| A very class act from the Young Boys fans, thank you #JFT96... Image: mirror.co.uk |
Brendan opted to start Jonjo Shelvey as a lone striker for this clash and the likes of Cole and Downing also got a run out too. Henderson also started but eventually ended up in defence whilst Luis Suarez and Steven Gerrard started from the bench.
The game started with a shock for Liverpool after Young Boys produced an attack immediately and seriously dampened the mood, aside from this flash from the away side though they offered little to deal with in the first half and Liverpool had enough time to regroup after the initial effort from the Swiss side.
Liverpool were pretty creative for the first 45 minutes. Assaidi was looking very confident on the wing making several trips to the byline and causing problems for the Young Boys defence. Joe Cole and Jonjo Shelvey were also linking up very well together and it was clear a goal was due.
At 29 minutes Young Boys suffered a blow when defender Veskovac pulled his hamstringl and had to be replaced. Liverpool also made a change themselves in the first half bringing on Gerrard at 30 minutes for Wisdom.
The Reds' first goal came shortly after the introduction of Gerrard and both the London boys were involved. Some good link up play between Suso and Cole allowed Joe to break into the box and receive the ball back. A pass lifted over to an awaiting Jonjo Shelvey left him able to easily head home Liverpool's first of the game.
Shelvey is definitely on form in this competition and in fairness he did extremely well to adapt to the position he was placed in, many people doubted him there but with the aid of Joe Cole providing plenty of support, Jonjo looked very comfortable.
It was just after half time when Young Boys found their first equaliser and what a strike it was. Bobadilla had proven a few times in the game that he was a danger and his powerful finish proved this even more, Reina had no chance and now things were all square.
Just before the hour mark Brendan realised that Liverpool needed some more fire power to secure their progression through to the next stages of this competition and who else do you think of when you think of fire power? Luis Suarez. (Suso left the field).
Ten minutes after this substitution Suarez found himself with a chance to score Liverpool's second but Joe Cole wanted to seal the deal himself and after his efforts he certainly deserved the goal. His shot regained the Reds' their lead and left just 20 minutes to hold out.
In typical Liverpool fashion though, the lads just couldn't hold on. Concentration was lost and at 87 minutes Young Boys equalised again. Another stinging shot this time from Zverotic sent the away end crazy, the Swiss side had done enough to keep their own hopes of progressing very much alive.
Liverpool on the other hand at 90 minutes found themselves in a bit of a predicament. The Reds must either beat Udinese to go through or draw and hope Young Boys beat Anzhi too, lose and they are out.
These are the sort of games that are so annoying because we played well and appeared to have control of the game, players who don't necessarily get the opportunity to score were finding the back of the net and the three points should have been in the bag, nevertheless we aren't out yet and Brendan certainly won't be giving up on the chance of a European trophy in his first season as boss.
Next up for Liverpool is Brendan's old employers - Swansea.