We weren't the better side tonight but to come away with a win, after playing below our standard, is incredible. I thought we might go through but i did not expect us to win.
To be honest, we were sloppy throughout - although so were Inter in defence. But at the other end they cut us open on a few occasions and should have pulled the 2 goal deficit back... Some weak finishing from Ibrahimovic and Julio Cruz made sure that didn't happen though.
Reina was very good i thought - he didn't have a tremendous amount to deal with that was on target, but pulled off two great saves (both from Cruz) and looked confident in the heart of our goal.
Carragher, Hyypia and more importantly Skrtel looked relatively composed, yet our defence seem fractured and allowed Inter through it all too often. For me Aurelio let the side down - he was beaten all too often, be it by Stankovic, Maicon or Ibrahimovic. He was impressive going forward mind, playing Babel in behind the Inter defence from a terrific long ball and also assisting Torres for the goal.
Lucas looked shaky at the beginning and really took time to ease into things, but his composure came and his passing and particularly tackling improved slightly. I still think he was a considerable weak link though, but he'll improve. Like Skrtel this was an excellent experience for him.
Mascherano imposed himself on the game with a fine performance, perhaps our best player. He scrapped for every ball and you could see the frustration aimed at him on i think it was Stankovic face when he lashed out at Masch towards the end. He was ran ragged in the first half a bit though.
Babel was generally anonymous, other from the aforementioned chance provided by Fabio when he ran through the middle but for the Inter 'keeper to get to the ball first. He began to get the better of Maicon as the game wore on, who was generally poor throughout, but then was replaced by Benayoun.
Gerrard, well, like most people had a dubious touch and wasn't on top form. Didn't have much time to impose himself on the attacking front, both thanks to Cambiasso and Inter posing a threat at the other end, but he did come very close with a free-kick.
Kuyt again worked tirelessly and did prove a difficulty down the right wing, even though the majority of what he did didn't come to much. He was one of the many culprits for our disjointed attack. Did come fairly close with a shot mind.
Torres again had a disappointing touch and failed to get the better of his defender for all but two instances. The first when he ran from the left side and came inside at the near post to shoot (where he probably should have pulled it back to Gerrard or Kuyt) and of course the goal, which was a moment of magic - the defender gave him room to turn and he made him pay. It was fantastic to see him not only score against a big club (as we know he can) but also scoring away from home (where he's been debatable).
Say what you like about the red card - Inter Milan up until our matches hadn't lost a match this season... They boasted that statistic not because they roll over and let teams win, regardless of sendings offs, but a team that is resolute, determined and solid. We scored 3 past them when they couldn't score 1; we deserved progression just as much as they did.
As it happens, i think the sending off could be justified. The first was where Burdisso lashed out, kicking Kuyt when the ball had gone - which, according to Bluenose, is a straight red. The second was a high foot which took Lucas out after he'd got the ball... Even if they're sometimes not given, you can hardly say we were overly fortuitous to have seen it happen. It's the sort of things that can go either way, and the ref was card-happy tonight anyway - for both sides.
In the next round i'd preferably like to avoid
Arsenal, and then i'm not too fussed... Although keeping it foreign would be the safer bet. As good as it is to be in the quarter-finals, the real bonus is the boost this win will give our league campaign - we
should (that being the operative word, considering last time) beat Reading, and that sets us up perfectly for the colossal barrage of
Manchester United,
Everton,
Arsenal as way as the resultant ties from tonight's game.
Haha.. 
