Lance Knight
08-25-2004, 06:39 AM
Liverpool progressed through to the UEFA Champions League group stages, despite suffering a 1-0 defeat at home to Grazer AK in the second leg of their third round qualifying tie.
The most successful English club side in Europe appeared to have done the hard work in the contest after a two goal victory in the away leg a fortnight ago and many were tipping an easy night's work for The Reds.
But they were made to fight hard to seal their place in Thursday's group draw as a second half goal from the Austrians meant a nervous ending to a contest they had rarely looked like losing.
In an uninspiring first half both sides failed to threaten the opposition's goal with neither keeper forced to make a save of any note.
As expected, Liverpool enjoyed the lion's share of possession but were unable to breakdown a stubborn Grazer rearguard with the hosts' most threatening attacking weapon being the pace of strike duo Djibril Cisse and Milan Baros.
Steven Gerrard went the closest to giving Liverpool a three goal cushion. The captain - who netted both goals in the first leg - was left all alone on the edge of the box at a free-kick but his placed shot went just wide of the post.
But as the opening 45 minutes wore on, the threat of a goal from the home side diminished. Indeed it was the unfancied Austrian champions who came the closest to breaking the deadlock as Jerzy Dudek twice failed to deal with floated free-kicks and was lucky to see no Grazer player capitalise on his mistakes.
As the second half began, and with Liverpool looking no more likely to find a breakthrough, the Austrian Double winners suddenly put the tie firmly in the balance with an unlikely goal of their own.
The home side had appeared to avert any danger on their goal as they cleared a rare Grazer corner, but the loose ball only fell kindly to Croatian Tokic and the defender rattled in a long-range effort that crashed in off the underside of the crossbar.
All of a sudden, the air of complacency at Anfield was replaced by a nervous atmosphere amongst the majority of the full house as the prospect of another campaign in the Uefa Cup loomed, although, in truth, the opposition looked unlikely to score a second.
It appeared even the referee got caught up in the game as the Spanish official failed to realise he had booked Grazer skipper Rene Aufhauser once already when he flashed a second yellow card in his direction.
The goal did spark Benitez's side into life with Gerrard, as always, at the hub of their best attacking moves but it was to no avail. The loss is the Spaniard's first since taking charge in the summer and he will be well aware that his team must perform better if they are to have any hopes of success in Europe this term.
Liverpool Grazer AK
Possession % 52% 48%
Goals 0 1
Shots on target 5 1
Shots off target 7 4
Blocked shots 3 5
Corners 3 6
Fouls 14 17
Offsides 4 0
Yellow cards 2 5
Red cards 0 0
come on guys u can do better than this
The most successful English club side in Europe appeared to have done the hard work in the contest after a two goal victory in the away leg a fortnight ago and many were tipping an easy night's work for The Reds.
But they were made to fight hard to seal their place in Thursday's group draw as a second half goal from the Austrians meant a nervous ending to a contest they had rarely looked like losing.
In an uninspiring first half both sides failed to threaten the opposition's goal with neither keeper forced to make a save of any note.
As expected, Liverpool enjoyed the lion's share of possession but were unable to breakdown a stubborn Grazer rearguard with the hosts' most threatening attacking weapon being the pace of strike duo Djibril Cisse and Milan Baros.
Steven Gerrard went the closest to giving Liverpool a three goal cushion. The captain - who netted both goals in the first leg - was left all alone on the edge of the box at a free-kick but his placed shot went just wide of the post.
But as the opening 45 minutes wore on, the threat of a goal from the home side diminished. Indeed it was the unfancied Austrian champions who came the closest to breaking the deadlock as Jerzy Dudek twice failed to deal with floated free-kicks and was lucky to see no Grazer player capitalise on his mistakes.
As the second half began, and with Liverpool looking no more likely to find a breakthrough, the Austrian Double winners suddenly put the tie firmly in the balance with an unlikely goal of their own.
The home side had appeared to avert any danger on their goal as they cleared a rare Grazer corner, but the loose ball only fell kindly to Croatian Tokic and the defender rattled in a long-range effort that crashed in off the underside of the crossbar.
All of a sudden, the air of complacency at Anfield was replaced by a nervous atmosphere amongst the majority of the full house as the prospect of another campaign in the Uefa Cup loomed, although, in truth, the opposition looked unlikely to score a second.
It appeared even the referee got caught up in the game as the Spanish official failed to realise he had booked Grazer skipper Rene Aufhauser once already when he flashed a second yellow card in his direction.
The goal did spark Benitez's side into life with Gerrard, as always, at the hub of their best attacking moves but it was to no avail. The loss is the Spaniard's first since taking charge in the summer and he will be well aware that his team must perform better if they are to have any hopes of success in Europe this term.
Liverpool Grazer AK
Possession % 52% 48%
Goals 0 1
Shots on target 5 1
Shots off target 7 4
Blocked shots 3 5
Corners 3 6
Fouls 14 17
Offsides 4 0
Yellow cards 2 5
Red cards 0 0
come on guys u can do better than this