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  • Benayoun (41)
  • Gonalons (72), Delgado (90)
  • Date:2009-10-20
  • Kick-off:19:45
  • Venue:Anfield
  • Attendance:41562
  • Referee:Mallenco, AU

Live Commentary

90mins

Full-time: LIVERPOOL 1 - 2 LYON: Liverpool slump to their fourth consecutive defeat and are facing an early exit from the Champions League directly in the face

90mins

We're into the last of three added minutes

90mins

LIVERPOOL 1 - 2 LYON: DELGADO strokes the winner home in stoppage time as Lyon break with ease. A cross-box pass evades Reina before eventually finding the substitute

90mins

Reveillere is needlessly booked for a tussle with Insua

89mins

A ball knocked down by a defender is picked up by Lloris. Shouts for a back-pass are waived away

86mins

Cesar Fabian Delgado replaces Lisandro

86mins

Liverpool have a corner which is knocked down by Kuyt for Skrtel. The defender swings his leg and the ball goes high over the bar

85mins

Benayoun is replaced by Andriy Voronin, to the dismay of some Liverpool fans who jeer the decision

84mins

Insua crosses well for Kuyt but the Dutchman's header is mistimed

83mins

Kuyt pulls to the right side and tries to cross in for Benayoun. Lloris collects with ease

81mins

Play has once again settled but a goal for either side would be massive in their hopes of making the knockout stage

79mins

Liverpool must look to lift as they did at the end of the first half, as their Champions League hopes are currently hanging in the balance

78mins

The Reds go back on the attack with crosses from either flank. Both produce nothing of note

77mins

Some neat play in midfield from the Reds gets N'Gog into the game. He holds the ball up well but the attack fizzles out

76mins

Gonalons tries to curl the ball forward for Govou but Skrtel cuts the ball out. If there is going to be a winner, it only looks as though it is going to come from one team and that's the visitors

74mins

Kelly's night is over as he limps off. Martin Skrtel replaces him

72mins

LIVERPOOL 1 - 1 LYON: GONALONS levels with a diving header. After Reina makes two great saves from the corner, the ball finds his way to the substitute defender who nods home with ease

71mins

Pjanic finds Reveillere with a pinpoint pass on the break. The latter's ball is cleared for a corner

70mins

Once again Lyon are on top

69mins

Govou collects a high ball in behind Carragher, but is flagged offside

68mins

Aurelio pings another Alonso-like pass to Benayoun who controls. He is brought down, but no foul is given

68mins

A corner is cleared by Liverpool

67mins

Lyon free-kick. The delivery from the left wing is a beauty and it is Kelly who heads it into the side-netting. It's a close shave but also a great piece of defending

66mins

Some good football from Lyon finds Cissokho who, for once, produces a poor ball which is headed away by Kelly

65mins

Roles are reversed from the first half. Liverpool are now dictating, but Lyon look dangerous on the break

62mins

Lucas finds Kuyt who tries passing it left without looking. As Sod's Law would suggest, nobody is there

61mins

Bafetimbi Gomis, who was tipped to start, comes on for Ederson

60mins

Aurelio, who has been as prominent as Xabi Alonso once was in the Liverpool midfield, gets it wrong this time. His corner is over-hit

60mins

Aurelio crossed from midfield and Kuyt leaps to get on the end of it. Lloris saves well at the near-post and the Reds have another corner

59mins

Lyon break and win a corner. Makoun gets his head on it, but it is high and over the bar

58mins

Benayoun finds Kelly who cuts back onto his left foot. His cross is controlled by N'Gog but he scuffs a left foot shot wide

57mins

Lucas heads away the corner and a second delivery catches Jean Makoun offside

56mins

Insua concedes a corner with Govou ready to pounce

55mins

The delivery by Aurelio is cleared and a shot from Kelly gives Liverpool possession once more. Benayoun dribbles his way out of trouble to switch play wide, a cross back to him finds his head but he is at too much of a stretch to direct it on target

55mins

Insua is foulder close to the corner flag

54mins

N'Gog, on the byline, skips past two defenders with a delightful nutmeg. But the ball is taken away from him by a third onlooker

54mins

The pace has dropped a tad from the first half

53mins

A ball from defence is won by N'Gog but his header runs into space and is cleared

