Liverpool: James, McAteer, Wright, McManaman, Collymore,
Fowler, Redknapp, Ruddock, Berger (Kennedy 69), Thomas,
Bjornebye.
Subs Not Used: Jones, Babb, Warner, Carragher.
Goals: Fowler 12, Wright 79.
Paris St Germain: Lama, Ngotty, Le Guen, Leonardo (Kenedy 83),
Guerin, Rai, Loko (Pouget 57), Fournier, Cauet, Algerino, Leroy.
Subs Not Used: Allou, Fernandez, Calenda.
Booked: Ngotty.
Agg (2-3)
Att: 38,984
Ref: R Pedersen (Norway).
Liverpool came within a whisker of adding another wonderful chapter to their glorious European history on a night of high drama at Anfield. Strikes by Robbie Fowler and Mark Wright were just not enough as the Merseysiders fell narrowly short in their brave bid to overcome a three-goal deficit for the first time since entering continental competition 32 years ago. It was a performance in all the best of British traditions as Cup Winners' Cup holders Paris St Germain were hit by a 90-minute red hurricane. And how Roy Evans' men must now be ruing that terrible night in the Parc des Princes two weeks ago when a gutless performance allowed PSG to build up the advantage that proved beyond Liverpool in the final analysis. But survive the French did and it will be them who travel to Rotterdam to meet Barcelona in the final on May 14.
Liverpool needed to maintain the strike rate that had brought 12 goals at Anfield from victories over MyPa-47, Sion and SK Brann on the way to the last four. Manager Evans teamed Fowler, Stan Collymore and Patrik Berger together for the first time, with Steve McManaman making it a four-pronged attack, while Neil Ruddock was handed his first start for over a month. And after seeing Liverpool's Premiership dream wrecked by Manchester United on Saturday, Evans also felt the need to dispense with the ageing services of John Barnes, wielding the axe to his skipper for the first time since taking over the Anfield reins three years ago. The former England midfielder wasn't even as substitute as Evans went for broke -- and how his men responded with the Kop generating the kind of noise that revived memories of those glorious Euro days of the 1970s and 80s.
Liverpool were given a reminder of the class that has made PSG such a force in European football, Rai sending Patrice Loko steaming through the middle after Wright surrendered possession only for the striker to drill his angled shot just wide. But Jamie Redknapp responded with a rampaging run through the centre that ended with him firing in a low drive that beat Bernard Lama but also the post -- and from then on it was all Liverpool.
The Merseysiders got the early breakthrough they needed in the 11th minute when Fowler thundered his 31st goal of the season and seventh in Europe. The magnificent Collymore was the architect brushing aside Bruno Ngotty and rolling the ball into the path of Fowler to send an unstoppable half-volley past Lama from the left angle of the area. It almost got even better within moments of the restart when Fowler tested Lama with a long-range volley, and then the striker was just inches away from getting the finishing touch to a Collymore cross. Collymore was nothing like the misfit that he has been branded this season, his strength and skill causing Paris all kinds of problems. But the £8.5million striker squandered a great chance when Berger picked him out with a far post cross, his poor first touch forcing him to screw his shot wide on the turn.
The French team, looking to become the first outfit to retain the trophy, were limited to sporadic attacks through Brazilian duo Rai and Leonardo, with Wright making one last-ditch tackle to rob Leonardo as Liverpool left holes at the back. But Paris looked nothing like the team that had run riot on their home patch and their defending became increasingly desperate as first Fowler had an effort disallowed for offside and then Stig Inge Bjornebye ended the first period by arrowing a drive just too high.
Ngotty, given a torrid time by Collymore, seemed to signal more attacking intent by the visitors when he opened the second half with a raking long-range free-kick that the underworked David James clutched at head height. But the PSG were soon on the retreat again and Fowler belied his lack of inches to outjump Laurent Fournier only to see his header drop just wide. A blockbuster drive by Jason McAteer had the Anfield legions on their feet, only for Benoit Cauet's slight deflection to take the ball arrowing into the sidenetting. Collymore was equally as unlucky with a 25-yard free-kick that Lama kept out after the increasingly desperate Ngotty had been booked for a foul on Berger.
