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Alan on the spot
Liverpool failed in their attempts to equal a club record 14-match unbeaten run in Europe with a 1-0 defeat against Braga in their last-16 first-leg Europa League tie in Portugal.
The location of the AXA Stadium is no stranger to displays of hard labour, having been carved into the face of the former Monte Castro quarry.
But Kenny Dalglish’s side were so devoid of movement at times they appeared to be taking inspiration from the huge chunks of rock still visible at one end of the unique ground.
They lacked pace and creativity without injured captain Steven Gerrard and the ineligible livewire forward Luis Suarez, who was instrumental in terrorising Manchester United in Sunday’s 3-1 victory.
Even a European debut for £35million record signing Andy Carroll after half-time could not turn things around after Brazilian Alan had converted a 17th-minute penalty.
The omens were there from the start with a side featuring three defensive midfielders – albeit with Jay Spearing patrolling the right side of a 4-2-3-1 – which still never looked comfortable or particularly solid.
They spent much of the opening quarter of an hour chasing possession, although the hosts never came close to threatening Jose Reina’s goal.
They were just getting into their stride, however, and in the 17th minute when Mossoro raced onto a through-ball to the right of the penalty area he was brought down by Sotirios Krygiakos’ mis-timed tackle.
The spot-kick was expertly slotted away by the Brazilian, who must have one of the least exotically-sounding names of all his countrymen.
Raul Meireles was given a hard time by Braga fans on his return to his homeland, having moved to Anfield from nearby Porto.
He had a rare shooting opportunity from a 25-yard free-kick but drilled his effort into the wall.
Pressure was growing on Liverpool though and centre-back Kaka, almost lived up to the reputation of his more illustrious namesake when he attempted a cheeky shot from a narrow angle after taking a corner but drilled the ball into the side-netting.
Left-back Silvio went even closer with a thunderous 35-yard volley which beat Reina but rattled back off the crossbar.
The visitors were crying out for some creativity and pace to be injected and to that end all seven substitutes were sent out to warm-up during the interval.
Ten minutes after the restart Carroll was sent on for Christian Poulsen, with Spearing dropping back into central midfield and Meireles moving to the right.
His early involvement saw him head over Meireles’ corner, although he was adjudged to have committed a foul in the act, and then had a shot deflected for a corner.
Carroll’s arrival certainly livened things up, with Braga unable to handle his aerial power; Liverpool’s problem was they were not proving him with decent enough crosses to threaten the hosts’ goal.
When Meireles did whip one in from the right it was Dirk Kuyt who controlled it and volleyed over the crossbar.
The closing stages became increasingly scrappy as the Reds pushed for an equaliser.
Carroll continued to win headers with confident regularity but they were mostly in non-threatening positions from Reina’s long punts up field, with absolutely no service coming from either flank with Cole cutting a particularly inconsequential figure.
Braga by no means look like a side who will pose a significant danger at Anfield in a week’s time but Liverpool’s greatest problems are of their own making.
They have scored once in five away matches in Europe this season. Their home record is much better, and they need it to be if they are to turn things around.
Dalglish: We were sloppyLiverpool manager Kenny Dalglish was unhappy with his side’s poor first-half performance in the 1-0 Europa League last-16 first-leg defeat in Braga.”It was a very poor first-half performance from ourselves and I have no complaints about the penalty,” said the Scot. ”We picked it up in the second half and we looked a lot more threatening when Andy came on. It was easier to be happier with the second half than the first.”Considering the way we played in the first half we are fortunate to come away with a 1-0 because when you play as badly as that you are grateful you lose 1-0.”You don’t know if it is a good or bad result until the second leg is over but there is no-one in there who is pleased with the performance or the result.”But until next Thursday I won’t be able to assess whether we have been fortunate or contributed to our own downfall by selection of passes, no movement – we were just a bit sloppy, really.”Dalglish was pleased to be able to give Carroll more time on the pitch, with the striker impressing with his aerial ability, winning every header he contested.”We played better once he came on and he was a good option for us,” he added. ”We have to give him as many minutes as we can to make sure he makes a contribution. That is a bit longer than he got on Sunday and we will continue to make a contribution towards his fitness.”Carroll appeared to be caught in the face by centre-back Kaka’s elbow late in the game but Dalglish claimed he had not seen the incident clearly.”I saw the two of them collide but I didn’t see where he connected with Andy,” added the Reds boss.Braga coach Domingos Paciencia was pleased with the victory but knows they face a tough task at Anfield.”We knew that it would not be easy and it was good we didn’t concede because at this stage of the competition it is not easy,” he said. ”I am optimistic but I know Liverpool are a big team, one of the teams who can win the competition so we have to be very careful.”
Credit: http://soccernet.espn.go.com
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