Liverpool avoided a potential Europa League embarrassment in Romania as they came from behind to book their place in the last 16 with a 3-1 win over Unirea Urziceni.

Shaky defending from set-pieces in the first half saw the Reds fall behind to Bruno Fernandes’ header in the 19th minute and for a while they looked rattled.

However, Javier Mascherano from long-range, and Ryan Babel from close, turned things around before the interval, and Steven Gerrard’s 33rd European goal wrapped up a 4-1 aggregate win following their 1-0 victory back at Anfield.

Liverpool began the game by retaining possession for long periods without really hurting their opponents but it was to cost them as, in the 19th minute, Unirea levelled the tie on aggregate.

Daniel Agger’s last-ditch tackle on Marius Onofras gave the hosts a corner from the left and Razvan Paduretu’s inviting delivery was perfect for centre-back Fernandes to power home a header virtually unchallenged.

But the Reds pulled level nine minutes later when Yossi Benayoun and David Ngog combined to allow Jamie Carragher to cross and, although Babel mis-controlled Gerrard’s far post header with only the goalkeeper to the beat, the ball broke to Mascherano outside the penalty area to lash a shot home.

Liverpool gave themselves the cushion they so desperately needed five minutes before half-time.

Gerrard swung in a free-kick from the right and Babel took one touch before swivelling to fire home from close range.

If there was any doubt about Unirea staging an unlikely comeback it was snuffed out by Gerrard in the 57th minute.

Babel broke down the left, moving the ball to Lucas and he picked out Benayoun, whose mazy dribble into the area was only half-stopped to allow the Liverpool captain to run onto the loose ball and blast a low shot under stopper Giedrius Arlauskis.

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Reds rally back to avoid upset

Liverpool avoided a potential Europa League embarrassment in Romania as they came from behind to book their place in the last 16 with a 3-1 win over Unirea Urziceni.

Shaky defending from set-pieces in the first half saw the Reds fall behind to Bruno Fernandes’ header in the 19th minute and for a while they looked rattled.

However, Javier Mascherano from long-range, and Ryan Babel from close, turned things around before the interval, and Steven Gerrard’s 33rd European goal wrapped up a 4-1 aggregate win following their 1-0 victory back at Anfield.

Liverpool began the game by retaining possession for long periods without really hurting their opponents but it was to cost them as, in the 19th minute, Unirea levelled the tie on aggregate.

Daniel Agger’s last-ditch tackle on Marius Onofras gave the hosts a corner from the left and Razvan Paduretu’s inviting delivery was perfect for centre-back Fernandes to power home a header virtually unchallenged.

But the Reds pulled level nine minutes later when Yossi Benayoun and David Ngog combined to allow Jamie Carragher to cross and, although Babel mis-controlled Gerrard’s far post header with only the goalkeeper to the beat, the ball broke to Mascherano outside the penalty area to lash a shot home.

Liverpool gave themselves the cushion they so desperately needed five minutes before half-time.

Gerrard swung in a free-kick from the right and Babel took one touch before swivelling to fire home from close range.

If there was any doubt about Unirea staging an unlikely comeback it was snuffed out by Gerrard in the 57th minute.

Babel broke down the left, moving the ball to Lucas and he picked out Benayoun, whose mazy dribble into the area was only half-stopped to allow the Liverpool captain to run onto the loose ball and blast a low shot under stopper Giedrius Arlauskis.

Read the article on Ananova

Postat de pe data de 31 ian., 2010 in categoria România în lume. Poti urmari comentariile acestui articol prin RSS 2.0. Acest articol a fost vizualizat de 374 ori.

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