Europa League FT Report: Hapless Liverpool held to a draw in Utrecht
Liverpool’s miserable start to the season did not get much better in the UEFA Europa League either. The Reds failed to break down the un-fancied
Utrecht team in the Netherlands and ended their away game 0-0. All in all it was a dull performance from
Liverpool who clearly need some reshaping.
Utrecht got the game started. They were playing it around nicely, but only in their own half.
Liverpool had hit a couple of balls into the home side's box but did not have a sniff of goal in the first 15 minutes.
Utrecht’s Dries Mertens got on the ball for the first time, and made a run for the
Liverpool box. His dinked ball found Ricky van Wolfswinkel in the box, but the striker could not control it and committed a foul when the chance was gone.
The Dutch side came forward again, and got a shot away this time. Edouard Duplan tried his luck from the edge of the box but dragged his low effort wide of the far post.
Finally there was a first shot on goal for
Liverpool too. Raul Meireles had a pop, but his low effort was comfortably saved by Michel Vom.
Minutes later Joe Cole and Lucas linked up well in the
Utrecht half and opened up a shooting chance for the Brazilian. Again, he did not really get hold of it (it was scuffed and rolled wide) but this was still an encouraging spell for the Reds.
Joe Cole was the best player for Liverpool till then, and he had a go himself, cutting in from the left before letting fly. Again, it was bit of a daisy-cutter and off-target too.
Then came Utrecht's first real effort on goal for a while, and it wasn't a pretty one. Jacob Mulenga latched on to a ball over the top but, tracked by Martin Kelly, he rushed his shot and smacked
it about a mile wide.
Eventually, Utrecht had the ball in the net from a corner but it did not count. The whistle had already gone for a push in the area before Jan Wuytens slammed his shot past Pepe Reina. Still, it
was a bit of a warning for the visitors.
Liverpool started getting more of the ball and were knocking it around nicely when they broke forward with a swift counter-attack. It fizzled out, and the resulting corner was easily cleared, but this had been
an encouraging opening half-hour for Roy Hodgson's men.
Fernando Torres had been having a quiet game, and he did not look dangerous when he got on the ball. He made space then curled a shot a yard or two wide from the edge of the area.
The first half was pretty dull and ended at 0-0; there was clearly a need for some inspiration or a moment of brilliance from either side to spark the game into life.
Liverpool boss Roy Hodgson had a few options in terms of freshening things up at the break, although he could have started by telling Lucas to stop giving the ball away. The likes of Ryan Babel and David N’gog
were on the bench for the Reds.
In the 2nd half, Utrecht were the first to come forward after the break, with Ricky van Wolfswinkel chasing a ball over the top that had got a little bit too much pace on it.
Five minutes into the 2nd half, and
Liverpool strung together a good move, till it reached Fernando Torres anyway. Glen Johnson combined well with Dirk Kuyt down the right and got in another excellent whipped cross. It came out to Torres, who had time to take a touch
inside the area but instead ballooned his shot high over the bar. That summed up his night.
It was Utrecht who were on top, though. Jacob Mulenga sent in a wicked cross from the right and Ricky van Wolfswinkel was in the right place to slot it home - but for the presence of Pepe Reina who
flew out of his goal to clear the danger.
Reina promptly missed a Utrecht cross but, when he did collect the ball, swiftly released Dirk Kuyt with a precise clearance. Kuyt crossed for Fernando Torres in front of goal and
Liverpool would have been a goal up if not for a brilliant stop by Michel Vorm. The game had finally woken up.
With 10 minutes to play there was another chance for Fernando Torres, who nipped in to intercept a Mihai Nesu back-pass. He got there before Michel Vorm but his first touch on the edge of the area was far too heavy and the
ball went out for a goal-kick.
The final whistle could have not have come any quicker, apart from few pieces of good play the match had hardly anything to offer. It surely was a big result for the home side who were happy to hold the 5 time European winners
to a goalless draw. For Liverpool though there was a lot to think about on the flight home.
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