[lfc-news] Olympiakos report - PA

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PA Sport, 8 Dec 2004
Liverpool 3 Olympiakos 1

Steven Gerrard sent Anfield wild and his beloved Liverpool into the last 16
of the Champions League in a game that will go down as a fantastic night in
the club's European history.

Skipper Gerrard had made it pretty clear before the game that playing in
Europe's elite competition was all he was interested in with his whole
future on Merseyside clearly in doubt.

Lose and Gerrard would have been looking for the exit door, so the theory went.

And at half-time with a Rivaldo free-kick having put Olympiakos ahead, it
looked all over for boss Rafael Benitez's men.

They needed an unlikely three second-half goals to put them in the next
phase, but driven on by Gerrard that is exactly what they achieved.

Young substitutes Florent Sinama-Pongolle and Neil Mellor put Liverpool
level as they laid siege to the Greek goal, and with just three minutes of
normal time left, Gerrard arrived on cue to blast home a stunning 20-yard
shot to make the dream a reality.

Milan Baros returned up front from the start and Benitez included Antonio
Nunez for his first European match in Liverpool colours.

The home side launched the predictable early assault on a Greek side who
had previously never scored in a European match on English soil, or won an
away Champions League match.

The omens were good, but things started to go wrong for Liverpool as early
as the third minute when Baros seemed to have been awarded a goal for a
close range header, but Spanish referee Manuel Gonzalez was actually giving
a free-kick for a foul by the Czech while the Liverpool players were
celebrating.

The pressure continued, but Rivaldo was starting to appear in far too much
space and he saw an effort clear the bar before watching another flick off
Gerrard to clear the bar. The warning signs were already there.

Liverpool's bad luck continued when Xabi Alonso's curling free-kick from
the left was flicked goalwards by Gerrard and the ball bounced off the foot
of a post before being hacked clear.

You could have guessed what was coming, with Liverpool suffering the sucker
punch they feared on 26 minutes.

Rivaldo picked up possession off Alonso near halfway on 26 minutes and set
off on a superb run, even if he did look to hand off the Spanish midfielder
on the way.

Sami Hyypia had to bring the Brazilian down and Liverpool were punished
when Rivaldo curled the 20-yard free-kick past Chris Kirkland, the shot
going a gap in the wall. Suddenly Liverpool had to score three to progress.

Two minutes later a still angry Alonso fouled Rivaldo and was booked,
Liverpool clearly stunned by the turn of events.

The rest of the half saw Liverpool become more nervous in the face of
Rivaldo's ability to win free kicks around the edge of their box.

Without the defensive shield of the suspended Dietmar Hamann, Liverpool's
defence looked vulnerable.

With Gerrard and Alonso both trying to push forward, the Greeks found
plenty of space to exploit in front of Liverpool's back line, just to add
to the tension.

Rivaldo by now was enraging the home players and fans by his ability to hit
the deck at every opportunity.

Jamie Carragher was booked for one foul on the Brazilian who was virtually
running the show with his clever, street-wise play.

At the break Liverpool threw on another forward in Pongolle, with Djimi
Traore going off and Jon Arne Riise reverting to full-back.

And the move worked within two minutes of the restart when Kewell battled
his way to the byline and found Pongolle in the six yard box with his low
cross. The French teenager stabbed home the equaliser.

The game threatened to get out of hand after a fierce challenge by Gerrard
on Tassos Pantos upset the Greeks, and then when Giovanni tried to kick the
Liverpool captain, Gerrard followed through into Ieroklis Stoltidis and was
booked.

Then Gerrard thought he had scored when a hook from the edge of the box
squirmed through the hands of Antonios Nikopolidis and rolled into the net.

But in the build-up Gabriel Schurrer had gone down in a challenge with
Baros, and the Spanish referee upset the Kop even more by taking play back
and awarding the Greeks a free-kick.

With 12 minutes left, Liverpool replaced the tiring Baros with Mellor, the
last throw of the dice for Benitez.

And the Mellor gamble worked with 10 minutes to go when he smashed the ball
home from close range after Nikopolidis had palmed away a Nunez header from
Pongolle's cross.

Suddenly hope was restored as Liverpool went in search of the goal that
would send them through.

And with three minutes left Mellor's nod down gave Gerrard the chance to
send Anfield wild with a blistering 20-yard effort that at last gave
Liverpool their two goal margin.

Liverpool: Kirkland, Finnan (Josemi 85), Carragher, Hyypia, Traore (Sinama
Pongolle 45), Nunez, Alonso, Gerrard, Riise, Kewell, Baros (Mellor 78).
Subs not used: Dudek, Henchoz, Diao, Warnock.
Booked: Alonso, Carragher Gerrard
Goals: Sinama Pongolle 47, Mellor 81, Gerrard 86

Olympiakos: Nikopolidis, Pantos, Anatolakis, Schurrer, Venetidis (Maric
84), Georgiadis (Rezic 70), Kafes, Stoltidis, Djordjevic, Rivaldo, Giovanni
(Okkas 87).
Subs not used: Giannou, Kouloucheris, Castillo, Vallas.
Booked: Pantos, Schurrer
Goals: Rivaldo 26

Att:42,045
Referee: Manuel Enrique Mejuto Gonzalez (Spain)

Champions League last 16.
Group A: Monaco, Liverpool. Group B: Bayer Leverkusen, Real Madrid. Group
C: Juventus, Bayern Munich. Group D: Lyon, Man Utd. Group E: Arsenal, PSV,
Group F: AC Milan, Barcelona. Group G: Inter Milan, Werder Bremen. Group H:
Chelsea, Porto


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