Liverpool held to draw by Liege in Belgium
Reina made a number of crucial saves to keep Liverpool in the game
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Wednesday, 13, Aug 2008 10:40
Liverpool produced a lacklustre performance against Standard Liege in the first leg of their Champions League qualifier drawing 0-0 in Belgium.
The Reds were thankful to Pepe Reina's penalty save in the first half for keeping them level in the tie heading back to Anfield.
Liverpool could have been behind after just six minutes when Marouane Fellaini's header looked to be going in off the post. But Reina scrambled back to save the ball on the line.
Liege tried to claim the goal but the referee rightly allowed play to go on.
However, the home side should have put themselves in front five minutes later when they were awarded a penalty.
The ball appeared to strike Andrea Dossena outside the box but the referee pointed to the spot. Luckily for the Reds Dante Bonfim's strike was too close to Reina who managed to save the penalty with his legs.
Liverpool teamed new signing Robbie Keane with Fernando Torres up front but neither man saw much of the ball.
Xabi Alonso tried a shot from distance but that ended up on the roof of the net as the Reds went into the break relieved to still be at 0-0.
Things did not improve much for Rafael Benitez's men in the second period. Liege were still the better side and were comfortable in midfield, meaning Liverpool were unable to unleash their potent attacking duo.
Igor De Camargo had Standard's best chances of the second half but he was wasteful in front of goal.
His first chance came when the ball was pulled back to the edge of the area but his shot went high and wide, the second chance was even better but the Brazilian striker's header went just wide of the post.
Steven Gerrard replaced Keane for the latter part of the match and sent a free-kick close to the Liege goal, but in reality it lacked the necessary pace to trouble the goalkeeper.
Reina made another save from De Camargo just before full-time to cap an excellent evening for the Spanish keeper, but Liverpool will hope he is much less busy during the second leg in two weeks.