Reds leaves it late to advance

2008-08-28 07:35

England - Five-time European champion Liverpool struggled to advance past Standard Liege 1-0 on Wednesday with a goal late into extra time to reach the lucrative Champions League group stage.

Dirk Kuyt scored the only goal of the two legs in the 28th minute of added time, just two minutes before the game would have headed to penalties.

Meanwhile, Greek champion Olympiakos suffered a shock exit from the third qualifying round, beating Anorthosis Famugusta 1-0 but losing 3-1 on aggregate.

Among the teams also advancing to the group stage was Arsenal, Atletico Madrid, Fiorentina and Marseille.

Arsenal, already leading 2-0, dispatched FC Twente 4-0, while Marseille beat Brann 2-1 to round off a 3-1 aggregate victory over the Norwegian club. Atletico overcame a 1-0 first-leg deficit to rout Schalke 4-0, and Fiorentina relied on its 2-0 first-leg victory to advance as it was held 0-0 at Slavia Prague.

Liverpool once again saved by goalkeeper Pepe Reina, who turned back a penalty in the goalless first leg at Liege.

Squandered

Reina dove in the seventh minute to repel Dieumerci Mbokani effort from 20m, and the Spaniard was the only reliable piece in Rafa Benitez's team as Liverpool looked in danger of missing out on Europe's top club competition.

On an anxious night at Anfield, Fabio Aurelio had a free kick punched away by Liege goalkeeper Aragon Espinoza while Yossi Benayoun squandered an opportunity after Steven Gerrard's neat pass, and it was the unintimidated Belgians who looked more dangerous.

Marouane Fellaini's wayward shooting and Reina's firm hands denied the Belgium midfielder a valuable away goal.

Liverpool was outplayed and lacked guile as new signing Robbie Keane looked ineffective in his striking partnership with Fernando Torres.

Xabi Alonso was unlucky not to put the 2005 champion ahead in the 40th with a 25m effort shaving the post, while United States defender Oguchi Onyewu blocked Keane's advance on the stroke of halftime.

While Liege midfielder Steven Defour volleyed over, the Reds were desperately spraying the Belgian goal with shots, but Keane and Gerrard couldn't find the target, sending the tie into extra time.

Nabil El Zhar had a penalty claim dismissed when he was fouled by Onyewu with seven minutes remaining, but Ryan Babel was able to produce a spectacular cross that found Kuyt at the far post.

Failed

"We knew it was a difficult team to play against," Benitez said. "They played good on counterattack. It was difficult, but we were playing better than in the first leg."

Olympiakos will have to settle for the Uefa Cup after Fernando Belluschi scored just once as the Greeks failed to overcome a 3-0 defeat to Anorthosis two weeks ago.

Anorthosis coach Temuri Ketsbaia said he hoped his team would "just play and have fun" in Europe's most prestigious competition.

"Our players earned this victory - this is a big day for us, it's like we won the Champions League tonight," Ketsbaia said. "When it was 0-0 at half time it was looking good for us."

Olympiakos coach Ernesto Valverde said his players were too nervous.

"We couldn't stay calm and that hurt us ... This is a difficult moment for us," Valverde said. "We knew they'd dig in defensively. We couldn't get past that wall."

Arsenal denied former England manager Steve McClaren a successful return to home soil with Dutch side Twente.

Eliminated

Samir Nasri put the Gunners ahead in the 27th, while William Gallas, Theo Walcott and Nicklas Bendtner scored in the second half to seal a 6-0 aggregate victory.

Atletico was in danger of being eliminated after its first-leg defeat in Gelsenkirchen, Germany two weeks ago, but had little trouble seeing off Schalke in the second leg.

The Spaniards burst into life in the 14th when Sergio Aguero opened the scoring in his first match since winning the gold medal with Argentina in the Beijing Olympics.

Diego Forlan then gave Atletico the overall lead in the 51st minute when he received the ball outside the area, twisted and turned before delivering a low, angled shot just inside Schober's left post.

The visitors came close to getting the goal they needed to go ahead on aggregate when Perea's back pass flew just wide of the home team's goal.

But as Atletico supporters were growing more nervous, Luis Garcia clipped home Atletico's third goal in the 82nd and Maxi Rodriguez slotted in a fourth from the penalty spot five minutes later after defender Christian Pander - who scored Schalke's goal in the first leg - was sent off for fouling Simao Sabrosa.

Marseille striker Mamadou Niang profited from two defensive errors to score both goals against Brann. The Senegal striker netted twice in the second half at Stade Velodrome, with Kristjan Orn Sigurdsson drawing the visitors level in the 75th, after Niang had opened the scoring in the 66th and completed the win in the final minute.

Belarus will have its first representative in the 32-team group stage after BATE held Levski Sofia 1-1 to advance 2-1 on aggregate.

Sergei Sosnovski headed BATE into a 14th-minute lead, and Vladimir Gadjev levelled in the 38th.

But the Bulgarians couldn't produce a second away goal despite BATE being reduced to 10 men two minutes before half time when striker Gennadi Bliznyuk was sent off.

Dinamo Kiev repeated its 4-1 first-leg victory over Spartak Moscow.

Fenerbahce was the only Turkish side to advance, beating Partizan Belgrade 2-1 to advance 4-3 on aggregate. Steaua Bucharest, which won the European Cup in 1986, beat Galatasaray 1-0 to build on the 2-2 draw achieved in Turkey.

Danish side Aalborg repeated its 2-0 victory over Kaunas, Shakhtar Donetsk beat Dinamo Zagreb 3-1 to build on its 2-0 lead, while FC Basel advanced 2-1 over Portuguese side Vitoria Guimaraes.

- AP