Dalglish slams Liverpool display after Braga defeat
Liverpool boss believes his side were lucky to escape with a one-goal defeat after lacklustre first-half display
Liverpool’s hopes of rescuing a miserable season took a blow in Portugal as Kenny Dalglish’s side slumped to defeat at SC Braga in the first leg of their last 16 Europa League tie.
Alan tucked away a first-half penalty after Sotirios Kyrgiakos clumsily fouled Mossoró to hand the Portuguese side a slender advantage to take to Anfield in the return leg next week.
Reds boss Dalglish admitted his side were lucky to escape with a one-goal defeat following a lacklustre first-half display in which his side lacked creativity and any sense of urgency.
“Considering the way we played in the first half we are fortunate to come away with a 1-0,” said Dalglish.
“You don’t know if it is a good or bad result until the second leg is over but there is no-one [from our side] pleased with the performance or the result.”
Substitute Andy Carroll injected some much-needed impetus in the second period when he was brought on after 58 minutes.
But the £35m striker -who made his Liverpool debut in the Reds’ 3-1 win over Manchester United last Sunday -was unable to muster an equaliser for Dalglish’s men.
“We picked it up a little bit in the second half and looked a bit more threatening, especially after Andy [Carroll] came on, and I think we were probably denied with a stone wall penalty ourselves,” Dalglish
added.
“He [Carroll] worried them. We played better once he came on. He’s a good option for us.
“We’ve got to give him as many minutes as we can to make sure we’re making a contribution to getting him fit.
“It was a bit longer than he got on Sunday and we will continue to make a contribution towards his fitness.”
