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by David Lacey © The Guardian |
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| Liverpool clung to life in the European Cup last night with the desperation of drowning men. But at the end of a nerve wracked and sodden evening in Lisbon they found themselves back in the quarter-finals, having restricted Benfica to a 1-0 victory in the return leg of their second-round tie after winning 3-1 at Anfield. Lawrenson and Hansen produced memorable performances in the Liverpool defence after the European Cup holders had found themselves a goal down at the start. With Grobbelaar's goalkeeping at its most idiosyncratic and Liverpool's game starting to fall apart after Dalglish had been sent off, along with Pietra, the centre-backs remained the calmest players on the field and denied Benfica the place in the last eight that at one stage seemed theirs for the taking. Indeed Liverpool might even have escaped from the Stadium of Light with a draw. Six minutes from the end Rush, clear and onside, heat Bento with a carefully measured shot only to see the ball rebound from the right-hand post. It is doubtful whether Liverpool will be able to get away with another performance in Europe as shapeless and inaccurate as this one although, in fairness, it must be said that a pitch saturated by a day of rain had much to do with the erratic quality of the football. It had rained for most of the day, and almost on cue the sky reopened as the game started. But for the first 10 minutes Liverpool found themselves not so much under a waterfall as being carried away by the rapids. The worst of Grobbelaar led to Benfica going ahead with a penalty but then the best of Grobbelaar spared Liverpool the ignominy of seeing their lead wiped out before they really knew what was happening. The Portuguese champions had only to win 2-0 to go through on away goals. In the fifth minute Wando, seeing Neal slithering uncertainly towards him, chipped the ball past the right-back to give Silva a clear run into the penalty area from the left. The pass seemed slightly overhit as Grobbelaar came out and the goalkeeper might have allowed the ball to go behind. At all events he should have gathered it without fuss. Instead Grobbelaar failed to hold the slippery object and as Silva gained possession, he brought the Benfica player down. | Manniche sent Grobbelaar the wrong way with his kick and when a square pass along the 18-yard line three minutes later from Neal, which would have been rash on a dry pitch, stuck in the mud, Liverpool were starting to see a distinguished cast swim before their eyes. Neal managed to get another foot to the ball in an attempt to direct it towards Hansen but Wando had already spotted his opportunity and let fly for goal with Grobbelaar out of position. Somehow the Liverpool goalkeeper managed to fling himself back to tip the shot over the bar, and apart from a 30 yard free-kick from Carlos Manuel a little later and a sharp header by Silva later in the game, the remaining danger to the Liverpool goalkeeper stemmed largely from his own eccentricity. As the rain ceased so Liverpool came up for air. The ease with which Manniche reached the high balls and guided them down accurately to his colleagues' feet remained a threat for a time but gradually Nicol, Whelan and the persevering Johnston established some sort of parity in midfield which might have spared Liverpool later anxiety had not Dalglish been dismissed for the first time in his Anfield career. The sendings-off followed an incident on the stroke of half-time. Pietra went in late on Dalglish, who made a foolhardy retaliation. After a brief skirmish the pair were sent off by the French referee, who then awarded Liverpool a free-kick. For much of the second half it looked like becoming a matter of how many mistakes Grobbelaar would be allowed before Benfica scored again. He quite missed a centre and a corner from Diamantino, but his piece de resistance came with the well-directed header by Silva, from Wando's cross, that the Liverpool goalkeeper let slip through his arms, turning and grabbing the bouncing ball before it could cross the line. Benfica, sensing that victory was within their grasp, replaced Wando with the 34 year old Nene. Once an outstanding player, Nene was unable to make any impression on Lawrenson and Hansen and after Rush had hit the post Liverpool's only worry concerned a free kick just outside the penalty area which ended on the running track behind their goal. |
Match article courtesy of  |
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| by Ian Ross © The Liverpool Post | |
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Liverpool defied the elements and a ferocious Benfica onslaught to claw their way into the European Cup quarter-final in Lisbon's Stadium of Light last night. A heroic 85 minute rearguard action built on courage and guts was just enough to edge out the Portuguese champions. The man standing centre stage in this watersplash extravaganza was Bruce Grobbelaar who again walked the precarious line between villain and hero. The eccentric Zimbabwean interspersed a series of brilliant saves with the sort of mishandling and poor judgment normally associated with trainee jugglers. All this after the defending champions had lost the influential figure of Kenny Dalglish, sent off for the first time in his distinguished Liverpool career, after a bust up with full back Pietra in injury time of the first half. Liverpool began safe in the knowledge that history pointed to a place in the next round but how they were made to fight for their passage. Astonishingly Benfica have been beaten just twice in the last ten years in front of their own fanatical supporters and on both occasions the men from Anfield were the victors. But Liverpool were all too conscious that the goal surrendered in their 3-1 first leg victory at Anfield hung above them like the sword of Damocles. They needed a quiet opening but the Mr Hyde half of Grobbelaar's split personality presented itself with just five minutes gone to wreck Joe Fagan's well laid plans. To be honest only half the blame could be apportioned to the goalkeeper. The dreadful weather conditions also heavily contributed. When Wando drove the ball forward Grobbelaar appeared to have the situation under control as he slid out on a wave of surface water. But the ball reared up off the soft turf, hit his chest, and bounced out to Silva who seemed destined to score before Grobbelaar pulled him down. Manniche did the rest, hammering the penalty home low and hard. Such is the complex nature of the man; Grobbelaar was to partially atone for the error just three minutes later when he produced a quite remarkable save. Phil Neal's attempt to clear found a large puddle. His desperate second effort aimed at Alan Hansen again fell woefully short of the target. Wando thundered in only to see his fierce drive tipped over the crossbar by Grobbelaar's extended left arm. The initial storm over, Liverpool settled down to take a firm grip which could so easily have an equaliser. The closest they came was after 22 minutes when Rush fed Nicol and Alvaro slid in to end the danger with a great tackle. |
Their composure fully restored, Liverpool looked well in command until French referee Michel Vaudrot climaxed an intriguing first half with a near farcical double sending off. Pietra upended Dalglish and as the two men squared up to each other, the red card was produced to both of them. In the nail biting drama after the interval, Grobbelaar preserved Liverpool's reign as European champions. After 57 minutes, he set Red hearts fluttering when he allowed Silva's header to slip out of his hands. Fortunately he recovered to snatch the ball as it rolled towards the line. Five minutes later, he somehow managed to reach a Manniche header to brilliantly push around the post. As Portuguese legs began to tire, Rush came within a whisker of snatching an equaliser when he hit a post after 83 minutes with a well struck drive from just outside the penalty area. Liverpool manager Joe Fagan last night leapt to the defence of Scottish star Kenny Dalglish who was sent off for the first time in his long career in Lisbon as Liverpool moved into the European Cup quarter-final despite losing 1-0 to Portuguese champions Benfica. He was dismissed deep into injury time at the end of the first half, along with home full-back Pietra, for allegedly throwing a punch. "I have never seen Kenny raise his fists to anyone. We have learned to accept referee's decisions in European ties but having said that, I think it was a little unfortunate," said Fagan. Dalglish was adamant that he was the innocent party saying: "Pietra fouled me and as I was getting up, he butted me". His claims were backed up by Alan Kennedy who was nearest to the incident. He said: "Pietra definitely butted Kenny". Fagan was delighted to see his side safely through to the next round adding: "You could say we lived on a knife edge out there tonight. The conditions were very bad and it meant it would be decided by one goal. It was a terrific battle and we showed some big hearts out there". Mark Lawrenson said: "These two games against Benfica could turn our season. We are still in the European Cup and that must be good in view of the start we have made to the season". |