Liverpool sunk to their third consecutive home defeat of the season at Anfield against Udinese in the Europa League last night.
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In competition for all the football trophies they have now failed to win at Anfield for 210 minutes and Brendan Rogers – who hasn’t been able to win at Anfield since taking the reigns really needs to address the issue and turn Anfield back into a fortress.
Liverpool were unlucky in this match, they were easily in control for the first half with Shelvey putting the ball in the back of the net midway though, and dominant for the last 20 minutes of the second half, but that 25 minute spell was all Udinese needed to secure the win.
They leveled a minute after half time with a Di Natale goal, then the next 20 minutes was a feast of football goals. Liverpool conceded a soft own goal from the head of Coates from a free kick straight from the training ground, and any defender knows to get their head on the ball first and get it away, but Coates seemed to let the ball ricochet off him past Reina.
Then two minutes later some typical Di Natale skill set up Pasquale for a rocket into the bottom corner from the edge of the box. The Reds went straight back up the other end and Suarez netted a stunning free kick – they had clearly been using the football training equipment and practicing their set pieces.
So after a frantic five minutes of footballs flying into football nets, the battle lines were drawn at 3-2, and although Liverpool applied some great passing technique and pressure, they just couldn’t break down Udinese to get that crucial goal to share the points.
Liverpool have not made it easy on themselves now, after their tremendous win against the Young Boys put them top of the group. They now sit third and need to beat Anzhi Makhachkala in their final game if they are to progress.
Tottenham had another draw result against Greek side Panathinaikos, with the Greek side scoring a late equaliser to prevent suffering the same fate their countrymen did against Arsenal midweek. Spurs have not yet won in this years Europa League and if they want to be in with a chance of taking home football medals they need to beat NK Maribor convincingly in their final group game. They will also be relying on Panathinaikos to win or draw against current group leaders Lazio to book their places in the final stages.
Newcastle continued their good run by beating Bordeaux at St James’s Park. The 3-0 victory puts the Magpies in a good position to top the group, never mind just qualifying for the next round. Ameobi scored Newcastle’s first football goal of the evening on 16 minutes, and once Henrique had put the ball in his own net and Cisse had scored just after half time, the result was a foregone conclusion.
All Newcastle need to do now is draw against Club Bruges to see themselves go though. Which sounds simple but in the Europa League, nothing is certain.
