IF the old saying about needing luck to win trophies holds any water, Liverpool are certainly using up theirs by the bucketload.
Less than three months into the season and already Rafa Benitez’s boys are turning The Great Escape into a long- running series.
Deep, deep into stoppage time the Reds were heading for a Champions League choker after blowing every chance they created and getting a boot in the you-know-whats off the referee as well.
But just as Atletico were preparing to celebrate a famous victory, Swedish official Martin Hansson gave the worst decision of a totally inept night — and Liverpool were out of jail.
Skipper Steven Gerrard was jumping more in hope than expectation when he challenged Mariano Pernia for a wickedly bouncing ball in the 94th minute.
There was contact, but it was minimal — yet the referee, who had dropped clangers all evening, pointed to the spot, sparking a storm of protest from Atletico.
Gerrard kept his cool to drill home and strictly speaking you could not argue with the justice of the outcome itself.
But you could certainly argue with the manner it came about.
Atletico most definitely did, as Pernia, Johnny Heitinga and Sergio Aguero were all booked for complaining.
No comments:
Post a Comment