A host of first team stars were rested, as boss Brendan Rodgers picked a starting line-up encouragingly containing nine English-born players and with an average age of just 24. Conor Coady made his debut in the centre of midfield, while Flanagan and Morgan were handed rare stating opportunities. Andre Wisdom also played at centre back for the first time, as Rodgers experimented with a 3-5-2 formation.
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| The Reds' youthful starting line-up pose for the pre-match photo |
The Northern Irishman's tactics proved successful for the vast majority of the first half, as the visitors took the sting out of the contest and then began to craft goalscoring chances as the half progressed. The home side may have enjoyed more possession than their opponents during the opening stages, but they rarely troubled the Reds' rearguard, Zhirkov resorting to diving to try and win a free kick from Flanagan after 15 minutes.
After a disappointing display out of place at right back against Swansea last week, Jordan Henderson was looking to impress after being afforded the opportunity to play in his preferred position in the middle of the park.
Unfortunately, he displayed his evidently battered confidence when he decided to cut the ball back when one-on-one with the keeper after excellent work from Morgan. His pass was annoyingly intercepted by an Anzhi player when, had he been a little more confident, he could have rounded Gabulov and given Liverpool the lead.
The Reds' dominance seemed to be worrying Anzhi boss Guus Hiddink, as he decided to make a substitution after only half an hour, as defensive midfielder Gonzalez replaced winger Ahmedov. The substitution almost paid off immediately, as Gonzalez shot at goal from 15 yards out but failed to seriously test Jones. The Aussie keeper was called upon to make a world-class save soon after, though, as he brilliantly beat away a fierce shot from Samuel Eto'o.
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| Traore celebrates breaking Red hearts |
With half time approaching, Liverpool would have been the happier of the two teams heading into the interval had referee David Borbalan blown his whistle ten seconds earlier. It was deeply frustrating, therefore, to see Traore capitalise on errors from Coates and Jones to lob over the latter and break the deadlock literally seconds before the break.
Nevertheless, Liverpool remained in the ascendancy in the second half, although once again the considerable amount of possession they enjoyed failed to translate into goals.
After Morgan had shot into the side-netting, Eto'o responded for the Russians, as his shot drew a comfortable save from Jones. The dangerous Traore then shot into the hoardings from range after nutmegging Henderson, before Tagirbekov's shot-cum-cross proved just too quick for him to reach and Jones saved his strong header.
On the hour mark, Pacheco and Suso replaced Morgan and Coady respectively. Suso was particularly influential in the Reds' attack during the closing stages, seeing Gabulov spill his shot thirteen minutes from time. Frustratingly, Cole couldn't capitalise from close range. He was promptly replaced by Assaidi. Although admittedly Cole performed better against Anzhi than he had done versus Swansea, that's saying very little as the Londoner was absolutely woeful against the Welsh side!
Traore was terrorising the Reds' defence again on 78 minutes, as he went through one-on-one with Jones. Despite looking certain to score, he struck inches wide to the relief of Rodgers' side. Unfortunately they couldn't make him pay for his error, though, as, apart from two shots from Henderson flying high and wide, Liverpool failed to equalise and fell to a frustrating one-goal defeat in Russia.
While it is understandable to lament the one costly error that ensured our downfall, there are still many positives to take from tonight's performance. Once again, several youngsters impressed in the Europa League. Andre Wisdom, in particular, looked composed, controlling and strong at centre back. Rodgers also tried out a new formation, which proved relatively successful and will provide him with a back-up plan in the future.
Following Young Boys' 3-2 win over Udinese in Italy, Liverpool sit second in Group A, level on points with the Swiss side who they face next up at Anfield. A win back on Merseyside in a fortnight would go some way to securing progress to the knockout stages of the Europa League.
YNWA
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