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Dirk Kuyt saved Liverpool from early elimination in the Champions League after scoring late in extra time against Standard Liege today.
The five-times European champions progressed to the lucrative group stages of the tournament after Kuyt’s 118th minute’s goal secured a 1-0 aggregate win over the Belgian club in the two-leg third-round qualifier.
The Reds will now go into the hat for Thursday’s 32-team draw along with Arsenal, who thrashed Steve McClaren’s FC Twente 4-0 at home for a 6-0 aggregate scoreline.
But former Liverpool star Harry Kewell has missed out on playing on European club football’s grand stage after his new Turkish club Galatasaray lost 1-0 to Steaua Bucharest.
The Socceroo started at Steaua Stadium, but after a 2-2 draw in the first leg, Galatasaray were eventually undone by a Banel Nicolita goal in the 57th minute.
In other games, French first division front-runners Marseille muddled through after an unconvincing 2-1 home win against Brann to go through 3-1 on aggregate while Atletico Madrid thanked the form of Olympic gold medallist Sergio Aguero in their 4-0 beating of Schalke 04 in the Spanish capital for a 4-1 overall victory.
Belarus will have its first representative in the 32-team group stage after BATE Borisov held Levski Sofia 1-1 to advance 2-1 on aggregate.
Greek champion Olympiakos suffered a shock exit from the third qualifying round, beating Anorthosis Famugusta 1-0 but losing 3-1 on aggregate.
Fenerbahce was left to carry the Turkish flag side after beating Partizan Belgrade 2-1 to advance 4-3 on aggregate.
Fiorentina relied on its 2-0 first-leg victory to advance as it was held 0-0 at Slavia Prague.
Dinamo Kiev repeated their 4-1 first-leg victory over Spartak Moscow for an 8-2 aggregate win.
Danish side Aalborg also repeated its 2-0 victory over Kaunas, Shakhtar Donetsk beat Dinamo Zagreb 3-1 to build on its 2-0 lead, while FC Basel advanced 2-1 over Portuguese side Vitoria Guimaraes.
Liverpool goalscorer Kuyt said: “We wanted to play in the Champions League. We have been in the semi-final and final the last two years. It was a tough match but we believed in ourselves and it was a good performance.
“(Standard Leige) were tough, they were really fighting, even in extra time.”
The Reds lifted the European Cup for a fifth time by beating AC Milan in Istanbul in 2005, then lost the final two years later to the same opponents.
Rafael Benitez’s side had been unconvincing all evening and the game appeared destined for penalties when Kuyt struck with a far post volley from Ryan Babel’s deep cross.
For Liverpool, the goal brought relief after a stuttering display that will have reinforced their manager’s determination to bring in new faces during the remaining five days of the transfer window.
Down in London, William Gallas produced the perfect response to his critics as the Arsenal captain booked his side’s place in the Champions League group stages with a rare goal against FC Twente.
Gallas’s captaincy credentials had already been questioned after his meltdown against Birmingham last season, so when the France defender’s sloppy marking gifted Fulham a shock victory on Saturday he was inevitably singled out for some harsh words from fans and pundits.
But Gallas led by example in the third qualifying round second leg against Twente.
He was outstanding in defence and scored with a second half tap-in after Samir Nasri had given Arsenal the lead at the Emirates Stadium.
Theo Walcott and Nicklas Bendtner scored in the closing stages to put the seal on Arsenal’s 6-0 aggregate victory in their most emphatic performance of the season.
“It was a big game for us and the response was clear,” Wenger said.
“There was togetherness and focus. That is what we wanted after a result like Saturday.
“We needed to be organised because they play a little with your patience. We were disciplined and focused and we were never really under threat.
“I felt the whole team was sharp. Physically we were much better than Saturday.”
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