‘Trials and tribulations, failures and successes. That’s life’: Downbeat Zack Steffen reveals his mistake against Liverpool is a ‘tough pill to swallow’ as the Manchester City goalkeeper vows to ‘get back up and grow from it’
- Zack Steffen’s error allowed Liverpool to go into a 2-0 lead in the first half
- Ibrahima Konate had put Liverpool ahead before Sadio Mane scored twice
- Liverpool advance to the FA Cup final where they will face Chelsea next month
Manchester City’s back-up goalkeeper Zack Steffen has taken to social media to reflect on his cup semi-final error that handed Liverpool the game.
Steffen conceded three goals in the first half as Liverpool blew City away, with the American making a shocking error when he allowed Sadio Mane to hare down on his goal when he dithered and tackle the ball into the net.
Taking to Twitter on the day after the game, Steffen said ‘trials and tribulations’ were a part of ‘life’ and all that mattered now was for him to ‘grow’ from the incidents.
Zack Steffen was downbeat following the game after his error in the first half
He said: ‘Trials and tribulations, failures and successes. That’s life.
‘Yesterday’s game is a tough pill to swallow, all we can do is get back up and grow from it.
‘Thank you to all the fans who made the trip. We will work hard to make you guys proud. We move forward.’
Mane’s two first half goals, which came after Ibrahima Konate gave Liverpool the lead, put the quadruple-chasers on the path to glory and ended City’s dreams of the treble.
City scored twice in the second half, with Jack Grealish reducing the deficit to two goals before Bernardo Silva scored late on, but they could not rescue it despite their best efforts.
Pep Guardiola was quick to jump to the defence of his back-up goalkeeper.
‘It was an accident but we need him to try because that’s how we play our football,’ he said.
‘I spoke to the team in general but it was an accident, it happens. [Ederson] was close (to making a mistake) in the last game as well. It happens. We need that to create our football. Of course you should review if it happens quite often but we use our keeper to move our opponents into different situations.
Sadio Mane’s two goals in the first half helped Liverpool into a 3-0 lead at Wembley over City
Despite Manchester City reducing the deficit to one goal they couldn’t recover
‘I would say that the average, the way we create our options, these things can happen. It is an accident. I’m pretty sure Zack didn’t want to do it. Sometimes the strikers miss in front of the keeper, other times the keeper makes a mistake.’
Guardiola went on to defend his team selection, having made seven changes from his side’s gruelling midweek clash with Atletico Madrid.
‘I have a lot of confidence in my players. We had a lot of fixtures and travels and a lot of important games and that’s why I picked the team,’ he said.
‘The first goal (from Ibrahima Konate) was a set-piece, where Liverpool are so strong and score many goals, and the second was an accident. Then we conceded a goal in the last minute of the first half, but afterwards we showed incredible pride.
‘We didn’t look tired after we scored because football is about momentum. We had the most clear chances and we scored goals. It is not easy to do that against Liverpool. We fought to the end and showed our pride.’
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