maçın 2. yarısında atletico madrid liverpool sahasını ablukaya almışken uçmakta zorlanan bir kuş liverpool cezasahasına girdi. uçmaya çalışarak ilerlemeye devam ederken maç tüm hızıyla devam ediyordu. bu arada ceza alanı hakemi birkaç kere hakeme maçı durdurması ve kuşu dışarı çıkarmayı önerdi ama maç devam etti... neyse ki kuş sağ salim sahayı terk etti...
diego forlán struck the killer blow as the reds saw a match-winning position evaporate in extra time at anfield.
diego forlán fired club atlético de madrid into the uefa europa league final after his extra-time strike earned the spanish side an away-goals triumph over liverpool fc.
it was forlán's solitary goal that earned atlético their first-leg win and the uruguay striker was the hero again at anfield, sweeping in a josé antonio reyes cross in the 102nd minute to deny a liverpool side who had fought their way into a winning position through goals from alberto aquilani and yossi benayoun. atlético can now look forward to their first european final for 24 years against another premier league side, fulham fc, in hamburg on 12 may.
quique sánchez flores's team had scored twice in every previous away tie in the competition but were slow to show as an attacking force here. indeed, they almost made the worst possible start inside 60 seconds. dirk kuyt's flick-on sent benayoun through down the right but david de gea saved. there were further scares midway through the first half – kuyt fired over a cross from makeshift right-back javier mascherano, then daniel agger headed in a steven gerrard free-kick only to be ruled offside.
atlético looked to have held out until half-time only for aquilani to strike. reyes failed to track benayoun as he latched on to mascherano's throw and though kuyt missed the ensuing cross, aquilani found the bottom corner with a first-time strike. rafael benítez is renowned for his mastery of the one-off occasion and his choice of the italian playmaker as the front prong in liverpool's midfield five had paid off.
at the other end atlético's first-half effort had yielded little. raúl garcía's bouncing shot tested pepe reina, then sérgio agüero, back from suspension, broke through but, forced wide by reina, sent over an aimless cross. the visitors looked to play higher up the pitch as the second half unravelled yet still liverpool looked arguably more dangerous, glen johnson drawing a fingertip save from de gea.
after forlán miscontrolled when clean through, it looked like atlético's chance had gone begging when, four minutes into extra time, liverpool scored their second, lucas dinking a ball over the top and benayoun sending a shot under de gea. however, atlético responded. josé manuel jurado fired centimetres wide before forlán, once a match-winner here for manchester united fc, struck. reyes crossed from the right and the unmarked uruguayan found the roof of the net. simão could have added a second but for liverpool the damage was already done.
yardımcı hakemler: kim thomas haglund (nor), frank andås (nor)
4. hakem: svein oddvar moen (nor)
çizgi hakemleri: espen berntsen (nor), tom harald hagen (nor)
liverpool: pepe reina (gk), glen johnson, alberto aquilani (dk. 90 nabil el zhar), daniel agger, steven gerrard (c), yossi benayoun (dk. 114 et daniel pacheco), dirk kuyt, ryan babel, javier mascherano (dk. 110 et philipp degen), lucas, jamie carragher
yedekler: diego cavalieri (gk), sotiris kyrgiakos, david ngog, daniel ayala
teknik direktör: rafael benítez (esp)
atlético: david de gea (gk), juan valera, antonio lópez (c), diego forlán (dk. 117 et ignacio camacho), raúl garcía, sergio agüero (dk. 120+1 et eduardo salvio), paulo assunção (dk. 99 et josé manuel jurado), álvaro domínguez, josé antonio reyes, simão, luis perea
yedekler: sergio asenjo (gk), juanito, tomáš ujfaluši, leandro cabrera
teknik direktör: quique sánchez flores (esp)
goller: (1-0) alberto aquilani dk. 44 (2-0) yossi benayoun dk. 95 et (1-2) diego forlán dk. 102 et
sari kartlar: dk. 43 steven gerrard (c), dk. 51 alberto aquilani, dk. 82 jamie carragher (liverpool) dk. 52 paulo assunção, dk. 67 juan valera, dk. 103 et diego forlán, dk. 104 et álvaro domínguez (atlético)
diego forlán is excited by the "unique" occasion of playing in a european final as he bids to help club atlético de madrid finish an often frustrating season on a high against fulham fc.
it was a tricky first half of the season for club atlético de madrid, but after bowing out of the uefa champions league, the spanish club have made amends since the turn of the year and will contest the uefa europa league final against fulham fc on wednesday. the club's top marksman both domestically and in europe, diego forlán tells uefa.com that he is looking forward to finishing an often frustrating season on a huge high.
uefa.com: what was your experience of the liverpool semi-final?
diego forlán: those are the types of games you dream about – and they were two intense matches. the team played well in the first leg and deserved to score another goal. it was a result that didn't allow us to relax, and we still needed to play a tricky match at anfield, which we knew would be hard. we needed to score a goal; it was key to score. maybe it came very late, but we did score, and so made it through.
uefa.com: anfield is somewhere you have won in the past at manchester united fc. did that knowledge give you a psychological lift?
forlán: no, not at all. yes, i have played there, won there and scored goals. in this case we actually lost, but we went through, so it doesn't matter ... but we knew it would be a very difficult game. we know that they are a team with a lot of history, that it's difficult to play on that pitch and that is how it turned out.
