Friday, August 08, 2008

Liverpool 1-0 Lazio

Before the match, the closest prediction from the fans interviewed on TV was 3-1. I was actually expecting something closer, although I wasn't aware that Lazio only finished 12th in Seria A last year (having qualified for the Champions League the year before).

The Italian league doesn't start until after ours, so Lazio were probably a bit behind on fitness and this was a fairly typical preseason game - almost descending into farce due to the number of substitutions in the second half. (We did change our whole team, but generally 3 or 4 players at a time - whereas Lazio opted to make individual substitutions seemingly every two minutes).

It looked like it would remain at 0-0 until a nice bit of skill in injury time. Ngog broke down the left, but I wasn't hopeful when he cut back onto his right foot - and, sure enough, the cross was headed away - but only as far as Spearing, whose one touch lifted the ball back into the box for Voronin to turn and volley a first time shot past the 'keeper. It was a nicer move than our first XI had managed, unfortunately. (Kuyt and Keane need to score asap for confidence - hopefully they're merely saving their goals for the season proper).

Within minutes we almost had an equalizer, but though Lazio found the back of the net the offside flag was raised - so we held on for a win. Maybe we now have that knack of nicking 1-0 wins from games we don't really deserve to win?

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