Steaua Steamrolled By Mighty Liverpool

Joe Cole scored his first goal for
Liverpool and David Ngog
notched a brace as the Reds
beat Steaua Bucharest 4-1 in
the Europa League on Thursday
night.
The midfielder had the honour of
firing home the club's fastest
ever goal in European
competition on 27 seconds
before Ngog (penalty) and
substitute Lucas Leiva put them
back in the driving seat after
Cristian Tanase had levelled with
a sublime first-half finish.
Ngog then put the icing on the
cake with a well taken fourth in
injury-time to take his tally to six
for the season so far.
It means Liverpool have opened
their Group K account with an
important victory and also sees
Hodgson become the first Reds
manager in history to win his
first five European games.
Going into the clash the boss had
opted to make eight changes to
his line-up with both Fernando
Torres and Steven Gerrard
amongst a host of players rested
for Sunday's league contest at
Manchester United.
It provided Ngog with the
chance to once again lead the
line after a vibrant start to the
new season, while it also offered
the Kop its first competitive
glimpse of former Porto star Raul
Meireles and left-back Paul
Konchesky.
A winning start is always
important when it comes to
group competitions on the
European stage and the Reds got
off to a flyer when they struck
after just 27 seconds.
A careless mistake by Octavian
Abrudan presented Cole with a
clear run on goal and the former
Chelsea man opened his account
in his fifth outing for the club
with a delightful right foot finish
past Ciprian Tatarusanu.
The strike sparked a chorus of
famous anthems that helped
inspire an added crispness to
Liverpool's early passing game
and Jay Spearing went close
soon after when he collected the
ball 30 yards from goal and
lashed an effort just over the top.
However, the early buzz soon
faded and on 13 minutes the
visitors put together a slick move
that saw Bogdan Stancu release
Tanase, who beat the offside
trap before clipping a majestic
finish beyond Pepe Reina and
into the Kop end net.
It was the first time Liverpool
had ever conceded a goal to
Romanian opposition in L4 and
there were concerns that tally
would double just four minutes
later when Stancu's teasing cross
from the right found Pantelis
Kapetanos, but the forward was
flagged offside, despite being
denied by a stunning point-blank
stop from Reina.
Suddenly it was Ilie Dumitrescu's
side who were posing the more
probing questions and Daniel
Agger had to be alert to clear at
the near post after Mihai Radut
and substitute Banel Nicolita had
combined well down the right
flank.
The best the hosts could offer as
the half came to a close were low
efforts from distance courtesy of
Ryan Babel and Cole, though
neither attempt ever looked like
beating Tatarusanu.
Aside from the first few
moments, it had been a
frustrating opening for Liverpool
and they took to the field for the
second 45 knowing they would
need to step it up a gear if they
were to take the three points.
A flowing move on 48 minutes
almost saw them make a similar
start the first period, but Maxi
shot straight at the 'keeper when
a cross might have been the
better option.
Next, Meireles gave a glimpse of
his range of passing with a
clever ball up to Ngog, who
chested down to Babel, but the
Dutchman saw his rasping volley
well blocked.
Liverpool were beginning to
build a head of steam and on 55
minutes they were presented
with the opportunity to restore
their lead when Sotirios
Kyrgiakos was pulled back in the
penalty area by Kapetanos.
Up stepped Ngog who coolly
sent Tatarusanu the wrong way
with a well struck kick into the
left-hand corner of the net to
notch his fifth goal of the
campaign so far.
With normal service resumed the
home side set about putting the
result beyond doubt but Meireles
was denied a dream start in
front of the Kop when
Tatarusanu produced a superb
save to keep out his low 25 yard
shot.
For all Liverpool's dominance the
visitors remained a threat on the
counter and almost punished
Hodgson's side for some slack
marking on 76 minutes when
Kapetanos fired wide when well
placed on the edge of the area.
However, a third wasn't far away
and just four minutes later Lucas
smashed in a stunning 25 yarder
after he was allowed to race
towards goal unchallenged.
Ngog then rubbed salt in Steaua
wounds when he rifled home a
fourth in stoppage time.