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  • Kuyt (45)
  • Date:2009-09-16
  • Kick-off:19:45
  • Venue:Anfield
  • Attendance:41591
  • Referee:Proenca, P

Live Commentary

90mins

Full-time: LIVERPOOL 1 -0 DEBRECENI. The danger is pushed away and Liverpool secure three scrappy points.

90mins

Liverpool lose possession and concede a 94th minute corner.

90mins

Liverpool break after a short attack and Torres wins a corner.

90mins

Liverpool try to play out the last couple of minutes with a couple of hoofs up-field.

90mins

Some enterprising play from Babel again tees up Gerrard who produces a poor shot that goes wide.

90mins

We must endure three more minutes.

89mins

Gerrard's delivery is just over the head of Babel.

89mins

Some champagne stuff from Babel with his head and he shoots. A deflection ensures a corner.

88mins

Javier Mascherano comes on for Benayoun.

87mins

The set-piece is straight at Reina.

86mins

Torres is in the foreign position of his own third and loses the ball twice. From the ensuing possession, Debreceni win a free-kick.

85mins

A corner from Lucas is cleared at the near-post.

83mins

Torres sprints forward after good work by Babel. He squares for Kuyt, who completely misses the ball, before Benayoun fires over the bar.

82mins

Coulibaly sprints forward but goes down easily.

80mins

Riera is replaced by Babel.

79mins

Szakaly is replaced by Robert Feczesin.

79mins

Another corner is pulled back and a shot is deflected.

78mins

Coulibaly is played onside and lobs the ball over Reina, the ball is cleared for a corner but everybody seemed to go to sleep.

74mins

Carragher strikes from 35 yards after clearance high into the Kop.

74mins

Torres tries to bend one from the outside of his boot to Kuyt but the ball just evades him. Eventually, a corner is won after Gerrard goes down.

72mins

Kuyt runs around the area like a headless chicken and places a pass perfectly to a white shirt.

70mins

Debreceni try to attack but Johnson shoos away any danger.

69mins

Riera crosses a bouncing ball to Torres but he cannot control his header. He has laboured all evening, but to little effect.

68mins

Zsolt Laczko replaces Ramos.

67mins

Ramos is down again and this time will be stretchered off. Liverpool are allowed to take the corner and Lucas directs a free header wide.

65mins

Benayoun is the man to break this time with a mazy run beating several defenders. He is forced wide, but forces a save from the keeper. Corner.

65mins

Riera breaks well down the left and has plenty of time to pick out a red shirt. He opts to pull it back for Gerrard, but a defender just gets a toe to it to prevent the skipper from finishing the game off.

63mins

Johnson swings a ball for Torres who is in space, but the ball is shifted away before he can get to it.

62mins

The half has gone the same way as most of the first did, pedestrian.

60mins

Gerrard ends some good possession by shooting from 30 yards, but the ball isn't struck hard enough.

57mins

Gerrard is told by the referee once more to wait when taking a free-kick. He got booked for the earlier offence...

55mins

Play virtually comes to a stand-still in the box but is knocked out to Gerrard. His volley on the twist is vicious and has Poleksic stood still. Thankfully for him, it brushes the top of the net.

52mins

Leandro plays a one-two and hits a shot which Skrtel has to throw himself at.

51mins

Gerrard bombs forward and cuts into the box. He goes down under the attention of a defender but penalty claims are ignored.

51mins

Lucas concedes a free-kick despite winning the ball back after a loose pass. A quick shot turns Reina's head, but it is wide.

49mins

Worryingly, Torres is limping and stretching.

49mins

Benayoun's ball to Kuyt is followed by a cut back to Johnson, who in turn crosses to Torres. Another smart Liverpool move but nothing is made of the final ball.

48mins

Play has restarted and Ramos is already back on the pitch.

47mins

Play is halted as Ramos is laid flat out after a clash of heads with Lucas.

46mins

The second half has started.

45mins

Half-time: LIVERPOOL 1 - 0 DEBRECENI. Kuyt's goal was the last act of the half.

45mins

KUYT scores from a rebound after Poleksic saved well from Torres. The wait is over for the Reds, who have been frustrated. It's two in two for the Dutchman, whose goal against Burnley was a card and copy.

