SM
Barcelona vs. Brann: 9 hrs 8 mins
Upcoming predictions and previews
AL
Europa League | Round-Of-32
Feb 18, 2016 at 8.05pm UK
 
LL

0-0

 
FT

Liverpool held to Europa League stalemate by Augsburg

:Headline: Result: Liverpool held to Europa League stalemate by Augsburg: ID:266731: from db_amp
Liverpool and Augsburg play out a goalless draw in the first leg of their Europa League last-32 clash at the WWK Arena.

Liverpool have been held to a goalless draw by Bundesliga side Augsburg in the first leg of their Europa League last-32 clash at the WWK Arena this evening.

Playing in a European knockout game for the first time in their history, Augsburg came closest to winning it by hitting the post late on, but ultimately were able to pick up a draw to take back to the home of the five-time champions of Europe next week.

The home side had a good sight of goal in the opening minutes of the match when Mamadou Sakho could only clear a cross as far as Raul Bobadilla on the edge of the box, but the striker, who scored a joint tournament-high six goals in the group stages, fired his volley into the ground and up over the crossbar.

Liverpool barely featured in the opening exchanges, but were gifted a clear chance of their own in the eighth minute when Roberto Firmino picked up a wayward pass, only to send a tame shot straight at Marwin Hitz.

Clear opportunities were few and far between for the vast majority of proceedings, though, and the visitors were limited to half-chances through Daniel Sturridge and Jordan Henderson which were comfortably dealt with by Augsburg.

The hosts fired a warning shot of their own when Dominik Kohr lashed a powerful strike past the post, and then created the best chance of the first half in the final minute of the 45 when they played their way out from the back, eventually sending Alexander Esswein through on goal, only for Simon Mignolet to thwart the attacker.

Philippe Coutinho poked the first chance of the second half wide of the near post after good build-up play from the visitors, and another slick move shortly afterwards ended with Sturridge failing to get enough on a low James Milner cross to turn Liverpool's clearest chance of the evening goalwards.

Sturridge curled another one into the arms of the keeper moments later as the match began to liven up, and Hitz was once again called upon to prevent the ball from creeping over the line after an unfortunate bounce had almost resulted in Paul Verhaegh turning it into his own net.

It was beginning to look as though it would take something special to provide an opening goal, and Alberto Moreno almost provided it with a powerful, swerving strike that bounced up awkwardly for Hitz, who just about dealt with it.

It was the hosts who came closest to winning it, though, with Kostas Stafylidis failing to control a difficult effort at the back post before Ji Dong-won collected Caiuby's knock-down and fired a half-volley against the outside of the post.

However, neither side could find a winner in the closing stages of the encounter as the tie remained all square at the halfway stage ahead of next week's second leg at Anfield.

amp_article__266731 : Database Data restored...  : 
last updated article - 2016-02-19 08:45:33:
html db last update - 2021-02-25 04:36:03 :

ex - 7200 : read : read cache amp html
Share this article now:
Recommended Next on SM
Premier League Table
TeamPWDLFAGDPTS
1Arsenal28204470244664
2Liverpool28197265263964
3Manchester CityMan City28196363283563
4Aston Villa29175760421856
5Tottenham HotspurSpurs28165759421753
6Manchester UnitedMan Utd28152113939047
7West Ham UnitedWest Ham2912894650-444
8Brighton & Hove AlbionBrighton2811985044642
9Wolverhampton WanderersWolves28125114244-241
10Newcastle UnitedNewcastle281241259481140
11Chelsea27116104745239
12Fulham29115134344-138
13Bournemouth2898114152-1135
14Crystal Palace2878133348-1529
15Brentford2975174154-1326
16Everton2887132939-1025
17Luton TownLuton2957174260-1822
18Nottingham ForestNott'm Forest2967163551-1621
19Burnley2945202963-3417
20Sheffield UnitedSheff Utd2835202474-5014
Scroll for more - Tap for full version


Sports Mole provides in-depth previews and predictions for every match from the biggest leagues and competitions in world football.
AL
Sign up for our FREE daily preview newsletter direct to your inbox!

Loading ...

Failed to load data.



. . . . . . . . . . . . . . .