10-man Reds pay the penalty

Cardozo brace sinks Liverpool after Agger opener and Babel dismissal

Last updated: 2nd April 2010   Subscribe to RSS Feed

Benfica v Liverpool David Luiz Steven Gerrard
Daniel Agger celebrates Liverpool v Benfica
Benfica v Liverpool Daniel Agger flick
Ryan Babel

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Oscar Cardozo struck two second-half penalties to earn Benfica a 2-1 home win over Liverpool, who played much of the Europa League quarter-final first-leg tie with 10 men.

Daniel Agger had given Rafa Benitez's side an early lead before the Portuguese league leaders took advantage of Ryan Babel's dismissal.

Cardozo scored twice from the spot, either side of Fernando Torres missing a great chance, but Agger's away goal could yet prove crucial for the Reds.

Liverpool could not have asked for a better start in Lisbon as the unmarked Agger cleverly flicked home Steven Gerrard's low free-kick after just nine minutes.

Benfica proceeded to miss a glut of chances, with Cardozo the most culpable, before the Reds were reduced to 10 men just past the half-hour mark.

Luisao's awful challenge on Fernando Torres produced a rash response from Babel, who pushed his hand in the Benfica defender's face in front of the referee and eventually left the field after initial confusion over who had been shown the red card.

Cardozo fluffed another golden chance early in the second half before the Paraguay international striker displayed unerring accuracy to draw Benfica level from the penalty spot on 59 minutes.

Emiliano Insua was penalised for a challenge on Pablo Aimar and Cardozo, whose free-kick had crashed off the post in the lead up to the penalty, powerfully drilled his spot-kick into the bottom corner.

Cardozo picked the same side of the goal for the decisive penalty on 79 minutes, nonchalantly sending Jose Reina the wrong way after Jamie Carragher handled Angel Di Maria's cross.

Hefty challenges

Reds boss Rafa Benitez had said before the game he did not expect the Portuguese league leaders to target striker Torres - but he was wrong.

The Spain international was on the receiving end of some hefty challenges which Swedish referee Jonas Eriksson seemed content to leave unpunished.

It was no surprise to see Torres withdrawn before the end, firstly to avoid injury and secondly to prevent him getting a booking which would rule him out of the second leg at Anfield.

Playing against a backdrop of a cacophony of noise and, in the second half, a stream of fireworks aimed at Reina's goal, Liverpool had the ideal start.

Maxi Pereira's ninth-minute foul on Gerrard gave the Liverpool captain a chance to whip in a dangerous free-kick from just left of the penalty area.

However, with the hosts massed around the six-yard area, the midfielder fooled everyone by rolling a low pass in towards the penalty spot where Agger produced a classy back-heel into the corner of the net.

Fortunately for Liverpool, Benfica's European top scorer this season, Cardozo, could not show the same composure as he squandered three good chances in quick succession.

Profligacy

The profligacy was contagious as Pablo Aimar's usually reliable first touch let him down as he looked to beat Reina, making his 250th appearance for the club.

Ramires was next to head over at the far post from a cross by Di Maria, whose shot from 25 yards fizzed just over Reina's crossbar in the 28th minute as the pressure built.

The highly-charged atmosphere exploded on the half-hour when centre-back Luisao took exception to a tackle by Babel and subsequently hacked right through the back of Torres, who had already been on the end of some severe punishment.

A melee ensued in which Luisao continued his protest at Babel and the Dutchman responded by pushing the Brazilian in the face.

The Swedish official showed the Benfica defender a yellow card and then flashed a red at Liverpool's Holland international - sparking a sustained but fruitless protest by Liverpool's entire team.

David Luiz was next to go into the book for clattering Torres in the 37th minute and the Spain striker thought he had exacted the perfect revenge when he volleyed home Julio Cesar's weak punch from Gerrard's free-kick - only to be denied by an offside flag.

Fireworks

Emiliano Insua was booked for pulling back Di Maria just before the break, ruling him out of the second leg.

Within four minutes of the restart Cardozo planted one header straight at Reina and the other over from five yards and you sensed just maybe it was going to be Liverpool's night.

But, after a stray firework landed close to the fourth official next to Reina's goal, their luck changed.

Cardozo's 59th-minute free-kick rattled back off the right-hand post and when Aimar went down under Insua's tackle chasing the rebound Eriksson pointed to the penalty spot. This time Cardozo finally hit the target to beat Reina.

In the 76th minute Torres had a glorious chance to put his side back in front but with only Cesar to beat he dragged his shot wide from Dirk Kuyt's pass.

