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Heskey strikes late Liverpool earns 1-1 Champions League draw at GalatasarayPosted: Tuesday February 26, 2002 4:55 PMUpdated: Tuesday February 26, 2002 7:15 PM ISTANBUL (Reuters) -- A late goal by England striker Emile Heskey secured a 1-1 draw for Liverpool at Galatasaray on Tuesday after the English club were outplayed for most of the Champions League game by Mircea Lucescu's depleted squad. The Turks have not lost in front of their home fans in European competition since a 5-0 hammering by Chelsea in 1999 and showed no sign of surrendering that record as they presented a constant threat through the middle of the field. New Romanian signing Radu Niculescu opened the scoring for Galatasaray in the 70th minute of the second stage group B match, netting a Gustavo Victoria cross from the left with a header. Heskey replied for the visitors in the 78th minute with a right-footed strike from just inside the box. Galatasaray goalkeeper Faryd Mondragon, whose fine form was crucial in denying Liverpool a goal in England last week, made several fine saves and young midfielder Berkant Goktan had an impressive game controlling much of the midfield play. "[The players] were not happy. There were extremely disappointed because they think they should have won," Liverpool coach Phil Thompson told a post-match news conference. "Mondragon played very, very well again." The result was not enough for either team as AS Roma swept to the top of the group on six points with a 3-1 victory at home to Barcelona, who are now in second place a point behind. Liverpool stay bottom of the group with three points from four games with Galatasaray one point ahead in third. But Thompson was still confident his players could produce in the final two matches. "We are making it very difficult for ourselves... But we've always come through. I still believe in the character of the players. We'll do it." Hero and villain Liverpool's Jamie Carragher played hero and villain in the first half scrambling away a loose ball in front of goal before his badly miscued clearance forced stand-in goalkeeper Chris Kirkland to save a Niculescu shot with his feet. England's Michael Owen enjoyed some rare space for Liverpool just before the interval, but his 20-metre drive flew inches wide after some clever footwork out on the left. But Galatasaray dominated after the break as the Istanbul side soaked up the Liverpool pressure in the middle before hitting back decisively on the counter-attack. "We blocked all the things that they do best like free kicks. Liverpool have problems when they force the attack but they are very dangerous when they counter-attack," Galatasaray coach Mircea Lucescu told reporters. Sebastien Perez nearly made the game safe for the hosts on 82 minutes with a rasping drive and Goktan came close minutes later. "We wanted to win today, we played very well, but couldn't make it count," Goktan told Star TV after the game. Both teams missed key players on the night. While Lucescu was forced to partner veteran forward Arif Erdem with the untried Niculescu after the suspension of regular marksman Umit Karan, Liverpool clearly missed the playmaking skills of England midfielder Steven Gerrard. "The points we failed to win are down to the players that we've lost through injuries in the league," Lucescu said. Liverpool travel to Barcelona on March 13, while Galatasaray play away to AS Roma. SummaryGalatasaray 1 Liverpool 1 - result Champions League second stage, Group B Scorers: Galatasaray - Radu Niculescu 70 Liverpool - Emile Heskey 78 Halftime: 0-0; Attendance: 22,000 Teams: Galatasaray: 1-Faryd Mondragon; 3-Bulent Korkmaz, 14-Gustavo Victoria, 23-Andres Fleurquin, 15-Sebastien Perez, 11-Hasan Sas, 18-Ayhan Akman, 67-Ergun Penbe, 7-Berkant Goktan, 26-Radu Niculescu (55-Serkan Aykut 79), 6-Arif Erdem Liverpool: 22-Chris Kirkland; 2-Stephane Henchoz, 3-Abel Xavier, 4-Sami Hyypia, 23-Jamie Carragher, 7-Vladamir Smicer (37-Jari Litmanen 73), 13-Danny Murphy, 16-Dietmar Hamann, 18-John Arne Riise, 8-Emile Heskey, 10-Michael Owen Referee: Urs Meier (Switzerland)
Copyright 2003 Reuters Limited. All rights reserved. |
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