substitute djibril cissé scored twice and set up the third as liverpool fc won the uefa super cup for the third time with a 3-1 victory against pfc cska moskva in monaco.
the uefa super cup is traditionally the curtain-raiser to the new european season, but for liverpool and cska it came during a hectic fixture schedule. liverpool had already played six uefa champions league qualifying games since their thrilling final victory against ac milan the previous may, while cska were midway through their domestic campaign.
both sides were feeling the strain, but cska coach valeri gazzaev was ready for the challenge. "i think those who say this match is just a show, a performance, should look at the history of soviet and russian football,” he said. “they will see that our club will be the first [from russia] to play in such a prestigious game."
steven gerrard, named most valuable player of 2004/05 at the uefa club football awards the previous evening and the inspiration behind liverpool's triumph in turkey, was out with a calf injury, and manager rafael benítez made five changes to the side that had defeated ac milan.
cska were without leading scorer ivica olić, but gazzaev otherwise stuck with the team that had triumphed 3-1 against sporting clube de portugal in the uefa cup final in lisbon three months previously.
daniel carvalho had been the star for the russian side that night, setting up all three of their goals in the second-half, and this time he was on the receiving end of a defence-splitting pass, racing on to vágner love’s ball with 28 minutes gone before shooting past new signing pepe reina in the liverpool goal.
liverpool had enjoyed much of the play without taking their chances, until eleven minutes from time when cissé tapped in from close range to bring the scores level.
the french international, looking to cement his place in the liverpool side, added a second 13 minutes into extra-time, touching in a rebound after goalkeeper igor akinfeev had blocked his initial shot.
six minutes later, cissé turned provider, crossing for luis garcía to head in clinch victory, liverpool’s third in the uefa super cup following similar successes in 1977 and 2001.