It was to prove costly as two minutes later Di Maria's cross hit Carragher as he slid in to tackle and the fourth official signalled a penalty for handball. The defender was booked and Cardozo scored his second spot-kick of the night.

With more fireworks raining down behind Liverpool's goal towards the end Benitez's side were fortunate to leave Lisbon with just a one-goal deficit.

BenficaTeam StatisticsLiverpool
2Goals1
01st Half Goals1
7Shots on Target2
10Shots off Target3
3Blocked Shots1
6Corners4
19Fouls12
1Offsides7
2Yellow Cards3
0Red Cards1
80.5Passing Success70.6
23Tackles32
82.6Tackles Success81.2
55.7Possession44.3
61.1Territorial Advantage38.9
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Comments (26)

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Leoson Chen (Liverpool fan) says...

No matter of what's being said by everyone else. I strongly believe Benfica is definitey going to be thrashed at Anfield if it's 11 vs 11 .

Posted 11:46 2nd April 2010

Sean Stead (Liverpool fan) says...

Do not blame the ref for this result. The game was lost before kick off when Rafa named his side and formation. Clearly Rafa is the only man alive concerned with Liverpool who felt that the 4-4-2 formation used against Sundrland was no good. Yes Benfica are Portuguese legends in their own back yard but they'd be a mid-table Premier league side at best. Rafa should have carried on with 4-4-2 and build some momentum from the Sunderland game (which was Liverpool's best team performance in 18 months) instead due to his stubborness, ignorance and arrogance and lack of football knowledge he has set us back once more. There is no place for Lucas in this Liverpool side; even when he has a good game he is still very mediocre. Please scrap the 4-5-1 we are easily picked off and it is too negative and boring beyond belief. Let's go 4-4-2 with Dirk Kuyt acting as a battering ram making room for Torres to drift into, Stevie G and Mascherano bossing the midfield (best pairing in the Premier League bar none) return Yossi to the starting line up with Babel on the other wing. Glen Johnson as proved against Sunderland can still get forward. Insua needs to be dropped like a bad habit - surely we have a reserve or youth left back who can do a better job? We should be setting out to hammer teams like Benfica - not be fearful and sit with 10 men behind the ball at all times. As a Liverpool fan who lived through the glory years I am disgusted with Rafa's negative approach. I hope he goes in the summer and we bring in Jose Mourhino who is constantly trying to tell us (through interviews) to go and get him. RAFA OUT AND TAKE THE YANKS WITH YOU!

Posted 11:43 2nd April 2010

Charles Mifsud says...

Liverpool supporter.Thank God we only lost 2-1 and still with a very good chance to go through to the semis.This season was one of the worse when talking about referees.The control of many games were so bad .I just don`t know what`s happening.Benitez must go.I think that he is confusing all the players with all the changing of positions and his style is very negative as if he`s afraid to attack.We need to attack if we want to win games.Hope we be better than this in the future.

Posted 11:32 2nd April 2010

Gary Mc crossan (Liverpool fan) says...

I'm really disgusted with some Liverpool supporters here. We should be actually supporting our team not slagging them off!! I think last night was a great result against a difficult team ,football ground and a horrible ref that was not up to proper standard for the level of football. We were down to 10 men also for OVER AN HOUR!!!!! At Anfield it will be a completely different game. I personally dont think benfica will have a chance. 3-0 TO Liverpool. Nothing against Benfica! Get behind the team!

Posted 11:18 2nd April 2010

Ricky Bobby (Liverpool fan) says...

Rafa has lost the plot, he continues to play Lucas alongside Masch. I'd have Masch in the squad everytime because he does a brilliant holding job but he doesn't need Lucas standing beside him watching what he's doing!! Aquilani was bought as a replacement for Alonso but he's had more viruses (Supposedly) than Mc Afee!!! Get the yanks and Rafa out fast before the pool become a relegation battling side!

Posted 11:13 2nd April 2010

Dave Burch says...

