Liverpool 3-1 Cardiff City: Brave Bluebirds bow out of FA Cup at Anfield in controversial defeat

An impressive first-half performance wasn't enough to prevent Cardiff City going down to a 3-1 defeat to Liverpool in the FA Cup fourth round at Anfield.

Goals from Diogo Jota, Takumi Minamino and Harvey Elliott were enough to hand victory to the hosts, before Cardiff added a late consolation through Rubin Colwill.

A brave first-half performance yielded plenty of positives for the 6,000 or so Cardiff fans, although many will likely be dwelling on what might have been after seeing their side on the end of two contentious refereeing decisions.

Mark Harris appeared to be denied a stonewall penalty after being nudged over by Ibrahima Konate, while Caoimhin Kelleher was arguably lucky to escape a red card after a late challenge.

Take nothing away from Liverpool. They fully deserved their comfortable victory, and seldom looked too troubled by the visitors, but when you're taking on one of the best teams in the world, these are the sort of decisions that need to go your way.

Steve Morison had previously hailed this trip as the ideal chance to measure themselves up against one of the best sides in the world, but it was also a chance to reward the younger players who have served Cardiff so well this season.

Even so, the sight of Eli King and Oliver Denham in the Cardiff starting XI certainly came as a surprise, particularly with the likes of Trent Alexander-Arnold, Virgil van Dijk, Jordan Henderson and Jota all named in a strong Liverpool line-up.

Cardiff, backed by a full Anfield Road end, actually started reasonably brightly, with Marlon Pack and Perry Ng warming the gloves of Kelleher.

But Liverpool predictably asserted their dominance in the opening exchanges, and would have been ahead were it not for Dillon Phillips, who did