Paris, sensing that Liverpool had blown themselves out, responded when Rai sent Leonardo galloping clear of Wright, the Brazilian's instant half-volley arcing just over. But that was the cue for one final onslaught from the Reds, especially after Mark Kennedy replaced the injured Berger with 21 minute to go. Redknapp fired wastefully over after finding space 20 yards out, but just as Liverpool looked doomed more hope arrived. Wright, skipper in place of Barnes, was the inspiration, leaping majestically to meet Bjornebye's right-flank corner with a header that bulged the net and made the Anfield legions believe again. Kennedy was unlucky to see a cross-shot scream across goal with McManaman inches away from adding the finishing touch, and Ngotty had to hack clear when Ruddock joined the attack to meet McAteer's steepling cross.
But the goal that would have sent the tie into extra-time would just not come, and it was all over when James ventured forward for Kennedy's last-gasp corner only to see his header fly into the Kop.
Manager Roy Evans paid tribute to his dejected Liverpool team tonight after their glorious exit from the Cup Winners' Cup. Goals from Robbie Fowler, his 31st of the season, and Mark Wright had Paris St Germain on the ropes at Anfield. But the French Cup holders hung on in a breath-taking finale to go through to the final 3--2 on aggregate. It means the end of English club's interest in Europe this season with Manchester United losing to German champions Borussia Dortmund last night. But Evans remained upbeat despite the defeat and delivered a note of optimism about our domestic game.
He said: "A year ago English clubs were criticised for their poor show in Europe. "Now United and us have reached the semi-finals. That shows we have taken giant strides. We have both come a reasonable distance this season." Evans decided to leave out skipper John Barnes for the first time since he took charge three years ago. Evans explained: "I felt we needed to get the ball forward quickly. Sometimes that takes away a little bit of the quality but that's something I felt I had to do. "It was a tough decision. John is a fantastic player and he took the news like a true professional should."
Liverpool, who lost 3--0 at the Parc des Princes two weeks ago made the breakthrough after 12 minutes when Fowler, playing his last game of the season, steered the ball beyond keeper Bernard Lama after Stan Collymore had carved out the opening. But it was not until 11 minutes from time that Wright managed to get a second goal when he powered in a wonderful header from a Stig Bjornebye corner. PSG were in a panic but Liverpool could not get that vital third goal that would have taken the game into extra time.
Evans said: "I couldn't have asked for any more from my team in terms of effort, passion and pride. They all get top marks. "We knew we had to be aggressive from start to finish. We had to be bold and take that chance. "In the end the 3--0 difference was almost attainable as there were a few good skirmishes. "But fairytales sometimes remain fairytales. Results can sometimes be more harsh."
Wright's goal which set up that grandstand finish had PSG's
coach Ricardo reaching for the tranquillisers. He said: "The
last 10 minutes of the game were the longest and most difficult
of my life. I was always looking at my watch. "The ball was
often in the air and anything could have happened," he
added.
"I wasn't surprised at Liverpool but I was surprised that
they played four players in attack. They played very well and
were very strong."
Striker Stan Collymore shrugged off his disappointment to praise the Anfield fans, who gave the team magnificent support and created a wonderful atmosphere. He said: "With a little bit more luck we could have done it. It was a fantastic performance and the supporters were magnificent. I would like to thank all of them on behalf of the lads."
BY OLIVER HOLT
FOOTBALL CORRESPONDENT
Liverpool ...2 Paris Saint-Germain ...0
PSG win 3-2 on agg
LIVERPOOL followed Manchester United out of European competition at Anfield last night, but won a more enduring victory in the process. In the course of a truly heroic failure to overcome a 3-0 deficit in the second leg of their European Cup Winners' Cup semi-final against Paris Saint-Germain, they made a mockery of the critics who said that they were a team with no heart.
Humiliated by the French in the Parc des Princes a fortnight ago, Liverpool played like a team possessed. Inspired by the tireless, selfless running of Fowler and the aggressive determination of the recalled Ruddock in defence, they came within an ace of taking the tie to extra time. An early volley from Fowler and a towering second-half header from Wright set the stage for a thunderous finale, but Fowler could not convert a late half-chance and the Kop was denied the most emotional ending of all when James, vilified for his recent goalkeeping errors, advanced into the opposition area, but could only head a last-minute corner over the bar.
As for Paris Saint-Germain, they may feel anything they achieve in the final against Barcelona is a bonus, such was the state of ill-concealed panic that they were reduced to by the whistle.
