Carroll fails to lift Reds as Aviva dream dies

THE dream of Liverpool gracing Dublin’s Europa League final at the Aviva Stadium in May was shattered last night as the Reds bowed out after an uninspiring goalless draw last night.

It was meant to be the day when a new hero was born at Anfield but instead Andy Carroll’s full debut turned into a huge disappointment, as Kenny Dalglish’s side were knocked out of the Europa League by unfashionable Portuguese side Braga.

There is a huge weight on Carroll’s shoulders following a £35m (€40m) transfer that almost everyone in football acknowledges was a fee way in excess of his value, and this was probably not how he imagined his first proper experience of a European night at Anfield would turn out, as the competition reaches the last eight stage without English or Italian representatives for the first time.