Liverpool have plenty of work to do to qualify for the Champions League knockout phase after they lost 2-1 at home to Group E leaders Lyon.
Yossi Benayoun put the hosts ahead in the 41st minute only for substitute Maxime Gonalans to head home a corner 18 minutes from the end and Cesar Delgado snatch the winner in added time.
More worryingly for manager Rafael Benitez ahead of the weekend visit of Manchester United was the sight of captain Steven Gerrard limping off midway through the first half with a recurrence of his groin injury.
Liverpool captain Steven Gerrard returned for the Champions League encounter against Lyon at Anfield but the surprise selection was teenage defender Martin Kelly.
The 19-year-old replaced England right-back Glen Johnson, who had a groin injury, for his maiden start and first appearance of the season.
Kelly's previous first-team experience amounted to eight minutes as a substitute at PSV Eindhoven last December.
His inclusion and Gerrard's return from a groin problem were among five changes from the side which lost at Sunderland on Saturday, with midfielder Javier Mascherano, striker David Ngog and Emiliano Insua also drafted in.
The French side, top of Ligue 1 and having won both their matches in the Champions League so far, fielded an experienced side which included the likes of Kim Kallstrom, Jeremy Toulalan, Lisandro Lopez and Sidney Govou.
Kelly, born in nearby Whiston and a product of the Liverpool academy, was given an early touch of the ball from kick-off to settle his nerves.
Inevitably Gerrard had the first shot of the game, from the inside-left position, but it was deflected into the side-netting.
Lyon were enjoying more possession than most visiting teams to Anfield and would have gone ahead in the 10th minute had it not been for Jose Reina.
Left-back Aly Cissokho crossed to the far post where Lisandro's powerful downward header was brilliantly parried away by the Spain goalkeeper.
Liverpool had the ball in the net in the 15th minute only for Dirk Kuyt's header from Gerrard's pin-point cross to be flagged offside.
Midway through the first half the hosts suffered a major blow when Gerrard was forced off through injury and had to be replaced by Fabio Aurelio.
The substitution - a precautionary measure with Manchester United visiting at the weekend - meant a reshuffle of the attacking midfielders with Kuyt moving into the centre and Yossi Benayoun switching to the right to accommodate Aurelio.
Kuyt flashed a volley wide after 30 minutes before a trip on the Dutchman by Cris resulted in the Lyon defender receiving lengthy treatment for a bang on the head and a yellow card for his pains.
Six minutes later Kuyt had a shot charged down by Cissokho and Ngog's close-range follow-up was saved by goalkeeper Hugo Lloris.
At the other end a stretching Govou volleyed over Kallstrom's deep cross.
Four minutes before the interval Liverpool took the lead with a move which started at the back with Jamie Carragher winning a crunching tackle.
The ball was quickly transferred to the left wing where Aurelio crossed and, although Ngog missed it and Lucas and Kelly got in each other's way, Benayoun was on hand to fire home.
Problems worsened for Lyon with Cris immediately departing on a stretcher.
Aurelio should have doubled the lead from Kelly's far-post cross but Lloris brilliantly parried over.
Lyon were first to show in the second half, right-back Anthony Reveillere firing over after Govou's cross was half-cleared.
Govou's late challenge on Insua earned the Lyon captain a booking and Liverpool a free-kick close to the corner flag.
Aurelio's delivery was not dealt with convincingly and when Kuyt crossed the ball back in Benayoun headed wide.
Ngog should have done better in the 58th minute when he chested down Kelly's right-wing cross but stabbed wide from 12 yards.
Kuyt, however, was unlucky when he out-jumped Reveillere to head inside the post only for Lloris to palm the ball around the upright.
France striker Bafetimbi Gomis replaced Ederson just after the hour in an attempt to give Lyon a greater presence up front.
Lyon's pressure was increasing and it eventually told in the 72nd minute from a set-piece, a perceived weakness of Liverpool's.
Reina tipped on a right-wing corner and then made a reaction double save from Toulalan and a point-blank Govou header but Maxime Gonalans - the first-half replacement for Cris - was on hand to nod home.
Kelly then limped off injured which resulted in a reorganisation in defence with Carragher moving out to right-back and Martin Skrtel coming on to partner Daniel Agger in the centre.
Andriy Voronin was sent on for Benayoun with six minutes to go, much to the displeasure of an increasingly frustrated Anfield crowd.
Anxiety on the pitch increased as Liverpool passes went astray with alarming regularity.
And in the first minute of added time a quick counter-attack down the right saw Govou fire a cross through the six-yard area, where another substitute Cesar Delgado converted at the far post.