45mins

One minute of added time.

45mins

Benayoun charges onto a loose pass but his pass is loose, to sum up the half for the Reds.

44mins

Insua and Riera combine down the left and the latter's low cross is side-footed by Gerrard, who cannot believe it didn't sneak into the bottom corner.

42mins

Liverpool take the game to the visitors by forcing them to give up possession. Gerrard shoots from 20 yards but the ball sails over once more.

41mins

Johnson has plenty of space on the right and his low ball finds Benayoun, who cannot control it. The game has came to life in the last 15.

40mins

A Benayoun corner is met by the head of Gerrard but it goes narrowly over. The mini-onslaught from the Hungarians looks to have woken up the home side.

39mins

It's Riera who goes close again as he shanks the ball from distance. It is direct at the keeper who beats it away. Perhaps the Spaniard's confidence is growing.

38mins

Carragher takes the initiative and finds Riera in plenty of space. His shot is well saved by Poleksic, before Kuyt's rebound is cleared off the line.

36mins

A looping cross finds Czvitkovics who swings his boot to volley into the Kop.

35mins

Plenty of football being played now by the visitors. But it ends with a long range shot from Ramos which Reina will be happy to watch go wide.

34mins

Gerrard sends the ball down the channel to Riera, who shoots too early. It goes wide and he'll be kicking himself as in hindsight, he'll realise he had the opportunity to carry the ball into the area.

33mins

Bodnar takes a free-kick from all of 35 yards which Reina crouches to save. After 33 minutes, it is he who has been forced into saves.

31mins

The Hungarians are growing in confidence and break again following a misplaced Liverpool pass. They fail to deliver a shot this time as Johnson gets back.

31mins

Half a dozen Red shirts swarm forward but a lazy pass from Torres to Benayoun halts the break.

30mins

The corner is taken back and Debreceni keep possession. Czvitkkovics latches onto a clearance and unleashes a stinging shot which is tipped over by Reina.

29mins

Some neat play in the middle from Coulibaly sparks a Debreceni attack which wins a corner.

28mins

The corner fails to threaten Debreceni.

28mins

Some great Liverpool interplay ends with a Torres lay-off for Benayoun. The Israeli wins a corner.

26mins

Gerrard bizarrely goes into the book for not waiting for the ref's whistle to take a free-kick. The free-kick is wasted, too.

24mins

The corner is wasted and Liverpool will have to build again.

24mins

Carragher floats a ball for Torres to chase and the number nine's physical presence wins a corner.

23mins

Debrecen win a corner from a deflected shot, as Colibaly finds a precious bit of space. The ball is cleared and falls to Bodnar, who mis-hits his shot.

22mins

Gerrard decides to try his luck from long-range but does not connect sweetly.

21mins

As Benayoun breaks out of his half, Fodor trips him cynically to earn a booking.

20mins

A corner is taken short by Gerrard but Insua loses it when encroaching the box. Debrecen look to break, but it is easily snuffed out.

19mins

Johnson opens his legs and strides forward. He cuts inside and offloads to Riera. The ball breaks to him at the second attempt but his shot is wide and weak.

18mins

Though Liverpool are not on fire, they look very likely to break the deadlock eventually as the visitors have set their stall out to defend.

17mins

Johnson cuts back after receiving a ball to the byline from Kuyt. His low delivery finds Torres, who is put off by two defenders and scuffs his shot.

16mins

Kuyt beats two onlookers well and sprints forward, he passes to Torres, who is down a blind alley.

13mins

Kuyt, who has been positive in the early stages, gets his head up and runs at the back four. He drags his shot wide of Poleksic's right post.

11mins

Benyaoun sneaks in at the back post to get on the end of a cross but is flagged offside.

9mins

Bodnar gets a lay-back after a break down the wing to give the underdogs their first chance. But his cross is light and high and Reina claims with ease.

8mins

Benayoun, who netted a hat-trick on Saturday, has started well. He and Johnson combine well on the right to win a throw, but it looks as though they will be the key to breaking the Hungarians down.

