Sporting Braga defeat Liverpool 1-0 in Europa League
Portuguese side Sporting Braga defeated Liverpool 1-0 at the Estadio AXA in their last 16 clash of the UEFA Europa League to take a first-leg advantage over their opponents. A first-half penalty from Brazilian Alan was enough for the Braga side to secure
all three points at home.
Sporting Braga defeated Polish side http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Liverpool-c39809 downed Czech champions Sparta Prague with an aggregate score line of 1-0 to reach the Last 16.
Braga started with Rodrigo Lima as the lone striker upfront and Hugo Viana played as the second striker. http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Leandro-Salino-c21845 partnered Mossoro in the centre of midfield whereas Brazilian duo Alan and Paulo Cesar started on the wings.
Liverpool http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Lucas-c22528 Leiva
pulled the strings in the centre of midfield for the away side.
The home side got off to a bright start, as they dominated possession in the opening minutes and created some good chances. Sotiros Kyrgiakos made two good clearances in the first five minutes to prevent the hosts from taking the lead.
Rodrigo Lima proved a threat right from the start and got himself into some good positions, but was unable to convert any of the chances that fell to him. The home side went ahead in the 16th minute when Alan converted a penalty after Mossoro
was fouled by Kyrgiakos in the box.
Braga defender Kaka was booked for a harsh tackle on http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Alberto-Rodríguez-c4344.
Braga were unlucky not to be 2-0 up in the 38th minute as http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Hugo-Viana-c16425’s thunderous volley hit the crossbar. Liverpool ended the half with two corners but failed to create decent chances from either.
The second-half started slowly as both sides looked to keep possession until Liverpool’s record signing Andy Carroll was introduced in the 56th minute in place of the lacklustre Poulsen. The striker’s introduction breathed new life into the Liverpool
side and they moved forward quite frequently after that.
The Reds first real chance came in the 68th minute when Kuyt’s volley forced a brilliant save from the Braga goalkeeper http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Artur-c6727 Moraes. Braga defended well after that as Liverpool were not allowed to create a genuine chance. Braga held on to the
one-goal lead in the end and pulled out a famous victory over the Reds.
Liverpool will now have to win at Anfield, and make sure they do not concede an away goal in the second-leg of the clash next week, to qualify for the quarter-finals of the competition.
Tags: