Giovanni Pasquale celebrates his goal for Udinese (Sporting Life)
Do you remember all those good feelings around Liverpool after they thumped Norwich last weekend? Well, after yesterday's Europa League loss, neither do they. The Reds held their own in the first half against Italian side Udinese, but a dismal performance in the second half doomed them to a loss that not even Luis Suarez and Steven Gerrard could rescue them from.
Now to be fair, Udinese are obviously a much better side than Norwich, but one would still fancy Liverpool to do better at Anfield. While Udinese generally looked better at the opening, both sides traded chances from set pieces in the first 15 minutes. In the 8th minute Sebastian Coates headed a corner low toward the bottom of the Udinese goal, but Zeljko Brkic made a great save for the Italians. Then in minute 14 Mehdi Benatia got his head to a free kick for Udinese, but like his counterpart, Pepe Reina was up to the task, parrying the ball the around the post to keep the match level.
Liverpool got the first goal of the match on 23 minutes, slightly against the run of play. Stewart Downing sent a cross into the area that Jonjo Shelvey connected with on a late run. The midfield man headed a nice shot down past Brkic to make it 1-0 to Liverpool.
After conceding the first goal, Udinese went into a little bit of a funk. The closest they got to an equalizer in the first half was from a shot by Antonio Di Natale, who curled the ball just wide of the top corner of Reina's goal in the 29th minute. However, despite the increase in possession, the Reds could not up their lead and the half ended on the 1-0 score line.
Udinese made them pay for that right off in the second half. They made an attacking substitution at the interval, inserting Andrea Lazzari. He paid divedends immediately, centering a ball to Di Natale in the 46th minute. The striker calmly and clinically slotted past Reina to tie the match at 1-1.
Things got a little scrappy for awhile after the equalizer, but kicked back to life in the 71st minute, much to Liverpool's dismay. Udinese sent a free kick into the Liverpool six, but Coates rose and headed the ball into his own net to give Udinese the 1-2 advantage. It got worse for Liverpool just a minute later when Giovanni Pasquale scorched a shot from outside of the box into the bottom of the goal to make it 1-3.
Brendan Rodgers has made some important subs of his own, inserting Luis Suarez and Steven Gerrard into the lineup for Liverpool, and Suarez seemed to start the Reds on the comeback trail in the 75th minute. The Uruguayan banged a free a kick over the Udinese wall and into the top of the net to make it 2-3 with 15 minutes left.
In the end it would be too little too late for Liverpool, though not for lack of effort. In the 77th minute Suarez sent in a bullet header from close range that was well saved by Brkic. Suarez must have thought he had scored. However, in the last 10 minutes Udinese's defense really solidified, blocking most of Liverpool's attempts and forcing them to to shoot from at least mid range. It was pretty impressive, but they are an Italian side after all. They were able to hold their advantage and pull out the three points with the 2-3 win.
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