Draw leaves Reds in trouble

04 November 2009 23:23
Liverpool came so close to a Champions League miracle in Lyon but saw their qualification hopes take another hit thanks to Lisandro Lopez's last-gasp leveller to secure a 1-1 draw.[LNB] A stunning Ryan Babel goal gave the Reds the lead with only seven minutes left, and a victory would have kept them in with a realistic chance of still qualifying for the last 16. [LNB] But Lisandro grabbed an equaliser in the last minute to give Lyon the draw they needed to qualify and left Liverpool's hopes hanging by a thread.[LNB] Fernando Torres found a yard of space in the box and almost had Liverpool ahead after 12 just minutes. Emiliano Insua swung over a cross from the left, and the striker met it first-time eight yards to force a fine point-blank save from Hugo Lloris, who was to deny Liverpool twice more before the break. [LNB] Another Insua cross gave Dirk Kuyt the chance of a clever lob, again Lloris needing to be at his best to touch the ball over the bar. [LNB] Liverpool's third decent chance of the half came after a foul on Torres deep in his own half. Javier Mascherano's quick free-kick cleared Lyon's back line and allowed Andriy Voronin a clear run at goal. His shot was low, but again Lloris was up to the task, blocking the effort with his legs. [LNB] Lyon started the second period with a quicker tempo, and Lisandro hooked over an Aly Cissokho cross. The full-back's next cross saw Michel Bastos head over the far angle. [LNB] As Liverpool pressed forward, the gaps were appearing behind them, and Bafetimbi Gomis looked increasingly dangerous. [LNB] But the Reds broke from defence after a painful bout of head tennis to get the ball away and grabbed a sensational goal after 83 minutes. Yossi Benayoun spun the ball out to the left for Babel, who cut inside to unleash a thunderous drive into the top corner from 30 yards, before being engulfed by his team-mates. [LNB] However, with just seconds left, Liverpool's dream crashed. Lisandro got past Insua in the box and lifted his shot over Reina for the equaliser.

Source: Eurosport