Liverpool - Olympiakos (with score)

uberwolf

I missed it and now I've tears in my eyes reading about it. Sounds like it was incredible.

LizardKing

Superb result have to say i was fearing the worst at half time , great time to equalise and getting the second with around te minutes to go really meant they had a chance .. Gerrard did not play too well but what a strike ... he hit it perfect... Glad to see Dunphy and Giles get it wrong as usual ... Dunphy should not be allowed be pundit for Pool games he is sooooo negative and anti-liverpool , its also soooooo obvious he's a man u fan when he talks about Gerrard leaving and liverpool being crap etc ...

Anyway lots of smug liverpool fans around today

eirebhoy

uberwolf wrote:

I missed it and now I've tears in my eyes reading about it. Sounds like it was incredible.

Nah its overrated.

uberwolf

LizardKing wrote:

Anyway lots of smug liverpool fans around today

there really oughtn'd be. Whilst dramatic and a great spectacle you shouldn't be relying on a goal 5 minutes from time in teh last of 6 games to qualify against weak teams. Which all three were. Depor never tried to play football against us, we crushed monaco at home and were impotent away. ALl it does it give us more time to continue building.

yom 1

Brilliant game last nite, very exciting and entertaining and in the end a very fair result. The Pool were by far the better team and far hungrier too. It would have been very hard to take if we went out by a goal after we had 2 disallowed (what ever bout the first, the second was very harsh). But the good thing is that these decisions are not the talking points.

Nunez did very little during the game except split the wall up for their goal. Flo Po was absolutely superb when he came on. He always looked liked he was going to do something when he got the ball and he must get a start ahead of Nunez for the Derby at the weekend. I was also delighted that Mellor got another important goal to follow on from the Arsenal game. Will do his confidence the world of good.

Another good thing that can be taken from this game is that for the first time in a long time Kewell stood up to be counted and he had an excellant game. Superb bit of play to set up the goal foe Flo Po. Gerard was again his excellant self, stupid to kick out like he did but on the other hand he scored an absolute screamer to seal qualification to the last 16. I also thought Alonso put in a solid preformance too.

Things are definitely on the up under Benitez and hopefully one or two good purchases in January will improve us even further.

mr_angry

Well, I'm an Arsenal fan, and I was out of my seat cheering when the 3rd goal went in. Liverpool thoroughly deserved it over Olympiakos, who were mediocre at best. The only positive thing I can say about the Greeks was that Rivaldo gave Steven Gerrard a lesson in how to deliver a free-kick. Some of his deliveries were top-notch. Pity he's such an overpaid diving b*stard though.

Admittedly, Liverpool haven't played their best football in the competition so far, but who knows what might happen in the new year. Maybe they'll gel together a bit more, and go on a bit of a run. By the time the second round comes along, they could be in a run of form. You never know.

ianomccabe

yeah defiinitely need a link for stevey g's goal lads

mayordenis

yom 1 wrote:

Nunez did very little during the game except split the wall up for their goal.

wrong! nunez worked like a fu.kin trojan horse out there and in the second hlaf especially he was a threat, he had a volley that was deflected over and i think that may of been top corner material and he had a superb header that was parried only for mellor to tap it in.

p.pete

I'm delighted with the result. If you count last night, the first half against Villa and the Arsenal match then we're on excellent form at the moment.

Without even bringing in new players there's still room for improvement. I'm happy for Kirkland to have his chance but he needs a little work on organising his defense (wall building and stuff). That's two games in a row that we've been stung by silly free kicks, both given away by Hyppia - hate to say it but is he becoming a liability?

Gerrard was truly excellent but I don't want to have to defend him for some of the tackles he made. He'll miss the next match which could hurt...

On the balance I think I can be happy

p.pete

link The St Etienne comparison almost brought a tear to the eye

Anfield's high octane night to remember Dec 9 2004

By John Thompson, Liverpool Echo

"YOU want to see it down there," said an overjoyed Liverpudlian in one of Anfield's lounges minutes after the final whistle sounded.

"There's John Toshack, Ian Rush and Gary Gillespie all singing Fields of Anfield Road at the top of their voices."

This was the greatest night Anfield has known since St Etienne in 1977.

At half time, with Liverpool needing three goals without conceding another, this was never going to happen. Everyone just knew it was too much to ask. Including poor old Robin.

The lifelong Liverpudlian had come over from his home in Majorca, excitedly visiting Anfield for the first time in more than a decade. All I could tell him was: "Well, it will be a great night to be here if they do pull it off!" It was said in consolation more than hope.

Then someone decided to play You'll Never Walk Alone at the start of the second half to try and raise the Kop's spirits and a moment later the match was level as Pongolle pounced.

Suddenly, you could hear fans everywhere saying 'Game on!' The magnificent Olympiakos fans, who spent the first half singing their hearts out, wobbled. We'd heard the last of Jingle Bells in Greek.

But as half an hour went by with no sign of another breakthrough, they sensed Rivaldo and co had weathered the storm.

Cue Neil Mellor. He appeared with just 12 minutes left and pounced.The stadium erupted in a deafening earthquake of expectancy. At 2-1, you sensed you were about to witness Anfield history.

Gone was the gloom. Anfield's stage was - somehow - set for Mission Impossible's successful delivery. Players and fans were now in that rare, high octane harmony which elevates football to something much more than a game.

Amid the din, Steve Gerrard threw up his arms calling for an infield pass from Pongolle. He looked downcast as the youngster instead curled in a short cross to Mellor. But Mellor picked out his captain with a perfect header back.

Gerrard rose, as if in slow motion, to the moment.

