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Substitute Ryan Babel drilled an unstoppable shot into the roof of the net from distance with just seven minutes remaining to give the Reds a well deserved lead in the South of France.

But Lisandro's 90th minute finish secured a point for Lyon and put the French club into the last 16.

As Fiorentina won elsewhere in Group E, Liverpool must now beat the Italians by three clear goals, record victory over Debreceni and hope the La Viola drop points against Lyon in the final group game.

Having amassed three points from their opening three fixtures in the competition, the Reds went into the clash at the Stade Gerland aiming for victory in order to bolster their qualification prospects.

And their defensive ranks were boosted pre-match by the return of Daniel Agger to the heart of the defence. The Dane partnered Sotirios Kyrgiakos, while Jamie Carragher was switched into a right-back role.

A raucous atmosphere greeted kick-off, with both sets of fans in fine voice.

Michel Bastos recorded the first attempt of the game inside four minutes with a low drive that Pepe Reina collected with ease.

The home side enjoyed much of the early possession, but the 12th minute saw the Reds come close to opening the scoring as Lyon goalkeeper Hugo Lloris produced a smart stop to repel Fernando Torres' swept effort from Emiliano Insua's low centre.

Moments later and Dirk Kuyt's hooked strike was palmed over the bar by the Les Gones' stopper before Yossi Benayoun headed the resulting corner across the goalmouth.

Lyon again had their highly-rated young custodian to thank for keeping the scores level just before the half hour mark.

Javier Mascherano's quick-thinking free-kick from his own half sent Andriy Voronin bearing down on goal, but the Ukrainian's low shot was blocked by the legs of Lloris.

After a slow start, Liverpool had settled and were applying steady pressure to the home side, who lost both Anthony Reveillere and Miralem Pjanic to injury in the first period.

It ?s therefore fair to assume the Lyon fans were somewhat relieved to hear the shrill of the half-time whistle, though their side had looked dangerous on the counter-attack in the moments before the interval.

The opening exchanges of the second period continued in a similar fashion, though Bastos rose well against Insua to head Aly Cissokho's cross over Reina's bar, while the Spanish goalkeeper had to be on his toes to clear a dangerous through ball with Gomis in close attendance.

But Lloris continued to thwart Liverpool and he produced his best save of the night so far in the 68th minute when Benayoun's shot-turned-cross found the unmarked Lucas at the back post.

The Brazilian struck goalwards, but he was denied by Lyon's No.1, and Kuyt's attempted overhead kick from the rebound was hacked away from the goal mouth by Cris.

Liverpool's own goalkeeper then rose to fore as Reina produced a smart block to frustrate Lisandro after the striker had latched onto Kyrgiakos' attempted header back to goal in what was proving to be a much more open second-half.

The forward threatened again with just over ten minutes remaining as he curled a shot wide of the post after a quick Lyon counter.

But, on 83 minutes, the moment Liverpool had been threatening all night arrived when substitute Babel smashed an unstoppable 20-yard drive to finally break Lloris' resistance and put the visitors into a deserved lead.

However, Red hearts were broken in the 90th minute as Lisandro held off the challenge of Kyrgiakos and fired beyond Reina to leave Liverpool with just a point on a night when they deserved so much more.

Teams
Liverpool: Reina, Insua, Agger, Kyrgiakos, Carragher (captain), Benayoun, Mascherano, Leiva, Kuyt, Voronin, Torres. Subs - Cavalieri, Aquilani, Babel, Ngog, Spearing, Darby, Sanchez Ayala

Lyon: Lloris, Cissokho, Toulalan, (captain), Reveilliere, Bastos, Kallstrom, Makoun, Pjanic, Gomis, . Subs - Vercoutre, , Govou, Delgado, Tafer, Gassama, Gonalons

Referee: Frank De Bleeckere

Conditions: Chilly

Attendance: 39,180

Liverpoolfc.tv Man-of-the-Match: Yossi Benayoun


Breakdown
19:46 GMT : Match Starts
1 min : Liverpool kick off the match
2 mins : The next 90 minutes will be crucial to our Champions League hopes - come on Redmen!
4 mins : First real shot of the game from Bastos is well held by Reina
5 mins : Carra concedes a free-kick on the left. Chance for Lyon to test the LFC rearguard
6 mins : Pjanic curls one into the box but it's easily cleared
10 mins : It's been a scrappy opening to the match. We've seen little of LFC as an attacking threat so far
12 mins : Great chance LFC. Neat play down the left involving Insua and Yossi ends with the Argentina international crossing for Torres, who sees his shot on the turn saved by the legs of Lloris
16 mins : Cissokho's dangerous ball in from the left is hacked clear after no-one arrived on the edge of the box for Lyon. A nervy moment for the defence
17 mins : Lloris denies Kuyt after another move down the left causes havoc in the Lyon area
19 mins : Substitution: Lamine Gassama for Anthony Reveilliere:
20 mins : Fiorentina are leading Debrecen 1-0
27 mins : A bit of a lull in the play... not much to write home about!
28 mins : Voronin races clear...it must be... he hits it straight at Lloris who stands firm to keep the ball out
30 mins : Half an hour played and we've had three great chances. We can't afford to keep missing them if we want to take the three points
33 mins : First Booking: Daniel Agger:
34 mins : First Booking: Lisandro :
36 mins : Bastos beats two and lines one up from 25 yards... great block
40 mins : Substitution: Ederson for Miralem Pjanic:
42 mins : Debrecen have levelled in Florence. If they can pull off a shock it would make things very interesting
20:33 GMT : Half Time Reached
20:48 GMT : Second Half Begins
46 mins : Lyon restart the match
46 mins : Insua makes a good challenge on the edge of the area. He had to time that right or it could have been a spot-kick to the home side
48 mins : Ederson volleys way over the top after Cissokho's low ball found its way into his path
54 mins : Fiorentina are back in front against Debrecen
58 mins : Another great run from the dangerous Cissokho sees the full-back cross deep to the far post where Bastos loops a header just over
59 mins : Reina does brilliantly to head to safety after a ball over the top threatened to send Gomis through
61 mins : Free-kick to Lyon 30 yards from goal...
61 mins : Kallstrom curls one into the stand
62 mins : Fiorentina are 3-1 ahead now. LFC need to get a goal to keep things in their own hands
65 mins : It's 4-1 in Florence and it's looking good for the Italians
66 mins : Torres breaks free down the left... he's well challenged out of it though. He doesn't look anywhere near 100 per cent
67 mins : Voronin cross for Torres... but his shot is blocked
68 mins : Substitution: Ryan Babel for Andriy Voronin:
69 mins : Lucas is through, great save by Lloris.... it falls to Kuyt... his overhead kick is hacked off the line
73 mins : It's now 4-2 in Florence
73 mins : Substitution: Sidney Govou for Bafetimbi Gomis:
74 mins : Kyrgiakos' weak back header allows Lisandro a sight of goal, but Reina makes a brilliant point blank save
76 mins : 5-2 in Florence. Sounds like a great game!
79 mins : Lisandro breaks clear, cuts inside and curls one just past the post. A warning for LFC
80 mins : Free-kick to the hosts 25 yards out. A real chance here
81 mins : Another poor attempt from Kallstrom
83 mins : GOAL! Ryan Babel: Stunning strike from Babel gives LFC that all-important lead
87 mins : Substitution: David Ngog for Fernando Torres:
88 mins : If results stay the same: Lyon 9 points, Fiorentina 9 points, LFC 6 points, Debrecen 0
89 mins : It could be two. Babel turns well in the box but drills a shot wide at the near post
90 mins : GOAL! Lisandro :
21:35 GMT : Match Over