Liverpool go down to Sao Paulo

Liverpool 0 Sao Paulo 1

Liverpool will be left kicking themselves that they could not make the breakthrough their efforts merited in an unjust 1-0 defeat to Sao Paulo in the Club World Championship.

They had three goals ruled out for offside and missed countless chances to score having fallen behind to Mineiro’s 26th-minute goal.

Fernando Morientes missed the clearest opportunity of the lot, heading wide in the first minute from a Steven Gerrard cross.

Morientes and Luis Garcia combined but the former Barcelona forward’s finish lacked power, while Morientes himself wasted a clever cut-back from Kewell in the 77th minute.

Warnock and Sissoko made way for John Arne Riise and Florent Sinama Pongolle to provide the pace and Peter Crouch came on to add some height.

Liverpool had the ball in the net for a third time when Pongolle tapped in with three minutes to go, Kewell thought he had won a penalty when he was felled in the area in stoppage time and Gerrard and Luis Garcia went close. But it was not to be.