Europa League - Lille1 Liverpool 0:LILLE ARE known as the Mastiffs and an unnerved Liverpool retreated from their lair nursing a nasty bite. No matter that Eden Hazard's late, long-range free-kick was almost certainly intended for the head of a striker rather than the back of the net; it gave Rudi Garcia's team a deserved first-leg lead.
Unable to score a potentially vital away goal, Rafael Benitez’s edgy side were too frequently wrong-footed by the impressive Hazard – Lille’s best player – and his technically accomplished colleagues.
A one-goal deficit is far from insurmountable but Liverpool will have their work cut out if they are to overcome it at Anfield next week and sustain their sole remaining pursuit of silverware by progressing to the quarter-finals of the Europa League.
It took 40 seconds for Yohan Cabaye to test Pepe Reina’s reflexes. While his shot prompted a fairly routine save on the goalkeeper’s part, the build-up had left Liverpool’s defence looking as unsteady as men on a trampoline.
Benitez’s players took some time to fathom Lille’s fluid 4-3-3 formation. Whereas Garcia’s side looked comfortable rotating positions and retaining possession, Liverpool seemed stiff by comparison.
Benitez’s team have been strong on the break but with Steven Gerrard experiencing the sort of first half when almost nothing he attempted worked out as intended, Lille were not greatly stretched. Admittedly it took a decent tackle from Adil Rami to prevent Babel from shooting after being put through by a clever Fernando Torres pass but, bar the odd Glen Johnson overlap and a Babel strike repelled by Mickael Landreau’s legs, following a lovely one-two with Torres, Liverpool looked muted in attack.
Instead, they were frequently more concerned with events at the other end where Cabaye’s elusive darts across midfield were proving difficult to contain and Hazard’s crosses served to warn Benitez that winning the Europa League will be far from easy. Indeed, Jamie Carragher and company must have given thanks that Gervinho, Lille’s much admired young Ivory Coast striker, was unavailable through injury.
Beaten only once here all season, Lille are formidable on their own patch and possessed the confidence to push for a first-leg victory which would enhance their ambitions of reaching a first ever European quarter-final.
Such hopes may have been dented had Landreau not done well to acrobatically save a menacing Torres header after Lille’s defence had failed to clear following a Gerrard free-kick that had been parried by the keeper. Lille rallied. On a night when northern France felt cold enough for snow, Hazard slalomed his way through Liverpool’s defence before letting Reina off with the softest of left-foot shots.
Liverpool supporters may have been wondering why Alberto Aquilani once again warmed the bench as Lucas Leiva laboured in midfield but for all Lille’s impressive ball retention, Reina’s lack of involvement suggested that Benitez’s gameplan was possibly working.
The Liverpool manager must have been delighted to see Torres, all insidious movement and adroit holding-up of the ball, appear fitter by the minute but Gerrard’s failure to make his presence felt was a growing cause for concern. Liverpool’s captain has rarely been so lacklustre. There was, however, nothing remotely half-hearted about Pierre-Alain Frau’s long-range second-half shot, which bounced out of Reina’s hands and left the Spaniard grateful to merely concede a corner.
By now Liverpool were increasingly gathering behind the ball and had long since reverted to 4-5-1 rather than a 4-4-1-1 formation. Yet, as so often in the past, dropping deep rebounded on them and they fell behind to Hazard’s 85th-minute free-kick, which bent in from the right-hand edge of the area and evaded everyone including Reina. It could have been worse for Liverpool had Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang’s shot not been deflected on to a post.
LILLE:Landreau, Emerson, Beria, Rami, Balmont, Cabaye (Dumont 73), Obraniak (Toure 83), Chedjou Fongang, Mavuba, Hazard, Frau (Aubameyang 77). Booked:Toure, Aubameyang. Subs not used:Butelle, Vandam, Souare, Souquet.
LIVERPOOL:Reina, Johnson, Agger, Insua, Carragher, Gerrard, Mascherano, Lucas, Torres, Kuyt (El Zhar 88), Babel (Riera 73). Booked:Insua, Torres. Subs not used:Cavalieri, Kyrgiakos, Kelly, Aquilani, Ngog.
Referee:Alan Larsen.
Guardian Service
