LIVERPOOL, England, Oct 20, (RTRS): Liverpool’s hopes of progressing to the knockout stages of the Champions League suffered a serious blow after Cesar Delgado hit a stoppage-time winner to hand Olympique Lyon a 2-1 victory on Tuesday. The five-times European champions had overcome the loss of captain Steven Gerrard, who lasted 24 minutes in his comeback game before limping off injured, to take a 41st minute lead through Yossi Benayoun. But Lyon substitute Maxime Gonalons headed a 72nd minute equaliser before Delgado’s late winner stunned Rafa Benitez’s side. “Hats off to the players who made a huge performance. We deserved to win because we played with quality and discipline... We finished better than them... and I am really happy,” Lyon coach told Canal Plus. Liverpool are in danger of dropping into the Europa League after falling three-points behind second-placed Fiorentina in Group E.

Lyon have a maximum nine points with Fiorentina on six, Liverpool three and Debrecen yet to register a point after three games. Liverpool, who were without influential striker Fernando Torres for the second successive game due to injury, looked in control after Benayoun’s fourth goal of the season four minutes before halftime. Substitute Fabio Aurelio, Gerrard’s replacement, delivered a cross into the Lyon danger area which missed everyone before eventually falling for Benayoun to slot home. From struggling to carve out a chance, Liverpool almost doubled their lead moments later when 19-year-old Martin Kelly, making his first senior start in the absence of injured England fullback Glen Johnson, delivered a pin-point cross for Aurelio who was denied by a magnificent save by Hugo Lloris.

Lyon turned the game on its head with two goals in the final 12 minutes thanks to two substitutes. Gonalons headed the equaliser after Liverpool keeper Pepe Reina had pulled off two superb saves before Delgado hit a dramatic winner from Sidney Govou’s cross. Liverpool have now lost four successive games, two in the Champions League and two in the Premier League, and the final whistle was greeted by a chorus of boos.

Kazan 2, Barca 1
In Barcelona, holders Barcelona suffered their first Champions League defeat in 10 matches when goals from Aleksandr Ryazantsev and Gokdeniz Karadeniz gave Rubin Kazan a shock 2-1 win.
Barca were rocked back by the Russian champions in the second minute at the Nou Camp when midfielder Ryazantsev let fly from distance and the ball arrowed past Victor Valdes into the top right corner.
Pep Guardiola’s side had plenty of possession after falling behind but found it tough to break down Rubin’s well-organised defence until Xavi picked out striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic with a lofted pass in the 48th minute.
The Sweden striker controlled with his chest and crashed a low shot past Sergei Ryzhikov from the right of the area but Barca fell behind again after a swift Rubin break engineered by Alejandro Dominguez.
The Argentine striker released the pacy Karadeniz and the Turkish international finished with ease past Valdes with 17 minutes of normal time left.
Ibrahimovic sent an acrobatic volley against the crossbar, Xavi stung Ryzhikov’s hands with a fierce drive and Yaya Toure headed against a post in the fourth minute of added time but Barca were unable to find a second equaliser.
The final whistle prompted wild celebrations among the small knot of Rubin fans in the vast Nou Camp arena and Inter’s 2-2 home draw with Dynamo Kiev means Rubin are in with a real chance of advancing to the knockout phase.
Barca, Rubin and Dynamo all have four points after three games in Group F.

Inter 1, Dynamo 1
In Milan, Inter Milan failed to win in the Champions League for the eighth straight game when they were forced to come from behind twice in a 2-2 home draw with Dynamo Kiev on Tuesday.
Dynamo are joint top of Group F following Barcelona’s shock 2-1 defeat by Rubin Kazan while Italian champions Inter, who have flattered to deceive in the Champions League for years, are bottom after three draws in their first three matches.
Enterprising Dynamo took the lead after five minutes when Taras Mikhalik was given time to turn and rifle in off the post following poor Inter defending.
The Ukrainians had already given the hosts a scare in the opening moments when Andriy Yarmolenko somehow missed at the far post after a corner was flicked on.
With Inter struggling to mount an attack, former AC Milan striker Andriy Shevchenko almost grabbed the headlines on his return to a half-empty San Siro when his header whistled just wide.

Sevilla 3, Stuttgart 1
In Stuttgart, Sevilla crushed hosts VfB Stuttgart 3-1 with a double strike from defender Sebastien Squillaci to make it three wins out of three in the and top Group G with nine points.
Squillaci rose high to connect with a deep Adriano cross for the lead against the run of play in the 23rd minute, with Jesus Navas adding a second when keeper Jens Lehmann failed to clear, sending the ball into his path 10 minutes after the restart.
Squillaci headed home his second goal after 72 minutes, after again being left unmarked at the far post, before substitute Elson grabbed a consolation goal for the hosts with a beautiful curled freekick two minutes later.
Stuttgart, who had their chances early in the first half, remain on two points from three matches.

Olympiakos 2, Standard Liege 1
In Athens, substitute Ieroklis Stoltidis gave Olympiakos a last-gasp 2-1 victory over Standard Liege.
The visitors, who had most of the early chances, took the lead in the 37th minute when Igor De Camargo slotted past Antonis Nikopolidis from inside the area.
Olympiakos struck back just six minutes later after Kostas Mitroglou sent a looping header over Sinan Bolat from a Luciano Galletti free kick.
There were few clear chances in the second half but Stoltidis, a second half replacement for Jaouad Zairi, headed home in the third-minute of added time to clinch the three points.

Fiorentina 4, Debrecen 3
In Budapest, Romania striker Adrian Mutu scored twice and created another as Fiorentina won 4-3 away at Debrecen in a frenetic and highly entertaining matches.
Hungarian champions Debrecen took an early lead through Peter Czvitkovics’s tap in from close range but Mutu volleyed in Dario Dainelli’s cross and then set up Alberto Gilardino to fire the Italian side ahead after just 10 minutes.
In a first-half goal blitz, Mutu blasted in his second after Gilardino returned the favour to his strike partner after escaping his marker at Ferenc Puskas stadium.
Gergely Rudolf pulled one back for the hosts with a superb strike, curling a shot into the top left corner after teasing two defenders with his trickery. Mario Santana then restored Fiorentina’s two-goal cushion eight minutes before halftime.

AZ 1, Arsenal 1
In Alkmaar, Netherlands, Midfielder David Mendes da Silva scored in the last minute of stoppage time to salvage a 1-1 draw for AZ Alkmaar against Arsenal in the Champions League.
Andrei Arshavin and Robin van Persie had combined to set up Cesc Fabregas, who gave Arsenal the lead with a low shot in the 36th. But Graziano Pelle’s header in the final seconds found da Silva, who volleyed home from close range to stun Arsenal and end the English club’s perfect start in Group H.
Arsenal has seven points from three games, while AZ has two.
“This is a morale-boosting draw for us,” AZ captain Stijn Schaars said. “You have to be realistic, Arsenal is a very good team with a a lot of quality, so it feels nice to get a draw against them.”