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| Hyypia Gives Liverpool the Edge Over Leverkusen By Darren Bentley
LIVERPOOL, England, April 3 – A close-range goal by defender Sami Hyypia earned Liverpool a 1-0 win over Bayer Leverkusen in a tense Champions League quarter-final first leg at Anfield on Wednesday. The Finnish centre back turned the ball over the line from a metre a minute before the break after striker Michael Owen had drilled in a low cross in a rare moment of goalmouth action.
Liverpool therefore take a slender lead to Leverkusen next Tuesday in their quest to set up an all-English semifinal against Manchester United, who beat Deportivo Coruna 2-0 away on Tuesday. Leverkusen will need to show a lot more in attack if they are to overturn the deficit, and must also be aware of Liverpool's particular threat on the counter-attack. The Bundesliga leaders started the game heavily reliant on their tactics of allowing Liverpool plenty of possession in their own half, then forcing mistakes with pressure once the hosts advanced. That left Gerard Houllier's nervy side anxious to play the long ball forward in a cat-and-mouse opening half-hour. DEFENSIVE SHACKLES Leverkusen finally broke off their defensive shackles as Ze Roberto was sent clear on the right by Dimitar Berbatov. But the Brazilian midfielder's near post cross was expertly cut out by Hyypia and the rare moment of danger quickly extinguished. Steven Gerrard and John Arne Riise both failed to test Jorg Butt with long-range efforts as Liverpool, two weeks after a classic performance to beat AS Roma to reach the last eight, appeared strangely subdued in their milestone 200th game in European competition. Four minutes before the break Vladimir Smicer wasted their first genuine opening inside the box – heading tamely over after being found unmarked by Gerrard's deep, hanging cross. However, they had to wait just three more minutes to make the breakthrough. CLOSE RANGE An over-hit Riise corner reached Michael Owen, who controlled the ball on his chest and fired the ball back across goal for Hyypia to convert his second Champions League goal from close-range. Another corner caused more mayhem in the Leverkusen box on the hour mark, but goalkeeper Jorg Butt clawed away Riise's acrobatic overhead kick. The same pairing were soon involved again as the former Hamburg stopper denied Riise with his knees after the flame-haired defender sped onto Owen's defence-splitting pass. By now, the English premier league side had built up a head of steam as they sought to double their advantage but in their desperation to attack, they were almost caught cold as Leverkusen launched their own late offensive. Yildiray Basturk and Ze Roberto combined cleverly on the left wing but when the Brazilian cut the ball back into the path of Michael Ballack 12-yards out, the German international and Bundesliga's joint top scorer steered his effort well wide. LATE PRESSURE Leverkusen applied more late pressure to the home goal, but keeper Jerzy Dudek remained well protected to extend Liverpool's record of having lost just one of 13 Champions League games this season. "It's a very good result against a good team," said Liverpool manager Gerard Houllier, back in charge of the team after a five-month lay-off to recover from heart surgery. "They made us look sometimes a bit ordinary because of their pressing but in terms of concentration and tactical discipline we were alright. "The level of physical commitment in those games was very high and it showed today. "Today's goal was vital for us. We could have had more in the second half but on the whole 1-0 is a good result for us." Leverkusen coach Klaus Toppmoeller remained confident that his in-form team could turn the tie round next week. "Liverpool were very well organised. They are very compact at the back," he said. "The fact we didn't score a goal hurts because they could put eight behind the ball and that could be dangerous for us. "But we have beaten other big teams at home. They have got great strikers so it is a good sign that we hardly allowed any goal chances. We had too much respect for them in the first half and gave the ball away too often." Leverkusen midfielder Carsten Ramelow added: "We should not have given away a goal from a set piece like that, especially just before the break. "(But) We are very optimistic about the second leg. At times Liverpool looked as though they did not know what to do."
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Soccer
