text: Steven Gerrard's hopes of a fairytale ending to his Liverpool career were shattered as his side suffered a 2-1 defeat to Aston Villa in the semi-finals of the FA Cup. The final on May 30, also by coincidence Gerrard's 35th birthday, would have been the midfielder's final game in a Liverpool shirt before he leaves for the Los Angeles Galaxy in the summer, but - although he was handed a starting role by manager Brendan Rodgers - he was unable to influence the outcome. Here, Sportsmail takes a closer look at Gerrard's performance at Wembley. Liverpool midfielder Steven Gerrard (left) competes for posession with Kieran Richardson . ROLE . Gerrard started the game in an advanced role behind Raheem Sterling and to the right of Philippe Coutinho in a 3-4-2-1 formation but midway through the first half, Liverpool adjusted their shape to 4-4-1-1, pushing Coutinho wide left and allowing Gerrard to adopt a more central position behind the striker. Rodgers tweaked Liverpool, and Gerrard's, shape for a third time at the interval, as the Reds went 4-3-2-1 with Gerrard playing deepest of the midfield three. Gerrard controls possession under pressure from Villa's Ashley Westwood at Wembley . Gerrard almost snatched a dramatic equaliser with four minutes left, but his header was cleared off the line . POSSESSION . The first half largely passed Gerrard by as playing further forward starved him of any sustained spells of possession and Villa crowded out the space in front of their back four to good effect. Dropping back into central midfield after the interval allowed the Liverpool captain to collect the ball from his defenders but his passing was cautious and occasionally wayward. Gerrard was deployed in a number of different roles by Brendan Rodgers (right) throughout the contest . GOAL THREAT . Gerrard blazed a long-range effort over the bar shortly after half-time and curled a potentially dangerous free-kick into the hands of Shay Given midway through the second half. He almost snatched a dramatic equaliser with four minutes left, but his header was cleared off the line. OVERALL . This was far from the fairytale ending Gerrard would have hoped for. The veteran looked confused by the various roles given to him by Rodgers and he failed to thrive in any of them. Gerrard leaves the pitch following his side's 2-1 FA Cup semi-final defeat by Villa .
target: Liverpool lost 2-1 to Aston Villa in the FA Cup semi-final at Wembley .
  Steven Gerrard's dream of making the FA Cup final were shattered .
  Gerrard started the game in an advanced role behind Raheem Sterling .
  The first half largely passed Gerrard by at Wembley .
  The Reds midfielder, however, almost snatched an equaliser at the death .