27.7.07  BARCLAYS ASIA TROPHY
Portsmouth 0 Liverpool 0 (www.lfc.tv)
(Portsmouth win 4-2 on penalties)


Liverpool failed to make their dominance pay and missed out on their first chance of silverware this season after Portsmouth triumphed on penalties in the final of the Barclays Asia Trophy.

Following a 90-minute stalemate, Fernando Torres and Yossi Benayou were denied their first goals in a red shirt as Pompey emerged 4-2 winners in the shoot-out. Steven Gerrard and Dirk Kuyt converted but Nico Kranjcar sealed victory.

With the wrangle over international clearance finally sorted, Lucas Leiva made his Liverpool debut as an 82nd minute substitute, but the loudest cheers of the night were reserved for Gerrard and Torres who also both came off the bench in the second half.

Aside from one small pocket of blue, the Hong Kong Stadium was a sea of Reds as Liverpool's Asian army of support turned the venue into their own version of Anfield for the night and the team responded with a highly promising start.

Moments after suffering a head injury when colliding with Sol Campbell, Kuyt got on the end of a Kewell cross and fired narrowly over with the outside of his boot.

Harry Kewell was proving a constant threat down the left flank but it was through the centre that he created Liverpool's next notable opportunity, charging through the Pompey half. The ball fell to Pennant out wide and his centre found Kuyt who failed to keep his effort below the bar.

A slick passing move then presented the Dutch striker with another chance but this time his shot on the turn was well saved by James who dived low to his left.

The former Reds keeper pulled off an even better stop to deny Kuyt a second time soon afterwards, getting down well to push out a header from point-blank range, following an inch-perfect cross from the right by Pennant.

At the opposite end Portsmouth had to wait until the 38th minute before carving out their first goalscoring opportunity and only the excellence of Pepe Reina prevented them from taking the lead against the run of play. Gary O'Neill raced clean through on goal from just over the halfway line but Reina was quick to react and superbly deflected the ball behind for a corner.

Record signing Torres entered the fray amid deafening applause five minutes into the second half, replacing Kewell, but it was Pennant who was next to try his luck at breaking the deadlock, rounding James on the corner of the box and was unluckily just missing the target with a lofted effort.

A lapse in concentration in the Liverpool defence saw Lua Lua almost catch Reina out with a low angled drive that came back off the near post, before Torres got in on the act with a shot that was tipped over the top.

The Spanish striker gradually began to make his presence felt and chipped wide with another opportunist chance. He then raced on to a through ball and battled away to force James into another impressive save.

It was the last noteworthy goalscoring attempt of the 90 minutes and it was left to the lottery of spot-kicks to decide which team would take home the trophy.

Unfortunately, it went the way of Pompey but, as everyone knows, the important cups aren't given out until May and let's hope it's a different story then.
 

Teams

Liverpool: Reina, Riise, Hyypia (captain), Agger, Finnan, Kewell, Sissoko, Alonso, Pennant, Kuyt, Babel. Subs - Gerrard MBE, Crouch, Carson, Threlfall, Leiva, Benayoun, Voronin, Torres, Arbeloa, Martin, Carragher

Portsmouth: James, Traore, Campbell (captain), Distin, Cranie, Taylor, O'Neill, Mendes, Muntari, Mwaruwari, Nugent. Subs - Lua Lua, Pamarot, Kranjcar, , Begovic, Mvuemba, Utaka, Stefanovic, Hreidarsson, O'Brien

Referee: Mark Clattenburg
Conditions: Very hot
Attendance: Unknown

Liverpoolfc.tv Man-of-the-Match: Momo Sissoko