Cole misses pen as Reds beat Turks
LIVERPOOL (1) VS TRABZONSPOR (0)
EUROPA LEAGUE PLAY-OFF
LIVERPOOL midfielder Joe Cole accepted the blame after missing a penalty as his nascent Anfield career stuttered again.
Forward Ryan Babel slotted the only goal of the game, from a Cole through-ball, to give the Reds a slender advantage ahead of next week’s second leg.
But the former Chelsea player, who was sent off on his league debut against Arsenal on Sunday, then blotted his copybook again.
Cole stepped up when Lucas Leiva was fouled in the box, but goalkeeper Onur Kivrak guessed right and leapt to his left to palm the shot away.
“It was a bad penalty. It was pre-determined that I’d take it but you can’t dwell on those things,” said Cole. “We won 1-0 so we’ll take the positives from that.” Asked when he last took a penalty, he added: “When I was about 13, and I scored that one.”
Cole then had the misfortune to be involved in a disallowed goal, as Kivrak parried a shot against him and debutant Christian Poulsen netted.
Milan Jovanovic also went close to opening his Anfield account, but Liverpool failed to capitalise on their dominance and face a nervy away leg.