The Hindu : Sport / Football : Liverpool stays alive, Real loses

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Friday, Nov 30, 2007
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Liverpool stays alive, Real loses

Chelsea and AC Milan advance

— Photo: AP

STELLAR ROLE: Fernando Torres gave Liverpool the lead with this header off Steven Gerrard’s corner and then returned to score another one in the second half.

LIVERPOOL: Rafa Benitez received support from Fernando Torres on Wednesday — two goals worth. The record off-season acquisition salvaged five-time champion Liverpool’s European hopes by scoring twice in a 4-1 victory over FC Porto. The goals by the £20.3-million striker were his first of the European Champions League, and pulled the Reds within a point of the lead in Group A with one match remaining in the group stage.

The Reds can seal a berth in the knockout stage with a win at Marseille next month. The French side lost 2-1 at Besiktas on Wednesday.

Defending champion AC Milan edged into the second round with a 1-1 draw with Benfica in Group D, and Chelsea advanced from Group B with a 4-0 victory at Rosenborg.

In Group C, Werder Bremen clung on for a 3-2 win over Real Madrid to keep its hopes alive and leave the Spanish side with work still to do to make the last 16. Bremen grabbed the lead in the fifth minute with a close-range strike from Markus Rosenberg before Robinho levelled with a cracking shot nine minutes later. Fine goals from Boubacar Sanogo and Aaron Hunt either side of the break put Werder clear but a Ruud van Nistelrooy strike with 20 minutes to go made it a nervous finale.

Real is still well placed with eight points from five games but will have to avoid defeat in its final match at home to Lazio on December 11.

Porto still leads Group A with eight points, followed by Marseille and Liverpool with seven each and Besiktas with six.

AC Milan and Chelsea join Barcelona, Manchester United, AS Roma, Inter Milan, Sevilla and Arsenal, all of who played on Tuesday.

Coming good

Torres gave Liverpool the lead in the 20th, sinking a downward header from Steven Gerrard’s corner into the net. But against the run of play, Lisandro Lopez equalised in the 33rd. Przemystaw Kazmierczak outmuscled Javier Mascherano on the left flank and whipped in a cross to Lopez, who evaded Arbeloa and beat Pepe Reina with a diving header. With the score tied, Liverpool fans worried as they witnessed waves of dangerous moves by the Portuguese champion, and attention turned to the Marseille-Besiktas score when Torres produced the winner in the 78th — his 10th goal since joining from Atletico Madrid.

Gerrard then added a penalty in the 83rd and the captain delivered a corner for substitute Peter Crouch to nod in a fourth in the 87th.

Andrea Pirlo’s long-range shot put AC Milan ahead in the 15th minute in Lisbon but Maxi Pereira equalised for Benfica in the 20th. Milan still went through because Celtic scored a last-minute goal to beat Shakhtar Donetsk 2-1 in Glasgow.

AC Milan leads the group with 10 points and next faces Celtic, which has nine.

Drogba scores a brace

Two goals by Didier Drogba and strikes by Alex and Joe Cole propelled Chelsea into the last 16 after a 4-0 away win at Rosenborg. Drogba scored twice from close range in the first 20 minutes after powerful runs by Cole and Shaun Wright-Phillips through a porous Rosenborg defence.

Alex added a third near the end of the first half with a powerful freekick from distance before Cole completed the rout in the 73rd minute, pouncing on a badly cleared save by Rosenborg keeper Lars Hirschfeld.

The results:

Group A: Besiktas 2 (Rodrigo Tello 27, Bobo 88) bt Olympique Marseille 1 (Taye Taiwo 65). Liverpool 4 (Fernando Torres 19, 78, Steven Gerrard 84 pen, Peter Crouch 87) bt Porto 1 (Lisandro Lopez 33).

Group B: Rosenborg Trondheim 0 lost to Chelsea 4 (Didier Drogba 8, 20, Alex 40, Joe Cole 73). Valencia 0 drew with Schalke 0.

Group C: Lazio 1 (Goran Pandev 30) lost to Olympiakos Piraeus 2 (Luciano Galletti 35, Darko Kovacevic 64). Werder Bremen 3 (Markus Rosenberg 5, Boubacar Sanogo 40, Aaron Hunt 58) bt Real Madrid 2 (Robinho 14, Ruud van Nistelrooy 71).

Group D: Benfica 1 (Maxi Pereira 20) drew with AC Milan 1 (Andrea Pirlo 15). Celtic 2 (Jiri Jarosik 45, Massimo Donati 90+2) bt Shakhtar Donetsk 1 (Brandao 4).

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