The View From the Armchair
The reds overcame a mudbath of a pitch and the absence of Michael Owen to emerge from Romania in pole position to advance to the next round of the UEFA Cup.
Djimi Traore was the unlikely hero, registering his first senior strike for the reds with a wonderful curling right foot shot from the corner of the box in the first half. Although the home side hit back with a second half equaliser, the away goal secured by the reds sets things up nicely for the return at Anfield.
In the absence of Owen, Kewell partnered Heskey in attack, with John Arne Riise given a recall to the side on the left of midfield.
The conditions in Bucharest were so bad that a draw now looks a great result, and full credit to the players for the discipline and attitude they displayed. No-one typified this more than the inspirational Steven Gerrard, who covered every inch of mud on Steaua's shockingly bad pitch.
The reds dominated the first half, and did enough to have had the game won by half time. As it was, only Traore's goal separated the sides at the interval, and what a strike it was! Djimi takes a lot of stick off the fans, some of it justified some of it not, but a few more strikes like this and he'll win everyone over. On his weaker foot too.
My reaction when the ball hit the net was one which I'm sure was shared by thousands of other reds - disbelief. For about ten minutes after, I couldn't stop laughing. Even thinking about it now brings a smile to my face. Djimi was over the moon, understandably. I doubt if Stephane Henchoz is too pleased though, but I'm sure his day will come one day.
The reds continued to play some slick football despite the conditions, and Kewell almost added a second when he skipped round the keeper only to see his shot brilliantly cleared off the line by the last defender.
Riise should have done better with a stooping header which he put wide of an empty net, but Steaua had a few dangerous attacks of their own, and it always looked as though one goal wouldn't be enough, and so it proved.
I don't know whether to put their equaliser down to great attacking, or poor defending. The way Biscan and Hyypia were dissected won't have pleased Houllier, but in fairness it was a hell of a pass and a good finish. That said, the question needs to be asked whether that goal would have happened had Henchoz been on the field?
After that, the reds needed Dudek to be at his best to keep the scores level. The Big Pole's handling was assured throughout, despite the difficult conditions, and it needed to be as Steaua grew in confidence as the evening progressed.
Diouf was replaced by Le Tallec, but this was not a pitch to suit either of those players' style's. Kewell was another who found the going tough. For players who like to run the ball, pitches like this are a nightmare. Nights like this are where you're battling players come to the fore, and Gerrard epitomised this with an all action display alongside the equally diligent Murphy.
Credit too goes to Emile Heskey (yes, I did say that!), who not only managed to get through an entire game without limping or needing treatment from the physio, but he also held the ball up well and worked tirelessly up front. A nice change, especially after his embarrassing hobbling at Fulham last weekend.
The home leg should be a formality, but Steaua are much better opposition than Olimpija Lubliana were in the last round, and the reds will need to play well to win. If they do play well, they should be far too strong for the Romanians, but if they have an off night Steaua could pose a problem.
Liverpool: Jerzy Dudek; Steve Finnan, Igor Biscan, Sami Hyypia, Djimi Traore; El Hadji Diouf (Anthony Le Tallec), Danny Murphy, Stevie Gerrard, John Arne Riise; Harry Kewell; Emile Heskey:
