Ruthless Udinese punish wasteful Reds

Liverpool were left disappointed once again last night, after Udinese left Anfield with a 3-2 victory and three crucial Europa League points under their proverbial belts. The hosts dominated the first half, clinching a one-goal lead thanks to Jonjo Shelvey's header, but Di Natale's leveller literally seconds after the restart proved to be a sucker punch that really took the wind out of the Reds' sails and swung the momentum firmly in the Italians' favour. Coates' own goal and an excellent strike from Pasquale sealed the win for the visitors, as Suarez's impressive free kick provided little consolation.

Rodgers couldn't blame the defeat on selecting an inexperienced side, either, as the Northern Irish boss picked a strong starting eleven, including several senior stars who will expect to appear at home to Stoke City in the Premier League on Sunday. 19-year old left back Jack Robinson was the only youngster to be given a run out in front of 40,092 spectators at Anfield, of which I was one.

The Reds began in the ascendancy. Assaidi shot wide, Shelvey saw his strike blocked and Coates directed a header goalwards from Downing's outswinging corner but goalkeeper Zeljko Brkic denied the Uruguyuan centre back. In fact, the away side's first and only attempt on goal in the first half came on 14 minutes, when Benatia's header forced Reina to make a superb save to prevent the 25-year old Moroccan breaking the deadlock against the run of play.

Fortunately, Shelvey soon opened the scoring at the opposite end. After receiving a pass from Henderson, the clean-shaven midfielder fed Downing out wide and then continued his run into the box, where he headed the winger's cross into the net in a manner that reminded me of a young Steven Gerrard. It was a impressive goal from Shelvey, while the assist was one of few positive contributions from Downing, who otherwise looked off form last night.

Shelvey heads the Reds into the lead

The rest of the first period was taken up with the Merseysiders dominating possession, passing from side-to-side and back again but rarely penetrating Udinese's congested defence. Unsurprisingly, yet again a lethal streak was missing from Liverpool's play. Udinese, on the other hand, ruthlessly took the few goalscoring opportunities they created.

Only 30 seconds after the restart, the visitors crafted a free-flowing move that culminated in Di Natale finishing beyond Reina from 12 yards after latching onto half time substitute Andrea Lazzari's cross. On the hour mark, Henderson's low shot was blocked. Only five minutes later he was replaced by skipper Steven Gerrard, while Luis Suarez came on in place of Assaidi at the same time. The duo provided the team with a tangible boost, their quality adding an additional dimension to our play and their more direct style of play providing much-needed focus to our attack. 

With 23 minutes remaining, Downing outpaced his man down the right wing only to be blatantly fouled at a critical moment. Number 66 Giampiero Pinzi, who also agitated the Kop by regularly feigning injury, was shown a yellow for the tackle and swiftly substituted soon after. Referee Stefan Johannesson showing him a red card wouldn't have been unreasonable. Suarez collected possession from the subsequent set piece, directing a shot goalwards that was frustratingly inadvertently blocked close to the line by teammate Jonjo Shelvey.

Liverpool's profligacy in front of goal was soon punished, as Udinese struck twice in the space of two minutes. First, Coates embarrassingly headed a free kick into his own net. Then, Pasquale thumped a decent strike beyond Reina from outside the box to stun Anfield into silence.

Coates turns away distraught after heading past Reina

Nevertheless, Suarez curled an exquisite free kick into the net from 25 yards out to send the Kop into another round of "Just Can't Get Enough" and inspire hope that the Reds might just be able to muster another late dramatic European comeback at the magical Anfield. In pursuit of that dream ending, Suarez's header was saved from close range and substitute Sterling looped agonisingly over the crossbar, before Downing shot straight at the keeper to squander the Reds' final opportunity to equalise two minutes into injury time.

With 71% of possession and 21 shots, 16 of which were on target, Liverpool really should have emerged victorious from this contest. Frustratingly, it was the same old problems that prevented them from doing so. An unfamiliar back four failed in their duties, allowing Udinese to convert all three goalscoring opportunities that they created. In attack, meanwhile, the Reds couldn't take advantage of their dominance of possession, frequently passing for the sake of passing instead of testing the keeper. The hosts lacked a player or two willing to just put their foot through the ball and have a pop. 

They're persistent problems that won't go away over night. In the meantime, though, Liverpool must pick up results, retaining the current attractive passing style of play while developing a crucial cutting edge in front of goal and tightening up a shaky defence that is leaking far too many goals.

YNWA