Everyone is blaming the ref for a bad performance, which may be right, but they seem to be glossing over the fact that the players performance was even worse. They are the reason the tie was lost. If the same challenges had been on our players, then we would have been screaming for penalties. Any slightly dodgy tackling in the box is going to get punished by euro refs. The sad reality is we were panicked and swamped, because our defence was over run and the midfield were doing nothing to stop it. I've been careful what I said previously about Insua, but last night he looked like a schoolboy and not a very good one at that. Carra has been a liability for a while now and the fact he has played over 600 games and is a local boy regarded as a "legend" should not matter. When push comes to shove he has lost his mojo and should be dropped when Skrtel is fit. The club need to look hard at defenders during the next transfer window, because we are leaking goals like a sieve. It was only sheer fluke that Benfica didn't score 4 or 5 goals and the fact that they didn't had nothing to do with good defence. We were ripped apart at times and looked amateurish and slow witted. Torres dived all night and if not for his goals, is becoming a petulant embarassment. Stevie G looked bored and lethargic. Lucas, well enough said. The rest just went throught the motions. Babel did more after he was sent off, I didn't realise he was playing until I saw him slinking off. What has Yossi done to upset Rafa? People are talking about playing Ath Madrid next. Not for a couple of seasons I suspect and then it will be a pre-season friendly as part of the deal taking one of the Spaniards home. Face facts we are a mid-table form club at the moment and and thoughts of Champions league next year are a distant fantasy. The way we are going, we'll be lucky to finish 6th. Change is needed now. If that means Rafa going then so be it, preferably its the Yanks

Posted 09:58 2nd April 2010

Jim Pilgrim (Liverpool fan) says...

Liverpool are now playing with no conviction, enjoyment and little skill being applied, Rafa is destroying the team, lets get a British manager and start using British players and getting them to play for Liverpool and not themselves. I am sick of all this diving and play acting,

Posted 09:58 2nd April 2010

Paul C (Real Madrid fan) says...

This was a very hard game to ref, yes there where some mistakes and calls made on both sides of the pitch. Luisao could have gotten a red card but there was also another clear hand ball in the box that should have been called for a third penalty in favor of Benfica. In the end Benfica could have easily walked away with 4 goals in this match but it didn't happen. Also, can someone please tell Torres to stay on his feet, he looked like a 2 year old learning how to walk. he spent more time on the ground then on his feet. Also where was that mighty Gerrard, had no influence on the game at all. I think the 2nd leg will be tough for Benfica but i still think we can advance to next round. I like watching English football a lot but come on people Liverpool this year have been a joke, they haven't played great football all year and there stats show it. But still it will not be easy for a Benfica win but you never know.

Posted 09:58 2nd April 2010

Ant Eater (Liverpool fan) says...

In addition to previous posts: The first player to be booked should have been the one who kicked Babel in the head (dangerous play and indeed a very high boot). How the ref missed that one is beyond me.

Posted 07:44 2nd April 2010

Gareth david Dickenson (Liverpool fan) says...

Unbelievable... typical of this season so far! Mr Goodman you have it down to a tee! The refereeing decisions have been an absolute joke! I cannot wait for the second leg at Anfield! Liverpool are going to show them how to play football!

Posted 07:40 2nd April 2010

Amathulla Khan (Liverpool fan) says...

I usually do not try to find excuses about my team's failure but last night was clearly different...A very dubious act of refereeing from the Referee. Its really awful to understand how Babel got sent off when in fact the ref had to hold off Luisao who seemed the more aggressive towards Babel. Its also shameful how Torres' goal was disallowed for the ghost offside...Well that's football my friends but we will hopefully be up there at Anfield...Just hope we get someone for good cover for Insua at left-back while Benayoun should easily be replacing Babel on the left...We also cannot afford to have El Nino in the booking as it seems his former friends at Atletico Madrid will be awaiting him at the Vicente Calderón for the semi...Come on you mighty Reds!! YNWA!!!

Posted 06:07 2nd April 2010

Pedro Tavares says...

Hello from Portugal, well you guys have to admit Benfica was the better team until you guys scored the goal we werent doing anything but after that you have to admit and statistics prove benfica was doing better. Babel shouldnt had gotten a red card but Benfica had a lot of near goal oportunitis with him still playing and there was a 3rd penalty when Carragher gave a "kick" in the should of Cardoso and both the penalty were penaltys if you see the replays the referee was bad and was to strick in the yellow/red cards in some occasions but Benfica won because we were the better team. And sorry guys i dont see if you were seeing the same match as me but Torres was diving all the time the only real fouls that were both the yellow cards for Luisão and David Luiz the rest was diving like you guys usually say with our Cristiano Ronaldo i tend to see england soccer as the most professional and strick of them all so if you dont see the game biased you know Torres was diving all the time. Anyway the fans were shamefull and im sorry for the fans of my club to do such a thing i hope Benfica gets a warning from Uefa so they dont let this bastards enter the stadium next week this happened last week also its not usual but this months it happened two times with Porto and now with Liverpool and i apologise to every Liverpool fan for what happened. Sorry for some english errors but i wanted to give my opinion.