50mins

Anthony Reveillere is layed off in the corner of the box and he puts his bootlaces through the ball. The ball is struck hard but high

49mins

Ederson scuffs a shot from distance beyond the byline

49mins

Kuyt and N'Gog link up on the edge of the area but run out of space. Lyon free-kick

47mins

The Lyon forward did scream for a penalty, but the case was unfounded

47mins

A second clearance by Agger wins a corner and the delivery puzzles Reina. The ball eventually falls to Lisandro at the far stick and Liverpool clear the danger

47mins

Agger heads away a dangerous looking cross with Lisandro looking interested in behind

46mins

Play resumes

45mins

Half-time: LIVERPOOL 1 - 0 LYON. Its been a first half full of incident and either side could argue that they could have scored plenty

45mins

N'Gog is unnecessarily booked for an apparent elbow in a 50/50 challenge

45mins

Another corner is beat away by Lloris. On the second ball in, the ball drops to Aurelio who swings a boot at it. The ball lashes wide

45mins

Liverpool look full of confidence now but the question must be raised whether they will rue to miss that miss from Aurelio

45mins

Into stoppage time, N'Gog goes close with a header but the ball loops over the crossbar

45mins

Kelly swings in a brilliant ball straight onto the head of Aurelio but the ball is magnificently saved by Lloris for a corner

45mins

Lucas tries to release Benayoun but the latter's control is not quite good enough

44mins

Insua gives the ball away to Lisandro. He has a shot from 20 yards but it is mishit and Reina drops onto it

43mins

Cris fails to shrug off the head injury and will be stretchered off. Maxime Gonalons comes on in his place

41mins

LIVERPOOL 1 - 0 LYON: Out of nowhere, the home side take the lead as Lucas breaks forward after being gifted possession. He unloads to Aurelio, whose shot-cum-cross eventually finds BENAYOUN who crashes the ball into the net from close-range

39mins

Kallstrom crosses to the back cross for Govou, who loses Insua. He cannot control the volley and it goes high into the stand

38mins

Pjanic lashes a sweetly-struck shot from 35 yards but it goes into the arms of Reina

36mins

With Cris off the pitch, Liverpool almost take advantage. A Kelly cross is sent back into the area from the left flank from Aurelio to Kuyt. The Dutchman fails to get a shot away but N'Gog strikes it to be saved well by Lloris

35mins

Aurelio whips a ball in but it goes straight into the clutches of the goalkeeper

34mins

Cris is booked for the foul after being helped to his feet

32mins

Benayoun finds the advancing Kuyt who is brought down by Cristiano Gomez Cris for a free-kick. The defender stays down as he catches a knee to his head as he is falling

30mins

Benayoun wins the ball and lays it off for Kuyt who decides to have an attempt at the loose ball from distance. It goes comfortably wide

28mins

Carragher, who has been handed the captain's armband, clears a ball as the game slows down slightly. Liverpool need to regroup

26mins

The Reds captain is clearly dejected and this must-win game has become that bit more difficult for the home side now

25mins

Worrying times at Anfield as Gerrard makes way for Fabio Aurelio barely a quarter into the match. Perhaps his groin problem has not quite healed

24mins

A bouncing ball has Daniel Agger sweating as he contends but the Reds are awarded a free-kick

21mins

Liverpool have plenty of possession in midfield but are struggling to make a breakthrough further forward.The sale of Xabi Alonso is often mentioned around about now...

20mins

Insua makes his way forward and tries to send N'Gog through the channel. The flag is raised for offside

18mins

Kallstrom speculatively hits a volley from distance but it flashes wide

17mins

It looks as though N'Gog may be fairly lonely at times this evening, but for the visiting defenders

15mins

Liverpool have the ball in the back of the net but the goal is disallowed. Gerrard crosses from midfield for Kuyt, who nods the ball into the bottom corner of the net. But the flag is up as the Dutchman is pulled up for a push

14mins

Lyon try to break quickly but Govou's cross-field pass is wasteful. Nevertheless, Lyon are by far the better team at present

12mins

Honorato Campos Ederson breaks forward but Mascherano makes up ground and wins the ball back brilliantly

10mins

Cissokho links up well down the left and strikes a delicious cross right onto the head of Lisandro Lopez, whose header from six yards is straight at Reina who beats it away. It should be 1-0

