Liverpool 1-0 Trabzonspor
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Ryan Babel Hands Reds Advantage But Joe Cole Misses Penalty
Reds take a slender lead to Turkey.
Liverpool will take a narrow 1-0 lead into their Europa League qualifier second leg against Trabzonspor after claiming victory in the first leg at Anfield courtesy of a first half goal by Ryan Babel, although they missed the opportunity to double their lead after Joe Cole missed a penalty in the second half.
Manager Roy Hodgson made seven changes from the side that drew with Arsenal at the weekend handing a debut to Christian Poulsen and with Sotirios Kyrgiakos, Martin Kelly, Lucas Leiva, Maxi Rodriguez and Ryan Babel also starting; Fernando Torres and David Ngog both began on the bench whilst Steven Gerrard and Dirk Kuyt were handed the night off.
A somewhat unfamiliar line-up it may have been but Liverpool might have taken the lead as early as the fifth minute. A corner from Maxi Rodriguez was met firmly by Kyrgiakos but a diving Kivrak in the Trabzonspor goal did well to paw the ball away.
Yet the visitors were not awed by the task ahead of them and looked bright in the first half, backed by a vibrant away support, and went close themselves on the 10 minute mark, also from a corner.
The set piece was fired into the area and found Umut Bulut at the near post, who had made a good run, but although he managed to get a touch on the ball he couldn’t direct his header which flew wide of Jose Reina’s far post.
That looked to be as close as either side was going to come in a first half, devoid of clear goalscoring chances and with Liverpool, perhaps unsurprisingly given the number of changes, struggling to find much cohesion.
Yet almost on the stroke of half-time the Merseysiders did finally click into gear to take the lead. Joe Cole picked up possession in the centre circle before turning and feeding Babel out on the left. The Dutchman then took a superb first touch before picking his spot and clipping the ball past Kivrak to open the scoring for the home side.
Battler | Jovanovic tries to find a way through Trabzonspor
It was to be Babel’s last action of the night, however, the goalscorer being replaced at the break with Fernando Torres who almost scored with seconds of his introduction, firing in a vicious shot which appeared to take Kivrak by surprise as he was forced to punch it over the bar.
From the subsequent corner the Reds again went close to doubling their lead. Jovanovic found Lucas, completely unmarked, but he inexplicably conspired to head wide from close range.
The chances continued to come, however, and seconds after Maxi Rodriguez appeared to have been fouled in the box by Selcuk Inan, Serkan Balci clipped Lucas in the area and, this time, the referee did point straight to the spot.
Joe Cole was quick to grab the ball but unfortunately for the home side his kick was far too close to ‘keeper Kivrak who dived to his left to make the save and keep his side very much in touch.
Minutes later and Kivrak was again in the thick of the action, saving smartly from Jovanovic after the Serbian had combined well with Torres to create the opening.
Yet just as the Reds looked to be taking complete control of the match Trabzonspor almost grabbed a vital away goal just shy of the hour mark. A clever run by Umut Bulut beat the Liverpool offside trap but not Reina who managed to tip his fierce shot into the ground and over the bar.
An increasingly open game meant the chances continued to flow with Torres heading straight at Kivrek before Fabio Aurelio smashed a free-kick straight at the visiting ‘keeper.
With less than 20 minutes to go Liverpool did have the ball in the back of the net after Poulsen forced the ball home from a corner but the referee disallowed the effort for offside much to Anfield’s collective frustration.
The Merseysiders continued to press in the closing stages but the visitors held on to ensure Liverpool will only take a slender advantage to Turkey for the second leg.
