Liverpool Feast and Advance in Europa

On this Thanksgiving holiday in America, it is usual to pig out on food and watch football.  It isn't as usual to watch the kind of football you actually use your feet.  Such was the case on this day as the Europa League provided a rare occasion to look forward to.  Liverpool were in action, at home, against Bordeaux.  With plenty to be thankful for, given recent league results, Liverpool fans and players may have had a bit of a food coma.  Ok, enough of the holiday puns.

To open up the game, the Reds looked solid going forward but just weren't on point in terms of placing the ball on target.  Following the opening five minutes there were way too many Bordeaux chances.  Bordeaux pushed forward and kept challenging the back line of Liverpool, despite not creating too much to trouble Simon Mignolet.  Liverpool then countered a few times.  Christian Benteke missed a good chance in 21st minute with a walloping volley.

Despite the miss, Liverpool seemed to rebound a bit after that.  In the 29th minute, Benetke scored but was called offside.  However, the crowd reaction was amazing.  Perhaps the mics were just turned up, but it was an impressive explosion of sound from the faithful.  Alas, for them, the elation would not last long.  In addition to the offside call, the French side took a 1-0 lead only minutes later after a rare call for possessing the ball too long on Mignolet.

The Reds, in typical fashion from what they have shown under Jurgen Klopp, kept plugging away.  They were rewarded when Liverpool were the beneficiary of a somewhat weak penalty call and James Milner smartly finished it off.  Liverpool then finally got on the positive side of the ledger in the 45th minute with an absolute blast from Benteke.  It was a fitting finish to the half for the striker and the team as he was rewarded for his hard work.

Liverpool came out with just as much energy in the second half.  After a bit of an inauspicious start, with some fouls against, Liverpool found their footing and pushed forward.  Another weak foul call, this time against the Reds(at least the official was consistent), denied Benteke his second goal and Liverpool's third.  Following that converted but not counted chance, the Reds seemed to pour toward the goal at will.

Ultimately it came to nothing as neither team would score in the final 45 minutes.  Liverpool looked capable but could not find that final ball.  Bordeaux looked dangerous in the final moments, after Liverpool had made a few changes, but they could not convert.  It was an interesting turn of events given the situation.  Liverpool didn't really pack it in, despite having a spot in the knockout round wrapped up.  Bordeaux didn't get caught on the counter despite needing to open up the game to keep any hope of advancing alive.

In the end, it was a nice win for Liverpool and a nice break in the norms of the day for their fans in America.  It wasn't a spotless result.  There were plenty of missed chances.  The game could have easily seen two or more Reds' goals, but two sufficed.  Liverpool allowed too many opportunities despite getting the win.  That kind of performance may not result in something positive against higher quality teams.  Nevertheless it was a victory.  There were no injuries (in terms of the players who played on the field).  Benteke continued to look like he may be well worth the price paid.  Plenty to still improve on, but plenty to be thankful for.

Random Thoughts:
- Really?  Another Daniel Sturridge injury?  I feel for him as a person, but as a player he must be made of the thinnest possible glass you can find.  Hopefully it is just something that needs a day or two rest, but just the idea is ridiculous at this stage.

- Fans will be fans.  I live in a city where the running joke is everyone is trying to beat the traffic by leaving early even though they all leave at the same time so they get stuck anyway.  That said, I do think the Klopp comments had something to do with the crowd reaction.  As mentioned, rarely have I heard a reaction like that and the goal did not even stand.  Could have been the audio, but the crowd at Anfield seemed to have extra juice.

Walk On