The result gives Benitez many issues to address ahead of United's arrival on Sunday.
Yossi Benayoun put the hosts ahead in the 41st minute only for substitute Maxime Gonalans to head home a corner 18 minutes from the end and Cesar Delgado snatch the winner in added time.
More worryingly for manager Rafael Benitez ahead of the weekend visit of Manchester United was the sight of captain Steven Gerrard limping off midway through the first half with a recurrence of his groin injury.
Liverpool captain Steven Gerrard returned for the Champions League encounter against Lyon at Anfield but the surprise selection was teenage defender Martin Kelly.
The 19-year-old replaced England right-back Glen Johnson, who had a groin injury, for his maiden start and first appearance of the season.
Kelly's previous first-team experience amounted to eight minutes as a substitute at PSV Eindhoven last December.
His inclusion and Gerrard's return from a groin problem were among five changes from the side which lost at Sunderland on Saturday, with midfielder Javier Mascherano, striker David Ngog and Emiliano Insua also drafted in.
The French side, top of Ligue 1 and having won both their matches in the Champions League so far, fielded an experienced side which included the likes of Kim Kallstrom, Jeremy Toulalan, Lisandro Lopez and Sidney Govou.
Kelly, born in nearby Whiston and a product of the Liverpool academy, was given an early touch of the ball from kick-off to settle his nerves.
Inevitably Gerrard had the first shot of the game, from the inside-left position, but it was deflected into the side-netting.
Lyon were enjoying more possession than most visiting teams to Anfield and would have gone ahead in the 10th minute had it not been for Jose Reina.
Left-back Aly Cissokho crossed to the far post where Lisandro's powerful downward header was brilliantly parried away by the Spain goalkeeper.
Liverpool had the ball in the net in the 15th minute only for Dirk Kuyt's header from Gerrard's pin-point cross to be flagged offside.
Midway through the first half the hosts suffered a major blow when Gerrard was forced off through injury and had to be replaced by Fabio Aurelio.
The substitution - a precautionary measure with Manchester United visiting at the weekend - meant a reshuffle of the attacking midfielders with Kuyt moving into the centre and Yossi Benayoun switching to the right to accommodate Aurelio.
Kuyt flashed a volley wide after 30 minutes before a trip on the Dutchman by Cris resulted in the Lyon defender receiving lengthy treatment for a bang on the head and a yellow card for his pains.
Six minutes later Kuyt had a shot charged down by Cissokho and Ngog's close-range follow-up was saved by goalkeeper Hugo Lloris.
At the other end a stretching Govou volleyed over Kallstrom's deep cross.
Four minutes before the interval Liverpool took the lead with a move which started at the back with Jamie Carragher winning a crunching tackle.
The ball was quickly transferred to the left wing where Aurelio crossed and, although Ngog missed it and Lucas and Kelly got in each other's way, Benayoun was on hand to fire home.
Problems worsened for Lyon with Cris immediately departing on a stretcher.
Aurelio should have doubled the lead from Kelly's far-post cross but Lloris brilliantly parried over.
Lyon were first to show in the second half, right-back Anthony Reveillere firing over after Govou's cross was half-cleared.
Govou's late challenge on Insua earned the Lyon captain a booking and Liverpool a free-kick close to the corner flag.
Aurelio's delivery was not dealt with convincingly and when Kuyt crossed the ball back in Benayoun headed wide.
Ngog should have done better in the 58th minute when he chested down Kelly's right-wing cross but stabbed wide from 12 yards.
Kuyt, however, was unlucky when he out-jumped Reveillere to head inside the post only for Lloris to palm the ball around the upright.
France striker Bafetimbi Gomis replaced Ederson just after the hour in an attempt to give Lyon a greater presence up front.
Lyon's pressure was increasing and it eventually told in the 72nd minute from a set-piece, a perceived weakness of Liverpool's.
Reina tipped on a right-wing corner and then made a reaction double save from Toulalan and a point-blank Govou header but Maxime Gonalans - the first-half replacement for Cris - was on hand to nod home.
Kelly then limped off injured which resulted in a reorganisation in defence with Carragher moving out to right-back and Martin Skrtel coming on to partner Daniel Agger in the centre.
Andriy Voronin was sent on for Benayoun with six minutes to go, much to the displeasure of an increasingly frustrated Anfield crowd.
Anxiety on the pitch increased as Liverpool passes went astray with alarming regularity.
And in the first minute of added time a quick counter-attack down the right saw Govou fire a cross through the six-yard area, where another substitute Cesar Delgado converted at the far post.
The result gives Benitez many issues to address ahead of United's arrival on Sunday.
No comments:
Post a Comment