6mins

The home side have had plenty of the ball. Lucas is taken down and a free-kick from Gerrard on the right flank almost finds the Brazilian's head, but the defenders scramble it away.

4mins

A long ball finds Kuyt who nods it down to Torres. The Spaniard lashes a shot off-balance from 25 yards and it goes high and wide.

3mins

Benayoun skips past a couple of defenders and dribbles his way up the right wing. Hiss pass finds Torres who bursts through the channel, but he is wrongly adjudged offside.

1mins

The visitors are getting in and amongst Liverpool on the early stages, not allowing the Reds midfielders time in possession.

1mins

The referee blows his whistle and play is underway at Anfield.

0mins

Reds skipper Steven Gerrard operated in a deeper role against Burnley on Saturday to compensate for the loss of Javier Mascherano. Expect a similar set-up from Liverpool today as the Argentine only makes the bench.

0mins

Debrecen: Vukasin Poleksic, De Almeida Leandro, Colon Luis Ramos, Laszlo Bodnar, Adam Komlosi, Norbert Meszaros, Marcell Fodor, Zoltan Kiss, Adamo Coulibaly, Peter Szakaly, Peter Czvitkovics.

0mins

Liverpool: Pepe Reina, Glen Johnson, Jamie Carragher, Martin Skrtel, Emiliano Insua, Albert Riera, Lucas Leiva, Steven Gerrard (c), Yossi Benayoun, Dirk Kuyt, Fernando Torres.

0mins

Reds boss Rafael Benitez has picked a full-strength XI as he looks to race to qualification from Group E.

0mins

Champions League specialists Liverpool kick off their European campaign with a home tie against little-known Hungarian champions Debreceni.


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Match Report

Liverpool got their Champions League campaign off and running, but were pedestrian at times in a scrappy 1-0 victory over Hungarian side Debreceni.

Dirk Kuyt ensured that the Reds took all three points with a goal in first-half stoppage time, but it could have been many more if the the home side were more clinical and ruthless in front of goal.

Despite an uninspiring performance, a subdued Kop watched their idols fluff plenty of decent chances throughout which would have allowed Rafael Benitez to make changes earlier.

In a first half that was often frustrating for Liverpool, it was the emergence of Debreceni into the game which shot them into life.

The Reds were lackadaisical for the first half hour and this allowed the visitors to capitalise.

A ten-minute period of possession from the Hungarian champions was topped by an exquisite 20-yard half-volley from Peter Czvitkovics, who forced Jose Reina to tip the ball over for a corner.

Further surges forward from the visitors caused the home support to become uneasy and voice their annoyance at the lethargic nature of Liverpool's performance, which in turn provided a response from the men in red.

A whirlwind last ten minutes of the first period put the visitors firmly back on the foot as Albert Riera had three gaping opportunities in the space of five minutes as he grew in confidence with each, but failed to trouble Debrecen goalkeeper Vukasin Poleksic sufficiently.

Steven Gerrard had opportunities of his own despite operating from deep, but it was Kuyt, Liverpool's brightest spark of the first half, who made the breakthrough in stoppage time.

Just as he did in Saturday's victory over Burnley, the Dutchman latched onto a rebound to send the ball into the back of the net to ease the nerves on Merseyside.

The chance came off the back off a pinpoint Yossi Benayoun pass to Torres, who turned and swung his right boot to force Poleksic to parry, though he could not get it to safety.

Kuyt was all-too-happy to follow the shot up and sent the ball home to ease nerves on Merseyside and the goal allowed the Reds to dictate the second half.

As the Kop hoped to see a Liverpool onslaught, they were made to watch the Reds flatter to deceive, with only Gerrard seriously threatening Poleksic.

The skipper left the keeper planted firmly to the ground with a vicious right-foot volley ten minutes into the second period, but thankfully for the visitors, the ball brushed the roof of the net.

Despite plenty of bright play down the flanks from Benayoun, Riera, Glen Johnson and Emiliano Insua, the Reds failed to break down Debreceni again and were forced to settle for a 1-0 victory.

Liverpool

Debreceni VSC

Corners

106

Fouls

912

Goal attempts

2412

Shots off target

169

Offsides

43

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