Liverpool pick up scrappy draw
Dirk Kuyt netted Liverpool's equaliser on 17 minutes
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Tuesday, 18, Sep 2007 11:44
Liverpool's first outing in this season's Champions League group stage ended in a 1-1 draw away to Porto after an untidy and ill-tempered match.
The Reds seemed taken aback by the Portuguese champions' rapid start and were still trying to find a foothold in the game when they gifted the hosts a penalty after 13 minutes.
Jose Reina had saved Steve Finnan's blushes minutes earlier with a strong block from Lisandro Lopez after the defender's casual clearance was deflected across goal, but the Spaniard was at fault as the visitors conceded their fourth spot-kick of the season.
As Tarik Sektioui powered past Sami Hyypia the former Villarreal stopper opted to rush from goal in an attempt to quell the danger, but succeeded only in upending the Morroccan.
Skipper Lucho Gonzalez slotted home the resulting penalty, but the lead was not to last long as Liverpool scored from their first real opportunity just nine minutes later.
A long ball into the penalty area from Finnan was headed back across goal by Hyypia where Dirk Kuyt bravely nodded past a static Nuno.
After the two early goals there was little sign of either side adding to the scoresheet for the rest of the first half as Porto's early ambition dried up and Rafael Benitez's men attempted to consolidate after their uncharacteristic defensive lapses.
The possibility of the game producing more goals receded still further after the break when Jermaine Pennant was given his second booking for a rash hack at Fucile.
The winger had earlier picked up a caution when he underestimated Ricardo Quaresma's pace in an attempted slide tackle.
A man down Liverpool resorted to aiming long balls at an isolated Fernando Torres while Kuyt dropped further and further off the frontline.
Quaresma tightened nerves on the Liverpool bench with a couple of slaloming runs, but none of his team-mates attacked with such relish and the match dragged to a predictable draw.