Liverpool exit the Europea League after a penalty shootout defeat at the hands of Besiktas…
Besiktas 1-0 Liverpool – Dejan Lovren missed the crucial spot kick as the Reds lost 5-4 on penalties in Istanbul. Tolgay Arslan scored the only goal of the night from open play, cancelling out Mario Balotelli’s first leg strike.
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It was a disappointing night all round for the Reds, who lost for the first time inside 90 minutes since mid-December. Our players will not have to try and get their minds straight for Sunday’s huge Premier League game against Manchester City.
Read the full Liverpool player ratings below:
GK) Simon Mignolet – 8/10
An excellent performance from the Belgian stopper, who made several crucial saves to ensure the game went as far as it did. A commanding presence in the air and impressively agile coming off his line, his turnaround over the last couple of months has been truly sensational.
RCB) Kolo Toure – 5/10
Caught out in the build-up to the goal, allowing Demba Ba to escape him and set up what proved to be the winner on the night. There will also be plenty of raised eyebrows over why the Ivorian was not among our penalty takers, having scored one in a final earlier this month, but it’s hard to know who’s decision that was.
CB) Martin Skrtel – 7/10
The Slovakian worked tirelessly in a defence not accustomed to playing together. He missed the presence of Emre Can and Mamadou Sakho alongside him, but more than made up for their absences, as he led by example throughout – with the captains armband wrapped around his bicep.
LCB) Dejan Lovren – 5/10
Was tidy during the game itself, but ultimately missed the decisive penalty. He looked completely devastated by his miss, and it’ll be interesting to see how he comes back from it. Here’s hoping he does, and that he’ll be able to put such a dark moment quickly behind him.
DM) Joe Allen – 7/10
A very professional performance from the Welshman, who turned in one of his best performances of the season. He’s endured plenty of criticism from a large percentage of Liverpool fans this season, but he stood out tonight in the absence of a number of midfield stars.
CM) Emre Can – 6/10
The German looked a little out of touch at the start of the night, having clearly grown accustomed to playing at the back rather than in midfield. However, he improved as the game went on, and heroically battled cramp for the final 30 minutes, even scoring in the shootout.
RM) Jordon Ibe – 6/10 (Manquillo – 76′)
Worked really hard down the right hand side, and worryingly looked to be carrying something of a knock when he limped off just before the end of normal time. Considering our lack of depth in midfield right now, we’ll have to hope that the issue isn’t a serious one.
LM) Alberto Moreno – 7/10
A tireless presence up and down the left-hand side. A great attitude throughout – getting forward when possible while ensuring that he did all of his defensive duties to good effect. He looked completely heartbroken at the end of the evening.
AM) Daniel Sturridge – 4/10 (Lambert – 106′)
Disappointing night for the striker, who arguably wasted Liverpool’s best chances. Held onto the ball too much, and went for goal when he might have passed. He hasn’t looked quite the same since returning from injury, and the patience of Reds supporters unfortunately won’t last forever.
AM) Raheem Sterling – 5/10
You can’t question his work-rate, but there was no end product from the youngster tonight. He cut a frustrated figure up front for much of the evening, particularly after Balotelli, and then Sturridge went off. Why didn’t he take a penalty? Again, we’ll probably never know.
ST) Mario Balotelli – 6/10 (Lallana – 82′)
He was always going to struggle to make a massive impact on the game after picking up an early and needless booking. However, his hold up play was decent, as was his delivery from set pieces, and his withdrawal in the closing stages came as something of a surprise.
Subs:
1) Javi Manquillo – 5 – Gave Liverpool extra security at the back, but was he the right man to bring on?
2) Adam Lallana – 6 – Performances suggested he deserved to start, took his penalty well.
3) Rickie Lambert – 6 – Brought on to take a penalty, and tucked it away nicely.
