Europa League: Liverpool 0 – 0 FC Utrecht, Full time Analysis (Part 2)
In the match Liverpool got through with a stressful draw which was totally dominated by Utrecht. The match that was a major Group K Europa League encounter saw a disjointed and dismissive performance.
In the end Utrecht managed to salvage a point against the English hotshots Liverpool who were the guests at Stadion Galgenwaard. It is the place where the hosts have won the last 6 matches and again they proved a hearty performance
though they were unable to score and gain all the points.
Nonetheless, Roy Hodgson and his men have had 5 consecutive victories in the Europa League before this game. In this game however they were dominated by the Dutch team and in the end it was only the Spanish goal keeper Jose Reina
that confirmed the draw for the Scouse. Apart from him Raul Meireles also performed brilliantly and managed to clear a ball just from the goal line.
Now the team from Merseyside has played four matches without a victory. In all competitions therefore the new boss of Anfield, Hodgson is under severe pressure to re-innovate the Merseyside into a better place after Rafael Benitez
was sacked this summer.
Another factor that was clearly leaving the Reds in a deficit was the absence of their skipper Steven Gerrard. Without him it seemed that his team was lost of ideas of what to do. The void of emptiness in the creative department
was apparent and even the world class striker Fernando Torres was having troubles in the attack, ultimately it can be said that his Europa League opener wasn’t what he was hoping for.
The only remarkable achievement in the match for Liverpool wasn’t on field but on paper as the five times European victors of the competition now had increased their record of being undefeated against Dutch clubs.
Liverpool lost to Ajax in 1966 and since then they have been unbeaten in 12 matches against teams from Netherlands. But in the night this record was on the verge of being broken on a couple of instances as Utrecht proved themselves
to be the better side.
In the 5th minute the rising star Ricky Van Wolfswinkel who has scored 13 goals in 14 fixtures this season was handed a chance to score when Liverpool midfielder Christian Poulsen lost the ball to the striker but in
the end the ball got with the help of Dries Mertens from the left side to the far post.
Liverpool on the other hand did orchestrate 3 to 4 attempts to score but they weren’t even considered to real threats at scoring. It was Meireles who was possessing, passing, striking, heading and everything else to the ball but
the opponent’s goal keeper Michel Vorm was always sharp enough to handle the situation. Lucas Leiva and Joe Cole both tried to score too but their attempts went in vain.
Torres had his moments too and one came as he produced his famous curl from the wing and made a brilliant turn to shoot the ball himself from outside the box but failed to score.
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