved to win it until that injury time equaliser. And to lose on penalties does not get any crueller.

“Going two-up was a great start for us, and if we could have just held it until the break like that we would have had a much better chance.

“It would have been harder for them. But they got a goal back and started to play better, the equaliser came very quickly.

“But even after they equalised we ’went again’ and took the lead, and it was only a wonder strike from Gerrard that robbed us.

“When the ball fell to Gerrard everyone knew, didn’t they? It was even worse for the first one when the ball dropped to him, he doesn’t usually miss those.

“Then we get to injury time and the ball goes out, we get it back and try to clear and the one person you do not want to see the ball dropping to is him.

“He specialises in scoring those sort of goals, and it was an unbelievable strike, hats off to him.

“He’s a great player and it was a great goal. It was cruel to finish the way it did.”