Rafa Benitez: Red card must be a lesson for Jermaine Pennant

Sep 19 2007 Ian Doyle, Liverpool Daily Post

RAFAEL BENITEZ has warned Jermaine Pennant to learn from the red card that almost wrecked Liverpool’s Champions League opener last night.

Pennant was dismissed for a second bookable offence after 58 minutes of a hard-earned 1-1 Group A draw in Porto.

Having been cautioned in the first half for a tackle on Ricardo Quaresma, the Liverpool winger gave referee Lubos Michel no option but to send him off following a needless challenge on Porto left-back Fucile with the ball running out of play.

And Benitez said: “I think it was the right decision. We made a mistake and Jermaine will learn from the experience and maybe it will be positive for him in the future.

“It’s clear he didn’t need to make the challenge. We spoke to him about staying on his feet.

“It’s difficult to understand why he did it but I’m sure he will learn.”

Lucho Gonzalez gave Porto the lead with an eighth- minute penalty after a foul by Pepe Reina on Tarik Sektioui, with Dirk Kuyt heading an equaliser nine minutes later with his third goal of the season.

But it was a disappointing display from Benitez’s side, particularly during an error-strewn first half.

“We started really badly in the first half, we gave the ball away easily and we made so many mistakes,” said the Liverpool manager.

“The penalty was a penalty.

“In the second half we started much better but with 10 players it was really difficult.

“We needed to show character and we did that.

“The team was organised and the work rate of the players was really good.

“The point we won was good because we only had 10 players against players of ability.”

Benitez added: “We were playing against a good team with players who have pace and ability. The key was our bad start.

“In the second half you could see we were better and knew what to do.

“I don’t know why we started so badly. But we gave the ball away easily, conceded a clear chance and after the penalty kept on making too many mistakes.”

Goalscorer Kuyt admitted Liverpool were relieved to take a point against the Portuguese champions after playing more than a third of the game with 10 men.

“We’ve got to be pleased with the draw because it was very difficult for us,” said the striker.

“It was not good out there. We simply did not play well, especially in the first half.

“Perhaps we were unlucky with the red card, but in the first half the problem was our passing.

“We simply could not pass the ball to each other. We could not string three or four passes together but we could have sneaked a win at the end with that chance. Jermaine was unlucky. He just threw himself into the tackle too much. At least we got a draw in what is going to be the toughest game we are going to face in our group.

“Porto is a really strong team and at least we didn’t lose. If we can beat them at home we will be okay.”

Porto coach Jesualdo Ferreira conceded the result was a missed opportunity for his team.

“We were the superior team throughout the game,” he said. “Their goal unsettled us a bit, but we were the better team. A draw against Liverpool is a good result, but if you look at the game itself we should have won it.”

In the other match in Group A former Liverpool striker Djibril Cisse scored in the last minute to give Marseille a 2-0 victory over Turkish side Besiktas in France last night.

The French side had gone ahead on 76 minutes through a Julien Rodriguez strike.