Football’s Greatest Goals No.43
It is fair to say that this week’s ‘Greatest Goal’ was the turning point in Liverpool’s successful Champions League run in the 2004/05 season. Without it, the club wouldn’t have even made it out of the group stages and their famous night in Istanbul would never have occurred.
Olympiakos lead the group with ten points going into the final round of matches. Monaco were second with nine points but had an easy tie against Deportivo La Coruna, who hadn’t notched up a single win in their five matches.
Liverpool sat in third place with seven points, knowing that only a win against the Greek champions would put them into the knockout stage. Failure to do so would put them into the UEFA Cup.
At the end of the first half, things weren’t going Liverpool’s way. Rivaldo had given Olympiakos the lead after 26 minutes and Monaco were 3-0 up in La Coruna.
Things soon changed as stand-in striker Florent Sinama Pongolle scored on 47 minutes. Substitute Neil Mellor added a second from close to put Liverpool ahead in the game and to replace Olympiakos in second place.
Enter Captain Marvel Steven Gerrard! With four minutes left on the clock, the midfielder set the Liverpool fans into ecstasy with a thumping drive.
Liverpool had a throw-in by the left-hand corner flag. John Arne Riise took it and threw it short to Florent Sinama Pongolle who passed it straight back.
A poor touch from Riise gave away possession but the Olympiakos defenders were unable to completely clear the danger. Jamie Carragher got the ball and chipped it into the box, Neil Mellor leapt up and headed the ball back towards Steven Gerrard who was stood 25 yards from goal and completely unmarked.
Time stood still as the 42,025 fans inside Anfield watched on as Gerrard ran forward towards the loose ball.
Two Olympiakos defenders standing nearby were too slow to close down Gerrard and he let the ball go in front of him before smashing the ball hard and low with his right foot into the far corner of the net. The Olympiakos goalkeeper didn’t’ stand a chance!
Monaco topped the group with 12 points from the six group games. Liverpool and Olympiakos finished with 10 points, but Liverpool progressed to the knockout stage with a better goal difference. The Merseysiders went on to win the trophy for the fifth time, beat AC Milan on penalties.
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