Liverpool (2) PFC Ludogorets (2): Nothing Like Making the Hard Way Harder

We’ve only gone and done it again, haven’t we? A goal up and heading into the final minutes of play and the set-piece monster bites our hand once more — wait, it’s not a monster at all, it’s just poor defending.

A bobble from Simon Mignolet gave PFC Ludogorets a surprising lead coming out of the gate, but a similar piece of lax defending allowed the visiting Reds to tie things up when Rickie Lambert made it two goals in two games with a headed finish. Jordan Henderson put the Anfield outfit into the drivers seat with a fine finish from Raheem Sterling’s cross, but Liverpool never looked like hanging on — and, of course, they didn’t when, despite being surrounded by five red shirts, Georgi Terziev somehow found space to head in the equalizer from an innocuous looking corner.

Of course he did, didn’t he?

To be fair, this result doesn’t mean too much at all in the grand scheme of things. The Reds needed to avoid a loss, and for FC Basel to lose at home to Real Madrid, in Bulgaria tonight to keep their Champions League hopes alive; the football gods, their their ever so humble but humourless way, have deemed Brendan Rodgers side worthy of that.

It does beg the question of just how many chances Liverpool are going to get? While they can still progress to the knock-out stages of the Europe’s most prestigious club competition if they have he good fortune of beating the Swiss side at Anfield next month, the matter of how they plan on doing it certainly must be put onto the table. What we saw tonight doesn’t beget any increase in confidence whatsoever.

There’s only so many times you can bang on about certain things before it becomes almost pointless to even mention it — and coming from a “writer” that does this purely for the “fun” of it, that’s saying something. Mentioning set-pieces isn’t even a punchline worth laughing at anymore and we saw it again tonight; watch the equalizer and gasp in equal parts amazement and horror as Terziev heads home unopposed.

It’s become de rigueur to complain about Steven Gerrard’s nailed on place in the starting eleven, and though I’m not about to play the blame game, keeping a 34-year old that was looking tired from the break on the field for 90-minutes — along with a 32-year old Rickie Lambert — and expecting them to press from the front isn’t on in the least bit. Withdrawing a player to bring on another defender, and a fresh set of legs, in Alberto Moreno can be argued a number of different ways, but

I’ve voiced my support for Rodgers on more than one occasion and even after that I’ll do it again and without a hint of sarcasm; still, even though he made some positive changes tonight — such as starting the excellent Kolo Toure for Dejan Lovren and bringing Lucas back into the mix — in the end, it’s not enough. Or, at least, it doesn’t feel that way. Not on the back of a draw against the mighty Ludogorets anyway.

Even if we won, progression to the next round was always likely to come down to our meeting with FC Basel at Anfield, but the mere fact that we’re making the hard way even harder is deflating to say the least. When you’re low on confidence, a win, even one that would have been as poor as that, can be the difference between pushing on and remaining on the plateau; any momentum the result tonight may have generated going into what’s going to be a tricky meeting with Stoke City this weekend just evaporated.

Now, raise your hand if you’re surprised…

–Steven