LIVERPOOL SMASHES URINEA URZICENI IN EUROPA LEAGUE PLAY

English Premier League entrant Liverpool spotted Romanian side Urinea Urziceni an early goal before roaring back to thump their host 3-1 and advance in UEFA Europa League soccer play.  Liverpool had taken a hard fought 1-0 decision in the first half of the aggregate goal series at home two weeks earlier.   They now advance to the final 16 of the competition against French team Lille on March 11.

Liverpool has played very sound defensive soccer during the English Premier League season and in International play, though they’ve struggled to score goals.  The three goal outburst against Urinea Urziceni was the first time they’d scored more than 2 goals in a game since a 6-1 EPL destruction of Hull back in September—a streak of 29 games.They’re now hoping to at least partially atone for last year’s disappointing Champions League finish, which saw them eliminated in the quarterfinals by Chelsea.

The English visitors looked sloppy early as Urinea Urziceni, backed by a small but passionate crowd at Bucharest’s Steaua Stadium, had a number of scoring chances from the outset.  After a barrage of scoring opportunities the Romanian team got on the board when Joao Bruno Fernandes scored on a header that sent the assembled fans into a frenzy.

Liverpool settled down, and evened the score just 11 minutes later as Javier Mascherano found the net from long range.  They’d take the lead at the 40 minute mark on Ryan Babel’s score off of a free kick, and net an insurance goal in the second half as Steven Gerrard scored his 33rd in European play to produce the final 3-1 tally.  At that point, Liverpool manager Rafael Benitez made a couple of substitutions to keep his starters fresh for Saturday’s English Premier League matchup against Blackburn.

Team captain Gerrard praise the resolve of his teammates in the come from behind victory:

"We knew before the game it was going to be tough. Unirea aren't a bad side and the conditions were horrendous out there. It was difficult to run and stop, but credit to the boys because we stuck in there. We went a goal down, but we showed good character to get back into it with a fantastic strike from Javier. When he does score, they tend to be from outside the box. It was a fantastic strike and one I'd certainly be proud of."

Gerrard continued to stress the importance of the Europa League competition:

"Every competition is very important to this football club, especially when you've gone out of other tournaments.

"This is our last hope of silverware, and it would be terrific if we could go all the way to the final for the fans that have supported us this season."

Liverpool is currently 6th in the English Premier League standings amid a logjam of other teams. 

They’re tied with 7th place Aston Villa as each team have 45 points but own a tiebreaker.  Immediately ahead of them, they’re a single point behind Tottenham Hotspur and Manchester City who are tied for 4th and 5th respectively.