Posted 03:53 2nd April 2010

Homzie D (Manchester United fan) says...

Terrible refereeing as he gave them 2 'soft' penalties but, how many chances were missed after Daniel Agger gave Liverpool a 1-0 lead in the 9th minute! A moment of madness by Babel turned the tie. Liv have a cutial away goal with a home leg to come. I hope (for the sake of English football) that Liverpool makle the return leg one of those famous European nights to remember. It is time to hammer Benfica at Anfield, which they will and go on to lift the UEFA Cup (unless Moissiur Platini has other ideas). I'm hoping for a Liverpool v Fulham Final, despite being a United fan!

Posted 03:45 2nd April 2010

Adrian Ross (Liverpool fan) says...

How bad has it got at Anfield. We are struggling to compete in the Europa Cup!!!!!!! Kings of Europe!?!?!? Something has to change

Posted 03:18 2nd April 2010

Dicky Liver (Liverpool fan) says...

it is absolutely boring watching Liverpool this year, Benitez does not have a clue. He has damaged club beyond repair, along with Tom and Jerry. Liverpool cannot hope to lift title again until the soul is put back into the club. I cant bare to watch them sometimes, the recent performance against utd was pathetic and Gerrard does not look interested this season. Lucas should not be anywhere near the squad along with Kuyt, Riera, Carra, Aquilani, Insua, Ngog, or Vorinin. Benitez is linked with top Euro jobs. . . .good I hope he gets one then WE can get somebody SPECIAL . . . . . . .

Posted 03:04 2nd April 2010

Aidy Reid (Liverpool fan) says...

What a brilliant example of yet more suspect refereeing. Decisions that just staggered me through the entire game. To be fair to the Ref regarding Babel he had to go. You raise your hands in an opponents face then you asking for trouble, we all know that. My biggest beef with the Ref is that he bottled sending off the Benfica defender whose name I don't even want to mention for his repeated cheating. After that the ref just lost control, and so much for these extra officials! What did Insua get booked for? Running along next to someone!? Cara was quite lucky with his high foot and is becoming a bit of a liability for me these days. He bleeds Liverpool but some of his decision making is rash to say the least and his lack of pace is becoming more of an issue with each season. BUT, my main point....... for throwing "explosive" missiles onto the pitch Benfica should be banned from taking fans away from home and certainly for the next leg. No doubt Uefa will just fine the club some obscure amount of money, but for me its THE FANS that should suffer so they should not be allowed to travel to Anfield. (I'd say anywhere after that as well but I can't see them getting a result at Anfield) As they will be in Europe next year they should be banned from travelling for some of those games as well. Disgraceful. COME ON YOU REDS!!!!!

Posted 02:10 2nd April 2010

Joo Correia (Inter Milan fan) says...

I think the fireworks had nothing to do with the result! I think it's a bad thing but liverpool didn't loose because of that. And you think liverpool lost because of the referee? 1 - Liverpool's goal was offside 2 - Insua should have seen the red card on the 1st penalty 3 - the two penaltys were right Liverpool create 2 chances of goal, scored 1 and had no directly referee error Benfica missed a lot of goal chances... so why was liverpool lost? hummm I can imagine and i think the result is short and i m sure benfica will win the 2nd leg. But it's my opinion

Posted 01:42 2nd April 2010

Aggrey Mulema (Liverpool fan) says...

Liverpool Bravo! It had to take penalties, poor officiating and intimidating stances from the fans to win. How cowardly of them! We must be tactical at Anifield. We must thrust them swiftly. Lets take the game to them early and lets not relent. 5-0 must be enough to humble Benfica at Anifield.

Posted 01:10 2nd April 2010

Big Brother (Alloa Athletic fan) says...

Yes....you will destroy us like you did 5 years ago...oh no...wait...my mistake...5 years ago we won 2-0 in Anfield....;) better luck with another team...and teach your players that what Babel did is Red card anywhere within the civilized world....Thank you and see you all next week for another sesion of "How the stupid Portuguese manage to kick our ass again"....

Posted 00:55 2nd April 2010

Marco Gil (Real Madrid fan) says...

Congratulations for all the Liverpool supporters. It was a good match between two teams that deserve to play each other just in the final match. I'm a Benfica fan and besides the ref was not at the same level as the two teams, i believe Benfica deserve to win this match. Let's see next week who will be the winner. As Mark wrote, we also don't want the same ref. P.S. As i can't choose Benfica in the favourite team, Real is next.

Posted 00:37 2nd April 2010
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