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REDS THROUGH DESPITE SHOCK DEFEAT |
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It's taken six games and 41 days but Liverpool have finally secured their place in the lucrative group stage of this season's Champions League - despite crashing to a shock 1-0 home defeat against CSKA Sofia.
On a disappointing night at Anfield there was little to cheer as the Reds scraped through this third qualifying round tie on aggregate, courtesy of their 3-1 first leg victory in Bulgaria a fortnight ago.
In what was the club's 250th game in continental competition few problems were anticipated but Sofia obviously hadn't read the script and Valentin Iliev's 15th minute strike in front of a stunned Kop was enough to earn the Bulgarian champions a famous win.
Despite being without injured captain Steven Gerrard, Rafael Benitez felt that Liverpool's first leg cushion was sufficient enough to rest several other established first team regulars, including Jamie Carragher and Xabi Alonso.
In total he made five changes to the starting eleven that defeated Sunderland on Saturday but it was a decision he was left to rue as the visitors made life extremely difficult for Liverpool with their slick passing and intelligent movement in an entertaining opening half.
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The first chance of the night fell to Djibril Cisse in the 6th minute. The French striker, who's future at Anfield has been the subject of much speculation in recent days, raced onto a through ball by John Arne Riise and skipped past a Sofia defender only for keeper Dejan Maksic to rush off his line and make an excellent low block. Cisse looked like he had a point to prove during the opening exchanges and moments later he drilled a shot narrowly wide of the near post as Liverpool's bright start continued. But as the game settled down the visitors grew in confidence and they silenced the home fans on the quarter hour mark by snatching a surprise lead with their first effort on goal of the night. Momo Sissoko was adjudged to have fouled captain Emil Gargorov and from the resultant free-kick and Iliev curled a delightful out-swinging effort past the despairing dive of Scott Carson and into the back of the net off the inside of the far post.
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Five minutes later Sofia almost doubled their advantage. Zadi got behind the Liverpool defence and Carson was forced to make a crucial save on the edge of the area to deny him. The loose ball then fell to Yordan Todorov but from 30-yards out he fired over, much to the relief of the majority inside Anfield. The Reds responded with a venomous strike from Cisse that Maksic did well to hold and Sissoko dragged a shot wide but the Bulgarian's continued to look threatening on the counter-attack and what should have been a comfortable night was turning into a real struggle.
Luis Garcia replaced Darren Potter at the break and Liverpool came out for the second in a much more determined mood. John Arne Riise twice went close in quick succession, first with a rasping drive from 25-yards that the keeper punched over and then with a low shot from a tight angle that hit the side-netting. But still there was the danger that Sofia could sneak another and there was a real 'hearts in the mouth' moment for Liverpudlians when Mourad Hdiouad blasted a long-range free-kick just wide of the post.
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With the Kop doing their best to suck in an equaliser Liverpool continued to push forward. Bolo Zenden replaced Stephen Warnock as Benitez upped the stakes and Fernando Morientes had an effort cleared off the line following a mazy run through the Sofia defence. Memories of last season's home defeat to AK Graz at the same stage of the competition sprung to mind as the minutes ticked by and the sense of frustration increased. In a last throw of the dice Florent Sinama-Pongolle entered the fray but it was to no avail. Sissoko struck the crossbar in the final minute and Liverpool's nine-game unbeaten run came to an end.
On the positive side, the reigning Kings of Europe will take their rightful place in Thursday's draw. For the time being at least, UEFA Cup football has been avoided and the mouth-watering prospect of a trip to Paris for another Champions League Final in May moved another step closer. On the evidence of this performance though drastic improvement must be made if this particular dream is to become a reality. |
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