9mins

Dirk Kuyt is allowed to dribble forward before delivering a wasteful cross straight to Hugo Lloris in the Lyon goal

8mins

19-year-old full-back Kelly has the chance to play himself into the game early but miscontrols a floated pass towards him

7mins

Lyon have started brightly and are visibly confident

6mins

Govou skips past a couple of defenders but Mascherano clears the danger. A second onslaught from the right is booted into the Centenary Stand by Agger

6mins

Aly Cissokho finds a bit of room on the left wing and his cross is decent but finds nobody but Pepe Reina

5mins

The second delivery is cleared at the near-post and Lyon are awarded a free-kick

4mins

A second corner is won after the ball is played short

3mins

Javier Mascherano plays the ball directly forward to Yossi Benayoun. The Israeli cuts it wide to Gerrard, whose shot wins a corner

3mins

Emiliano Insua attempts to release N'Gog but the ball goes out of play. The young Frenchman has a huge task playing as the lone striker this evening

2mins

Miralem Pjanic, who has been Lyon's key player in Europe thus far this season, tussles with Lucas for possession on the right flank. He loses out to the Brazilian

1mins

Liverpool get the game underway and face the somewhat foreign task of attacking the Kop end in the field period

0mins

Though in the early stages of this year's competition, the is an air of tension and anticipation around Anfield which is often saved for the biggest of European nights

0mins

Kim Kallstrom and Sidney Govou have been deemed fit and start for the visitors

0mins

Fernando Torres' absence continues and David N'Gog has been chosen as the man to lead the line by Benitez this evening

0mins

Glen Johnson is absent through injury, so Rafael Benitez has handed a European debut to youngster Martin Kelly

0mins

Liverpool captain Steven Gerrard returns to the starting line-up for the Reds' crucial Champions League tie with Lyon


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Match Report

The crisis at Liverpool deepened after they slumped to a fourth consecutive defeat for the first time in 22 years, losing 2-1 at Anfield to Lyon.

A nightmare end at Anfield saw the French side sneak a deserved three points in Champions League Group E and left the Reds' European hopes looking almost as bleak as their chances of being crowned Premier League champions.

As if the result was not hard enough to swallow for Rafa Benitez and 40,000 supporters in disbelief, their misery was compounded as captain Steven Gerrard limped out of the match midway through the first half.

Liverpool led until the last quarter, but goals from Maxime Gonalons and in stoppage time from Cesar Delgado in front of the Kop shocked Anfield.

Lyon dictated play for long periods of the first half and should have went a goal up in the tenth minute. The impressive Aly Cissokho played a one-two before looping in a left-footed cross right onto the head of Lisandro Lopez, who could only direct the ball towards Pepe Reina.

Soon after, Gerrard limped down the tunnel and it almost seemed to strike fear into his team-mates as they were left chasing shadows for the next ten minutes.

But a late surge in the first half towards the Kop end saw the Reds go in at the break a goal to the good.

It came when Lucas Leiva surged forward after happily collecting a loose ball in his own half. He unloaded to Fabio Aurelio, Gerrard's replacement, who fired hopefully from range. The ball eventually broke to Yossi Benayoun after Martin Kelly produced an airshot and the Israeli fired into the roof of the Kop end net from six yards.

The home side should have extended their lead soon after as the visitors fell to pieces. Kelly, growing in confidence on his full debut, swung in a brilliant ball right onto the head of Aurelio whose header was brilliantly saved by the palm of Hugo Lloris, an incident that was reminiscent of Lisandro's effort earlier in the half.

A decent 15 minutes in the second period ensued from the hosts, until they allowed their cross-channel opponents to take the upper hand.

With less than 20 minutes to spare, Liverpool's inability to defend set-pieces was once again highlighted as Gonalons produced the winner.

A corner was punched clear by Reina, who then produced a fine double-save from the resulting rebounds. The second block deflected to the substitute defender, who flung himself at the ball to give his side a deserved leveller.

From then on, there only looked like one winner and it came with a touch of brilliance deep into stoppage time.

Cutting Emiliano Insua to shreds down the right wing, a low cross from Sidney Govou evaded Reina and eventually found its way to Delgado, who happily tapped home to virtually seal his side's passage to the knockout stage.

Liverpool

Lyon

Corners

65

Fouls

118

Goal attempts

1313

Shots off target

86

Offsides

23

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