He himself said these shots often end up in the stands. But he'd centred himself in that moment of disappointment, and we sensed his concentration as he found the perfect mix of power and precision to send fans as wild as they have been since that David Fair-clough stunner in 1977.

Radio commentators John Aldridge, Alan Kennedy and Gary Gillespie totally forgot themselves, leaping to their feet in the press box to embark on high fives at the reds resurgence. Even Andy Gray screamed down his mike upon Gerrard's strike.

Where Liverpool go from here remains uncertain. But the stagnacy of last season has gone and we have just witnessed Anfield's dramatic night in almost 30 years.

Lex Luthor

p.pete wrote:

link The St Etienne comparison almost brought a tear to the eye

STOP>>>>my eyes are watering all over again....YEEHHAAAA

The Rooster

I dont think its up there with St. Etienne, who were one of the best sides in Europe back then. Probably more comparable to (and a bit better than) the great win over Auxerre in similar circumstances. Needed 3 goals, and a Jan Molby penalty sent us on our way. Mike Marsh playing at right back for the only time I remember (and playing really well) got the second with a header.

All set up for man of the match Mark Walters, playing the best game he ever played, to grab the crucial third goal late on.

Horsefumbler

yay wooo!

Bout time the pool turn a game around and win against the odds.

Ardent

Good article above but emmm....wasn't it Carragher who crossed the ball to Mellor for the third goal??

And what a goal it was. Me and my mate were hopping around the room, punching the air and screaming our heads off! Will Gerrard ever score a better or more important goal?!

Lex Luthor

As much as I enjoyed the win, we should put it into perspective. OK Olympiakos were top of the group before the match, but it wasn't one of the stronger groups. We should have qualified by the 5th game at least.

I can't help but think Man U, Arsenal or Chelsea would have put these lot to the sword by the 60th min. Nevertheless, it's definately a step up and long may it continue..

jesus_thats_gre

Delighted with the result.

Jivin Turkey

Well deserved win, and Liverpool definately deserve to go through.

I think that is some achievement too. Some people are saying that it wasnt a tough group, and while it didnt have any of the European big guns (AC/Inter/Juve/Real/Barca/Bayern) all the teams in the group would not look out of place as second seeds at the beginning of the season. Also it must be taken into account that Liverpool would have beaten Depor at home 4 or 5 nil if it wasnt for poor finishing, and they were robbed in Monaco by an awful decision, in a game that was going nowhere up until then.

Liverpool have had biug injury problems are still rebuilding the squad so Im more than happy just seeing their name in the hat for the next round.

And I have to say it does knock a hole in all the adovcates of the Spanish "Best in the World" League argument. 3 Italian teams topped their groups at a canter. All English teams got through. Two winning the group, United not even going for the win required to top the group, and Liverpool were unlucky to some extent as well. And then we have the Spanish, no group winners, one team going out of Europe all together, and one UEFA cup place. I didnt think everyone would jump off the Barca bandwagon so quickly.

mike65

p.pete wrote:

That's two games in a row that we've been stung by silly free kicks, both given away by Hyppia - hate to say it but is he becoming a liability?

I kept my eye on him last night and was struck by how slow he is (never quick to start with) now, I'd nearly say forget strikers find a couple of quick defenders first.

As for the quater final prospects, I dont care who we get. Over a two legged knockout anything is possible, in fact with a couple more months of Rafas coaching plus recovered players and some new blood 'Pool might just suprise a few hacks in the cheap seats.

Mike.

Makaveli

Lex Luthor wrote:

As much as I enjoyed the win, we should put it into perspective. OK Olympiakos were top of the group before the match, but it wasn't one of the stronger groups.

Actually I think it was one of the more difficult groups. Had Deportivo actually played to their old standard it would have been even tougher, they've been crap in all competitions this season though. Then you have last years finalists Monaco aswell.
Compare that to Man Utd's group and Aresnal's and it shows they did have a tough one.

ButcherOfNog

Pool have played great in the last 3 games, defeating Arsenal, playing Villa off the park and coming back from the dead and scoring the 3 goals needed in Europe. Theres no lack of belief like there was under Houllier. We play much better football, we're inventive and can break sides down. We're not going to win the championship tho with the squad we have, so January and next summer will tell us alot about where we're going.

The next 5 days are big, Everton away and the game in hand on Tuesday nite against Portsmouth are must wins. If we win both of those it'll improve our league position alot, and hopefully we can win the next couple after that which will take us up to Jan 1st, at Anfield, vs Chelsea. A win there, and who knows what might happen come the end of the season. Its time to put in a 'run' tho, with Gerrard and Baros back theres no reason why we shouldn't win the next 5 games up to the Chelsea one, the other fixtures being Newcastle at Home, West Brom Away and Southampton at Home.

p.pete

ButcherOfNog wrote:

Its time to put in a 'run' tho, with Gerrard and Baros back theres no reason why we shouldn't win the next 5 games up to the Chelsea one, the other fixtures being Newcastle at Home, West Brom Away and Southampton at Home.

That'd be great but unfortunately Christmas is one of the hardest times to put a run together. We managed it a few seasons ago and we'd rocket up the table (to at least 5th!) but I see Chelsea as having the strongest squad and in the best position to put a run together. Fingers crossed though...

eirebhoy

A guy called "The Insider" hasn't got access to the soccer forum but asked me to post this up:
http://www.cmfaq.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=4323&st=20&#entry57719

It has all the goals from Wednesday's game. Andy Gray roaring his head off is in there too.

I've told him to post a thread in the access request forum so maybe someone would be kind enough to vouch for him.