SOCCER/Uefa Champions League Second Round, first Leg/Liverpool 2 Inter Milan 0:The endeavour of Liverpool ultimately smashed the poised fortitude of Internazionale, who had to spend an hour with 10 men following the expulsion of Marco Materazzi.
They were not broken until the 85th minute, when Dirk Kuyt scored from a Jermaine Pennant cross with a shot that took a severe bounce under the defender Maicon to defeat the goalkeeper. In the last minute Steven Gerrard found the corner of the net with a low drive that makes it very likely his side will win this tie. Delighted as Liverpool were after such shaky recent form, they had sought to impose themselves much sooner.
Rafael Benitez has a reputation not so much for killing off the opposition as for making them lose the will to live. Inter were most likely prepared for precisely that and a glance at a Liverpool formation featuring five midfielders might have been mistaken for confirmation that a soporific night lay ahead. This campaign of disinformation seemed to work in the opening phase, with Marco Materazzi dismissed with a second booking after half an hour.
Liverpool seldom begin with such urgency and Roberto Mancini's squad cannot be accustomed to such occasions in the measured culture of Serie A.
The rapacity and pace of Benitez's men made Inter so nervous for a spell that Cristian Chivu and the former Everton centre-back Materazzi had been cautioned inside the opening 12 minutes. There was a note of panic to the latter caution, since Fernando Torres had been tearing merely towards the corner flag.
That yellow card might have been harsh, but Materazzi's tug at the shirt of the same opponent in the 30th minute was sheer folly. Less, it would seem, has changed for the defender than might have been supposed since the headstrong period at Goodison nine seasons ago when he was dismissed three times. On the last of those misfortunes, against Coventry, he walked off, sat down by the advertising hoardings and began to weep.
He is not typical of Inter's seasoned group. The Italian club, in its centenary year, is an august body en route to a third consecutive Serie A title. They were deeply uncomfortable but still professional enough not merely to hold the match goalless at the interval, but also to prevent Liverpool from coming all that close to a goal then.
It was a little bemusing to realise that the single save of any significance by Julio Cesar had been the routine tip over the crossbar of Sami Hyypia's header from a Steven Gerrard corner.
While Inter were usually denied access to Liverpool's half of the field, they did not seem to feel confined while having to operate in and around their penalty area.
The most svelte piece of play had been a turn by Maicon to move away with the ball after a drilled cross by Gerrard had gone beyond Kuyt.
That, all the same, had been a testing delivery and they had been scarce from Liverpool despite the endeavour. The squad lacks wingers who are fully trusted by Benitez and Inter were not stretched even if they were kept occupied.
Nonetheless, the Anfield manager does not suffer from haste or impulsiveness. Even at home, a match in a goalless state does not appal him. The difference here, of course, lay in the invitation afforded by Materazzi's exit.
The visitors, unbeaten over all 23 of their Serie A matches in the present campaign, are not given to panic. Nor are they necessarily alarmed by the prospect of defending at length. With 55 minutes gone, Mancini withdrew the forward Julio Cruz and introduced Patrick Vieira.
If that was supposed to alter the character of the night it indubitably did so, but not in the fashion a manager would desire. Soon Vieira was cannoning a pass against an opponent and the loose ball set Torres free, only for Cesar to pull off an outstanding save by tipping a low shot round the post.
Liverpool should soon have had an even better opportunity following another miscalculation from Vieira, who used two raised hands to block a Gerrard cross. So rash had it been for Vieira to adopt such a stance that it was incredible that the penalty appeals should be denied.
Benitez took the logical step in the bid to score against undermanned opponents by bringing on another striker, with the midfielder Lucas making way for Peter Crouch. The manager was soon seeking orthodox wing play to serve his twin forwards by withdrawing Ryan Babel and introducing Pennant.
Ivan Cordoba, the survivor of the centre-half pairing with Materazzi, was then hurt and had to be stretchered away, but Inter still retained a calm resolve to be on level terms for the second leg. It was not enough to see them through the final onslaught.
LIVERPOOL: Reina, Finnan, Carragher, Hyypia, Aurelio, Gerrard, Mascherano, Lucas (Crouch 64), Babel (Pennant 72), Kuyt, Torres. Subs not used: Itandje, Riise, Benayoun, Alonso, Arbeloa.
INTER MILAN: Julio Cesar, Maicon, Cordoba (Burdisso 75), Materazzi, Chivu, Zanetti, Stankovic, Cambiasso, Maxwell, Cruz (Vieira 55), Ibrahimovic. Subs not used: Toldo, Figo, Crespo, Maniche, Suazo. Sent off: Materazzi (30). Booked: Chivu, Materazzi.
Referee: F De Bleeckere (Belgium).
