City stumble, Gerrard rescues Liverpool
Juventus draw, CSKA maintain flawless record in Europa League.
PARIS:
Manchester City sank to 3-1 defeat but a Steven Gerrard hat-trick gave Liverpool victory at home to Napoli in the Europa League, as CSKA Moscow led a clutch of teams into the knockout phase.
Victory at Polish side Lech Poznan would have taken City into the next round but despite dominating the early exchanges, they fell behind in the 30th minute when Dimitrije Injac drove the ball home. Emmanuel Adebayor drew City level early in the second half but Lech equalised the score right before the interval. The Polish side made sure of victory in the first minute of injury time, with Mateusz Mozdzen crashing a drive into the top-left corner from the edge of the box to condemn City to their third straight defeat.
Lech and City are level on seven points at the top of Group A, with Italian giants Juventus three points off the pace after a disappointing 0-0 draw at home to Red Bull Salzburg.
Meanwhile, Liverpool once again had captain Gerrard to thank for a rousing 3-1 comeback win over Napoli. Ezequiel Lavezzi had put the visitors in front in the 28th minute but Gerrard restored parity with 14 minutes remaining. He then stepped up to dispatch an 88th-minute penalty, before completing his hat-trick a minute later by dinking the ball over Napoli goalkeeper Morgan de Sanctis.
CSKA secured one of the two qualifying berths in Group F after coming from behind to beat Palermo 3-1 to maintain their 100 per cent record.
Published in The Express Tribune, November 6th, 2010.
Manchester City sank to 3-1 defeat but a Steven Gerrard hat-trick gave Liverpool victory at home to Napoli in the Europa League, as CSKA Moscow led a clutch of teams into the knockout phase.
Victory at Polish side Lech Poznan would have taken City into the next round but despite dominating the early exchanges, they fell behind in the 30th minute when Dimitrije Injac drove the ball home. Emmanuel Adebayor drew City level early in the second half but Lech equalised the score right before the interval. The Polish side made sure of victory in the first minute of injury time, with Mateusz Mozdzen crashing a drive into the top-left corner from the edge of the box to condemn City to their third straight defeat.
Lech and City are level on seven points at the top of Group A, with Italian giants Juventus three points off the pace after a disappointing 0-0 draw at home to Red Bull Salzburg.
Meanwhile, Liverpool once again had captain Gerrard to thank for a rousing 3-1 comeback win over Napoli. Ezequiel Lavezzi had put the visitors in front in the 28th minute but Gerrard restored parity with 14 minutes remaining. He then stepped up to dispatch an 88th-minute penalty, before completing his hat-trick a minute later by dinking the ball over Napoli goalkeeper Morgan de Sanctis.
CSKA secured one of the two qualifying berths in Group F after coming from behind to beat Palermo 3-1 to maintain their 100 per cent record.
Published in The Express Tribune, November 6th, 2010.