Champions League/Group A/Monaco 1; Liverpool 0: Not many leave the casino haven of Monte Carlo still in the money, though few can have jeopardised as much as Liverpool did here.
Beaten here in a wretched game's decisive incident, one laced with controversy, their passage into the lucrative knock-out phase will only be definitely secured by convincing home victory against Olympiakos next month.
Progress in this competition is worth an estimated £5 million and, should it be denied him, Rafael Benitez can justifiably point a finger at the Danish referee Claus Bo Larsen. His decision to ignore a blatant handball from Javier Saviola before the Argentinian speared Monaco ahead left Liverpool floundering.
Now, a desperate match could have costly consequences.
This is no place to come when you are down on your luck. Goals from Djibril Cisse and Milan Baros had pulverised a ramshackle Monaco side at Anfield in the opening group match, but both are crocked and off the scene.
They have now been joined by Luis Garcia, who was hopping painfully on to Steven Gerrard's pass barely 100 seconds into this contest, his anguished cry and clutch to his right hamstring further depleting Benitez's attacking options.
The Spaniard departed on a stretcher and, should a scan back on Merseyside today confirm a tear, can presumably expect to spend up to two months in recuperation. Given the circumstances, and Liverpool's woefully shot-shy display on Teesside at the weekend, the inclusion of Neil Mellor from the start was a gamble worthy of these parts.
The rugged youth team graduate might have joined Sheffield United last week. Instead, he made his first appearance in Europe with a quintet of midfielders strung in support at his back.
Even so, Mellor's was a thankless task. For all that this proved an awkward surface, the ball rearing disconcertingly from the shortest of passes, the lack of cohesion to both sides' play was alarming. Steven Gerrard offered glimpses of quality, his barnstorming run after five minutes prompting a cross which was nodded down by John-Arne Riise only for Flavio Roma to claim at Mellor's feet.
But, short of Riise trundling on to Igor Biscan's over-hit pass, that was as good as it got until a relatively frantic eight minutes leading up to the break.
The onus was on Monaco to eke out reward, but they offered nothing until Javier Saviola, peripheral out on the flank, dragged a shot wide of the far post just before the interval. Didier Deschamps' side appeared sapped of confidence, a winless run of eight domestic league games having dragged them towards mid-table and forced the club president Michel Pastor to visit the training ground to impart the significance of this match.
Perhaps expectation weighed heavy on them, though they were not alone in lurching into the forlorn. Liverpool laboured, their passing so awry their best first-half moments were gleaned from long throws into the home penalty area. Josemi, disturbingly sluggish upon his early introduction for Garcia, hurled one towards the six-yard box which panicked Monaco defenders and allowed Biscan, some 10 yards out, to prod a volley goalwards. True to form, the attempt dribbled pathetically wide.
By then, Dietmar Hamann had earned his second caution of the competition, ruling him out of the Olympiakos game, though that did little to deflect the home partisans from grumbling at the banality of it all. Saviola's battered attempt wide on the restart smacked of desperation, the Argentinian then failing marginally to connect with a header from Andreas Zikos's cross.
But the sporadic Monaco pressure told. Liverpool were livid when they were eventually punctured. Saviola slipped Shabani Nonda into the area, only for Djimi Traore to scramble a tackle at the striker's feet.
The ball cannoned up to Saviola, who controlled the ball with his arm, then poked his volley beyond a static Kirkland and into the far corner.
French television opted against replaying the incident, so blatant was Saviola's offence, though the Liverpool players' protests went ignored.
Liverpool's fury brought a response, Roma making a magnificent save at his far post to deny Sami Hyypia from Hamann's centre.
MONACO: Roma, Evra, Plasil, Maicon, Zikos, Nonda, Squillaci, Farnerud (Modesto 79), Givet, Chevanton (Perez 67), Saviola (Adebayor 73). Subs not used: Audard, Kallon, Oshadogan, El Fakiri. Goals: Saviola 54.
LIVERPOOL: Kirkland, Finnan, Carragher, Hyypia, Traore (Kewell 58), Gerrard, Hamann, Biscan, Riise, Luis Garcia (Josemi 4), Mellor, Josemi (Warnock 64). Subs not used: Dudek, Alonso, Diao, Sinama Pongolle. Booked: Traore, Hamann, Warnock.
Referee: Claus Bo Larsen (Denmark).
