Liverpool 2 - 3 Udinese: Lethargic Liverpool slump to defeat

SCORERS:

Liverpool - Shelvey (23), Suarez (75)

Udinese - Di Natale (46), Coates (70og), Pasquale (72)

And manager Brendan Rodgers had some harsh words after his side’s lethargic performance at the start of the second half.

Jonjo Shelvey put the Reds in front after 23 minutes at Anfield but Rodgers diagnosed a familiar dip in intensity as the Italian side scored three times – through Antonio Di Natale, Giovanni Pasquale and a Sebastian Coates own-goal – between the 46th and 72nd minutes.

Luis Suarez raised hopes of a snatched draw with a superb free-kick but there was no equaliser in the closing stages.

Rodgers said: “It’s quite straightforward. We were very, very good in the first half and the problem we had in the first 15 or 20 minutes of the second half had been with us since the start of the season.

“We lose concentration and become lazy and in that period we go 3-1 down. We just concede goals too easily, that’s something we need to improve on. We can’t have to score three, four or five goals to win games.”

Rodgers’ men had made a bright start to the contest, with Oussama Assaidi shooting wide, Shelvey seeing an effort deflect off-target and, from the resulting corner, the unmarked Coates sending a header towards goal which Zeljko Brkic just managed to keep out.

But Udinese fired a warning at the other end when Jose Reina punched the ball in the direction of Di Natale, who responded with a strike that the Spaniard pushed away.

Reina then pulled off a superb stop to keep the scores level, getting down to turn Medhi Benatia’s header from a Di Natale free-kick around the post.

The hosts went back on the attack and, after Fabio Borini had dragged a shot across the face of goal having squirmed past a clutch of players, Rodgers’ men made the breakthrough.

Shelvey collected the ball in midfield, sent it out wide to Stewart Downing, charged into the box and met the return cross with a crashing header past Brkic.

It was a third goal of the season for Shelvey, who had come off the bench to score a brace which secured Liverpool a 5-3 victory in their opening group game against Young Boys.

The Reds looked to have things under control, but Di Natale went close again just before the half-hour mark with an effort that just cleared the bar.

Liverpool pressurised once more but to no avail, with Glen Johnson firing over after Downing’s shot was blocked, Jordan Henderson unable to make the most of a header and a Shelvey strike deflecting wide.

Rodgers had spoken in the build-up to the game about the need to keep tabs on Di Natale and, less than a minute into the second half, the 34-year-old punished the hosts for giving possession away.

Johnson lost the ball and it came to Di Natale, whose one-two with Andrea Lazzari ended with the skipper expertly guiding a shot past Reina.

Rodgers reacted by introducing Steven Gerrard and Suarez, and the latter was unlucky not to restore Liverpool’s lead when his acrobatic volley was inadvertently prevented from going in by the legs of his team-mate Shelvey. Moments later, though, Udinese were in front themselves as Coates nodded a free-kick into his own net with 20 minutes remaining.