Kuyt Puts Liv’ Through On His 100th Cap (Liverpool 1 – 0 Standard Liege Match Report CL), and other related news
Kuyt Puts Liv Through
The Topic Of The Last Post (Dirk Kuyt) Has Also Become The Topic Of This Post…
Yet again, Liverpool won ugly…but at this moment in time, who cares? They won didn’t they? Well no…we should care, since this cannot go on.
But as for now…the Match Reports
Liverpool’s dreams of securing another glorious night in Rome are still alive after Dirk Kuyt’s last-gasp extra-time winner saw them edge past Standard Liege in a tense Champions League qualifier at Anfield
Progress into the group stages, however, was just about the only positive Benitez and his players could take from the stuttering performance that appeared destined for penalties before Kuyt, who was otherwise largely ineffective, connected with Ryan Babel’s deep cross to finally kill off the spirited resistance of the impressive Belgian opponents.
Kuyt On The Match
In a post-match interview, this is what Liverpool’s hero (of the night) said :
“We wanted to play in the Champions League because we know how good it can be,” he said. “We’ve been in a final and a semi-final over recent years and we want more.
“First we have to win the qualifier and this was a tough game. We believed in ourselves and even though it wasn’t our best performance, we always know we have the quality to score.
“Standard Liege were really tough opposition, they were really fighting for the 90 minutes in both matches and in extra time and maybe they deserved more, but that’s football. We are just relieved to be through.”
Watch Kuyts Goal Here and Here (From The KOP’s point of view)
Benitez Post-match interview
“I was really pleased because Kuyt scored the winning goal,” said Rafa.
“His effort is amazing every game. I’m also really pleased because Nabil played well again.
“We knew it could be difficult. From the first minute they played well and we knew they would play well on the counter attack so we had to work really hard until the end.
“For me the most positive thing is that we played a little bit better against a good team who are sharp and we scored at the end. That means that the team are working really hard.”
“The goal came from a good cross from Ryan Babel and Nabil also played well,” he said. “You play with wingers because it gives you space for penetrating passes.
“It’s important to have balance in defence but also in attack so that you have pace and quality in the wide areas, with Torres and Keane in the middle.
“We had confidence and we kept pushing. We knew from the first game they are really good and today they also played well. They were always a threat because you know you can concede from a free-kick or a corner but we were going forward well and controlling the game but we were missing the final pass to make the difference.”
Rafa also paid tribute to another one of Liverpool’s heroes of the last leg (who I thought was a hero of this leg too), Pepe Reina
“Pepe was the key player in the first game but today it is not about just one player, it is about all of them,” he said.
All of this was positive, the win, the goal, the progress into the Last 32…but here’s some concerning news
Gerrard is oging to ahve an operation on his groin area, which has been giving him trouble over the past weeks…and this means that he will be out for around 10-15 days…meaning that he may not be able to play against MAN U on September 13th!!! Oh, and the World Cup Qualifiers for England too.
“I’m disappointed because Gerrard will have an operation tomorrow,” Benitez said.
“He has a groin problem. We knew it could be like this and I was surprised when I was reading some of the newspapers saying he has to play and has to start. Now he will have an operation and will be out for 10-15 days.
“It isn’t too long but he needs to have it because he has been having pain with it. When he went with the national team we knew he had a problem and in the first-leg too.
“I was talking with the doctor yesterday and today we talked with him (Gerrard). He said he would play with pain and after it he would have an operation.
“He knew he had to keep going tonight and did so because he knew he was having it tomorrow.”
In Other News
The Riera deal seems to be incredibly close…and should be done in the next 2 days…if not by tomorrow. The fee is reported to be around €9 million, plus a possible €3 million based on the player’s performance, totalling €12 million, which Espanyol seem to be happy with.
Let’s hope Riera meshes in with the rest of the Reds, because if he does, it would be a sure “farewell” to all of LFC’s winging problems
Tags: albert riera, dirk kuyt, injury, rafael benitez, standard liege, steven gerrard
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