The Liverpool Daily Post had styled the match "the impossible dream", and the bookmakers were quoting odds of 33-1 against Liverpool achieving the 4-0 victory that would guarantee them a trip to Holland. But, by the time the fans started pouring into the stadium an hour before the game, fortified by their memories of the time Liverpool overcame a 2-0 first-leg lead brought here by Auxerre in 1991, there was still plenty of hope in their hearts.
Their optimism was fuelled when they heard that Roy Evans, the Liverpool manager, had left John Barnes, ineffectual of late, out of his side for the first time. Barnes was a casualty of an all-out attacking line-up boasting Collymore, Fowler, Berger, and McManaman.
After an early scare a right-footed drive by Loko that went just wide of James's right-hand post Liverpool found their composure and laid siege to the Paris goal. They worked like a team of dervishes, running and working for each other, battling back in defence, hurling themselves at the ball in attack, and generally displaying all the fighting qualities that their detractors have said they do not possess.
In the sixth minute, Redknapp shot just wide from 20 yards, but six minutes after that, Liverpool got the early breakthrough that they so desperately needed. Collymore wrestled his way in front of his marker and nodded an awkward bouncing ball down to Fowler, who dispatched it first time across Lama and into the corner of the visitors' net. As Fowler rushed to retrieve the ball, McManaman gestured to his team-mates to keep their cool. Four minutes later, Collymore wriggled his way free again on the left, but this time his cross was just too high for Fowler. Then, midway through the half, a cross from Berger found Collymore free of his marker at the back post, but he could not control the ball properly and, as he turned, he scuffed his shot well wide.
When the French did manage an occasional riposte, Liverpool were resolute in their defending something so lacking against Manchester United last Saturday. Attacks usually ended with strong clearances from Ruddock, but, when Leonardo found space to shoot 15 minutes before the interval, Wright threw himself at the ball, blocked it, and kicked it to safety.
At the start of the second half, clever approach play from Berger and McManaman forged a chance for McAteer, but his shot was deflected just wide by a defender. After 60 minutes, Liverpool came close again when Collymore arrowed a free kick towards the top right corner of the Paris goal, but Lama was well placed and gathered it at the second attempt.
Just as their chances seemed to be ebbing away, Wright gave Liverpool fresh hope when he powered Bjornebye's curling corner past Lama 11 minutes from time. Liverpool pushed everyone forward, and, as their visitors resorted to attempting to kick clearances over the stands and out of the stadium to gain some precious time, there seemed a real chance that a third goal might come. In the end, though, it eluded them, but the team left the pitch with their heads held high and their fans cheering them to the echo.
BY DAVID MADDOCK
IT WAS, everyone agreed, one of the great European nights at Anfield and there have been plenty of those to choose from. Only the result was missing, but at least Liverpool regained their pride on an evening when even the supporters were left drained by the emotion of it all.
Pride was the word most used afterwards, when even the disappointment of defeat could not contain the surging relief around the famous old stadium that the team had regained something of the honour from its past. Liverpool has mourned the passing of its great mantle from the Seventies and Eighties to a dominant Manchester United of the Nineties, and this night at least allowed almost broken spirits to soar.
"I asked them for pride and passion and they gave it to me," Roy Evans, the Liverpool manager, said. "They could not have given me any more. "From an English point of view, in European competition we've gone from being the lowest of the low to a situation where, last night and tonight, we were expected to go on and win trophies we've taken giant steps."
By the end it was pure theatre, with James, a villain for the past few weeks, almost writing a script that even the tackiest of soaps would have rejected. The goalkeeper, dubbed "Calamity James", raced to join one last attack and, from a corner, headed powerfully towards the Paris Saint-Germain goal but, agonisingly, the story of all stories was denied as his effort just cleared the crossbar. "It got to the stage where I just thought 'go for it'," James said. "I just ran up and I got a real good contact on it and I thought, when I headed it, 'this is it'. But someone said it just got a touch off a defender and went over."
That Liverpool were so good in the second leg of this tie last night serves only to emphasise just how poorly they had played in Paris and it was a point not lost on Fowler, the forward whose early goal lit the touchpaper for an emotional night.
"If we had played even half decent in the first leg, then we know we would be in the final now," Fowler said. "But at least we have got some pride. We were written off, but we've shown we're not the Spice Boys, we can work for each other."
So it will be Paris in the final, against Barcelona, but it was close painfully close. As Joel Bats, the Paris coach, admitted: "I did fear we would crack under the pressure and we are so relieved that we survived it."