Liverpool will take a slender advantage to Bucharest next week after they struggled to a hard fought 1-0 victory at home to Unirea Urziceni. The Romanian side defended resolutely throughout, putting 10 men behind the ball and making it extremely hard for Rafa's Reds to find a way through. They "parked the bus" and got what they would consider to be a decent result, which keeps them in the tie, and leaves Liverpool with work to do if they're to progress to the next round of what has become a vital competition.
Rafa selected a strong team in an attempt to batter the visitors out of sight, however his plans didn't come to fruition as Liverpool only managed to find the back of the net once, in what was a frustrating evening for the 40,000 Reds who unexpectedly packed out Anfield, in a show of support.
This game was exactly like the many home matches that we drew in the Premier League last season, with Liverpool dominating possession but lacking the cutting edge to put the opposition to the sword.
The best chance of the first half came after just 30 seconds, with Gerrard testing the keeper with a firm shot from 12 yards out after Kuyt had played a pass to the skipper through a sea of white Unirea shirts. The keeper did well to palm the shot wide for a corner.
If Liverpool had taken the lead at that point then the away side would have been forced to attack more, leaving gaps at the back for the Reds to exploit.
Liverpool continued to press in search of the all important first goal, with Mascherano and Aurelio attempting long range shots, but they couldn't open up the Unirea defence.
On 14 minutes Aurelio, who was starting at left back in place of Insua, went close with a free kick from 25 yards out. He curled his set piece around the wall, and it looked to be heading into the bottom right hand corner, but it rolled disappointingly wide, with the keeper beat.
After this, Carragher sent a high ball up into the box which David Ngog did well to control on his chest. Then, the young Frenchmen turned neatly and fired in a shot just past the post. It was an impressive bit of skill, which reminded me of Peter Crouch in his pomp. For a young lad, Ngog is very good at holding the ball up, and he demonstrated that skill tonight, as he continued in the lone striker role. With time, patience and a lot of hard work he could develop into a very good striker for Liverpool.
Liverpool went into the break frustarted because all of their impressive build up work and dominance of possession had gone unrewarded.
The home side came out for the second half intent on taking the lead, and they opened with a few opportunities as Gerrard headed wide before Aurelio's low strike from the edge of the box forced Arlauskis into an excellent save.
Unirea's only chance of note came on the hour, as their striker shot well over the bar from just inside the 18 yards box, squandering a great chance to break Red hearts.
Liverpool's persistence in attack finally paid off in the 80th minute as the two substitutes, Babel and Pacheco, who both added an extra impetus to the Reds attack once they were introduced, combined to set up David Ngog, who headed home from 6 yards out. Babel floated an inviting cross into the penalty area from the left flank, which Dani Pacheco, the young, talented Spaniard, cushioned down to Ngog, who broke the deadlock with an excellent diving header in front of the Kop.
Unirea started to attack more following Ngog's goal, but they never looked like scoring an equaliser as they lacked the neccesary talent to open up Liverpool's strong defence.
Liverpool now head to Romania in a week's time looking to secure a safe passage through to the next round. If we score an early away goal then the tie will be over, however the Red's backline must remain firm, to provide a platform from which we can build.
MOTM: Fabio Aurelio impressed at left back, and was a threat from set pieces, and Ryan Babel helped give Liverpool the cutting edge they were missing when he was brought on, however, i'm giving the award of Man of the Match to David Ngog. He scored the crucial winning goal, and laboured alone up front throughout, whilst also producing moments of skill that threatened the Unirea defence.
YNWA
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