Lisbon: Oscar Cardozo's two second-half penalties earned Benfica a 2-1 victory over 10-man Liverpool in the first leg of their Europa League quarterfinal on Thursday.
Liverpool led through Daniel Agger's clever backheel after nine minutes but Ryan Babel was sent off in the 31st for pushing Benfica defender Luisao in the face.
Liverpool's lead survived until the 59th when Cardozo scored the first of his spotkicks after Emiliano Insua fouled Pablo Aimar.
Cardozo netted the winner 20 minutes later after Jamie Carragher's arm connected with Angel di Maria's cross, giving Benfica the edge going into next Thursday's second leg at Anfield.
"We deserved this victory — we were able to adapt our game and score against a strong team, like we did against Marseille (in the last 16)," Benfica coach Jorge Jesus said. "We learned to take advantage of playing one more man than Liverpool."
Liverpool's crosstown rival Everton was condemned to a 5-0 loss at Benfica earlier in the season, but Rafa Benitez's side got off to the perfect start through Agger's first goal in a year.
Captain Steven Gerrard squared a clever free kick along the ground into the penalty area, where the unmarked Agger sent a backheel into the corner of the net.
But Liverpool's hopes were dealt a severe blow when Babel was dismissed in the melee following Luisao's foul on visiting striker Fernando Torres.
Babel placed his hand over Luisao's face and thrusted it again toward the defender, leading Swedish referee Jonas Eriksson to brandish the red card. Luisao was only booked.
Torres thought he scored Liverpool's second just before halftime when he put the ball in the net following Gerrard's free kick, but Torres was adjudged to be offside.
Liverpool's fortunes took a further turn for the worse after the break. Emiliano Insua, whose first-half booking for pulling back Di Maria rules him out of the second leg, brought down Aimar in the penalty area.
Cardozo buried the spotkick into the bottom right of the net — as he did 20 minutes later following Carragher's handball.
"We are really disappointed," Liverpool midfielder Lucas Leiva said. "We started really well the game, scored an early goal. We created some chances even with 10 men. Now we have to keep going and try to go through at Anfield.
"The away goal always is important, we knew that. We'll try to score one goal at Anfield and go to the semifinals."
Benfica could face UEFA disciplinary action after fireworks were thrown onto the pitch from the stands, leaving a clear brown mark on the turf.
Comments
0 comment