Liverpool, Juventus secure play-off spots
PARIS:
Former European champions Liverpool and Juventus guaranteed a heavyweight presence in the Europa League play-offs after wrapping up their qualifying ties.
Roy Hodgson’s first home match as Liverpool manager ended in triumph as the five-time European kings overcame Rabotnicki of Macedonia 2-0 at Anfield for a 4-0 aggregate win. First-half goals by David Ngog and captain Steven Gerrard were enough to see Liverpool through.
Having established a 2-0 first leg lead in Skopje seven days ago, Hodgson’s Anfield arrival was never in danger of turning sour. He made sure of that by naming his strongest side available with Jamie Carragher and Glen Johnson starting along with Gerrard, while new signing Joe Cole also impressed by setting up Ngog’s headed opener.
Juventus rested a host of stars, but still moved into the next round with Alessandro Del Pierro coming off the bench to score the only goal in a 1-0 win over Irish side Shamrock Rovers.
Australian star Harry Kewell scored twice as Turkish side Galatasary made sure of their place for the play-off draw with a 5-1 win at OFK Belgrade for a 7-3 aggregate. Kewell struck in the 22nd minute and also converted a 57th-minute penalty.
A day after Celtic crashed out of the Champions League, Motherwell salvaged a little Scottish pride with a 3-0 win over Norway’s Aalesund for a 4-1 aggregate win.
Jamie Murphy, John Sutton scored in the opening 13 minutes with substitute Jonathan Page adding a third in the last minute for Craig Brown’s team.
Published in The Express Tribune, 7th, 2010.
Former European champions Liverpool and Juventus guaranteed a heavyweight presence in the Europa League play-offs after wrapping up their qualifying ties.
Roy Hodgson’s first home match as Liverpool manager ended in triumph as the five-time European kings overcame Rabotnicki of Macedonia 2-0 at Anfield for a 4-0 aggregate win. First-half goals by David Ngog and captain Steven Gerrard were enough to see Liverpool through.
Having established a 2-0 first leg lead in Skopje seven days ago, Hodgson’s Anfield arrival was never in danger of turning sour. He made sure of that by naming his strongest side available with Jamie Carragher and Glen Johnson starting along with Gerrard, while new signing Joe Cole also impressed by setting up Ngog’s headed opener.
Juventus rested a host of stars, but still moved into the next round with Alessandro Del Pierro coming off the bench to score the only goal in a 1-0 win over Irish side Shamrock Rovers.
Australian star Harry Kewell scored twice as Turkish side Galatasary made sure of their place for the play-off draw with a 5-1 win at OFK Belgrade for a 7-3 aggregate. Kewell struck in the 22nd minute and also converted a 57th-minute penalty.
A day after Celtic crashed out of the Champions League, Motherwell salvaged a little Scottish pride with a 3-0 win over Norway’s Aalesund for a 4-1 aggregate win.
Jamie Murphy, John Sutton scored in the opening 13 minutes with substitute Jonathan Page adding a third in the last minute for Craig Brown’s team.
Published in The Express Tribune, 7th, 2010.