Cardozo penalties earn Benfica win over Liverpool
Published:Thursday | April 1, 2010 | 7:53 PM
Oscar Cardozo scored two second-half penalties to earn Benfica of Portugal a 2-1 victory over 10-man Liverpool in the first leg of their Europa League quarterfinal in Portugal today.
Liverpool led through Daniel Agger\'s clever backheel after nine minutes but Ryan Babel was sent off in the 31st for pushing Benfica defender Luisao in the face.
Liverpool\'s lead survived until the 59th minute when Cardozo scored the first of his spotkicks.
Cardozo netted the winner 20 minutes later after Jamie Carragher\'s arm had connected with Angel di Maria\'s cross.
The second leg is at Anfield in England next Thursday.
Over in Germany, Hamburg took another step toward reaching the final in their home stadium by beating Standard Liege 2-1 in the first leg of their quarterfinal.