Thursday, December 2, 2010

Europa League - Steaua and Liverpool share the points in Group K and the Reds go through to the round of 32

FC Steaua Bucureşti 1-1 Liverpool FCThe English side reached the round of 32 while their hosts remain best placed to join them after a draw in Bucharest.


Roy Hodgson enjoying the performance of his young Liverpool players in Bucharest

Liverpool FC edged into the round of 32 as Group K winners with a 1-1 draw at FC Steaua Bucureşti that kept them three points ahead of their closest challengers.

Milan Jovanović's first European goal for the Reds after 19 minutes broke the deadlock but the Army Men battled back with Éder Bonfim levelling after an error by Pepe Reina just past the hour as Steaua retained second spot in Group K, two points ahead of their final opponents, SSC Napoli.

Liverpool made ten changes from the side beaten by Tottenham Hotspur FC on Sunday and the unfamiliarity in their ranks doubtless contributed to a disjointed opening. The first chance arrived after 15 minutes and it was a fine one that Steaua spurned as Eric Bicfalvi headed over Romeo Surdu's cross from close range.

Roy Hodgson's men made them pay for that profligacy as Ryan Babel wrong-footed the home rearguard and crossed for Jovanović to head expertly into the corner. The visitors then appeared content to play on the counterattack and were comfortable until the stroke of half-time when Bogdan Stancu escaped the attentions of Sotiris Kyrgiakos only to slice wide from close range.

Marius Lacatus's charges were brighter early in the second half but only fashioned one opportunity of note when Cristian Tănase crossed and Geraldo Alves's header was smothered by an alert Reina. The goalkeeper was not so composed on 61 minutes, however, when substitute Stanislav Angelov's centre was nodded tamely towards goal by Bonfim only for the Spain custodian to allow it to slide between his legs.

Kyrgiakos nearly restored Liverpool's lead when he out-jumped Ciprian Tătăruşanu only for his header to clip the bar while Bănel Nicoliţă narrowly missed the near post for Steaua with a 20-metre drive and Stancu the top corner with a curling effort. But with a draw in the other group match maintaining the status quo, both sides settled for a share of the spoils.


Elsewhere in Europe...

Utrecht - Napoli 3-3
Edinson Cavani helped himself to a treble as SSC Napoli fought back from 3-1 down to both hold and eliminate FC Utrecht. Liverpool cannot be surpassed at the summit after drawing 1-1 away to an FC Steaua Bucureşti side who remain in second but need to avoid defeat in Italy to prevent being overtaken at the last by Napoli.

Dortmund 3-0 FC Karpaty Lviv
The Bundesliga leaders thrashed the Ukrainian underdogs in a spectacular match for the home team, giving the German club a chance to progress in the tournament if they win in Seville in two weeks time. Goal scorers were Shinji Kagawa (5'), Mats Hummels (49'), and Robert Lewandowski (89'). All were assisted by Nuri Sahin.

Rapid Vienna 1-3 FC Porto
Thanks to the prolific Colombian striker, Falcao, Porto defeated Rapid Vienna in Austria by 2 goal margin. The Colombian star scored a hat-trick (42', 86', 88') and put in a marvelous performance for his Portuguese side and the whole club and the fans are delighted with him. The home side's Christopher Tremmel put Rapid Vienna in the lead in the 39th minute but just 3 minutes later Falcao began his team's incredible comeback.

PSG 4-2 Sevilla

CSKA Sofia 1-2 Besiktas

CSKA Moskva 5-1 FC Lausanne

Villareal 3-0 Dinamo Zagreb

Sheriff Tiraspol 1-1 AZ Alkmaar

PAOK 1-1 Club Brugge

Palermo 2-2 Sparta Prague

BATE 1-4 Dinamo Kiev

Atletico Madrid 2-3 Aris

1 comments:

NC said...

That's great news for Liverpool, it'll be interesting if they can go deep into the Europa League...

December 2, 2010 at 6:43 PM

Post a Comment

free counters
Top 100 Soccer Sites on Top100Add.com - Add your Site, Boost Your Traffic! Vote for Us: link directory