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Russian side Zenit St. Petersburg withstood a Liverpool barrage at the end of their two legged tie to advance into the next round of the Europa League. Hulk’s goal in the first half proved decisive as Liverpool required four goals to go through and though they put up a spirited performance akin to many of the great Anfield nights, it just was not enough as they could only amass three goals. The score at the end of the night was 3-3 with Zenit progressing on the away goals rule.
Here are the top 5 talking points from the game.
1) Luis Suarez
In truth, he was all over the place last night and was constantly terrorizing the Zenit defense, especially Portuguese defender Neto.
Suarez scored two free kicks and was at the heart of most of the attacks from Liverpool. You could see his pain and anguish after the full time whistle, head in his hands. He had played his heart out tonight, did his best, yet it could have been a different story had he put away the chances in the reverse fixture one week back. Luis Suarez is one of the most difficult players to play against and we saw why again last night.
2) Defensive lapses from Liverpool cost them again
It’s been an all too familiar sight. Liverpool for all their tiki taka, or at least attempted tiki taka, seem to get caught out in defense. This again happened last night when the ever reliable Jamie Carragher was caught out by Hulk on 19 minutes, who ran towards goal and calmly slotted past Reina.
Carragher should not be blamed for the exit but this is a growing trend. Teams can and do score against Liverpool too easily, there is no steel in the back four. This also being Carragher’s last European game, maybe he can join the back room staff and help the back four become a tighter unit. Certainly, Brendan Rodgers has been able to fix the defensive lapses and errors and these have really cost Liverpool a lot this season, even more than relying on Luis Suarez for goals.
3) Subs aren’t the way all the time
When things don’t go your way you try to change it. People bay for substitutions when there is a need to change tactics or help the team out. Last night Liverpool were on top and hammering at the Zenit door for a fourth goal, and then came the substitutions which baffled many. Shelvey was on for the ever improving Henderson and you could see the tempo drop immediately. Assaidi did provide a glimpse of what he can do and credit must be given as he did look very bright, but the Shelvey sub brought about some head scratching. Maybe Sterling should have come on earlier or Hendo should have been left on.
Shelvey had one glorious chance to put Liverpool 4-1 ahead after a mistake in the Zenit box by Neto but he lashed a powerful shot wide; so near yet so far for Liverpool.
4) Those European nights at Anfield
The atmosphere at Anfield last night was electric. Even before the match had kicked off, Brendan Rodgers was talking about those “great European nights” and boy did the team deliver. The performance was great, the team losing out on the away goals was the only blip. No fan would have complained about this match, the spirit shown by the starting 11 after going a goal down and almost bringing it home showed why Liverpool needs European games. Even the so called smaller “Europa League” has great atmosphere around it and it only gets accentuated by the roar of the Anfield faithful. 11 games left in the season, would fans still want a sojourn into the Europa League next season or just try to strengthen the team for a non European challenge for a top 4? Judging by last night’s events, I don’t think Liverpool can do without a European game, much less the fans.
5) The story of two men
Jamie Carragher’s last European game did not turn out how he wanted. His mistake cost Liverpool the away goal which eventually knocked him out. It’s sad for such a legend at the club to get kicked out like this but there have been great moments for Jamie as well. There are good days and bad days in the office and while the team did brilliantly, Carra must be gutted.
The Hulk is doing his bit for Zenit now, with a cracker of a goal in the first leg which set the tone for the Zenit win and this crucial away goal which took them through. Hulk had a torrid time at the start of his Zenit career, both on and off the field, but if he continues his current streak he could push Zenit to the title like they won it (the now defunct UEFA Cup) in 2008.
