Carroll squanders chances in Liverpool’s Europa flop

On a disastrous night for British football, Liverpool, Manchester City and Glasgow Rangers were all dumped out of the Europa League. To make matters worse, Andy Carroll, the Premier League's most expensive English player, squandered two good chances in his first start for Liverpool.

The Reds were hosting Portuguese side Braga and before the game were quietly confident of overturning a 1-0 deficit from the first leg. Instead they were held to a goalless draw. "You need to be really strong creatively if you are going to break down a very organised side or you need a bit of luck," said manager Dalglish, adding: "Like every other team in the world we could do with a bit more creativity."

Not even a first start for Carroll, their £35m signing from Newcastle in January, could light up Anfield and the big striker was guilty of missing a couple of great opportunities to get on the scoresheet.

"Carroll stayed on longer than we hoped he would have to stay on but necessity meant he had to stay on the pitch because we were looking for a goal," explained Dalglish. "Overall, we are pleased to see him back on the pitch and we were not disappointed with his contribution in any way. It was a bit unfortunate he did not score a goal."

Manchester City's European campaign was derailed by Dinamo Kiev at Eastlands although the Sky Blues weren't helped in their quest of overturning a 2-0 scoreline from the first leg by the antics of striker Mario Balotelli. The 20-year-old Italian first wasted two goal-scoring opportunities early on before being sent off on 36 minutes for an appalling chest-high challenge on Goran Popov.

Afterwards City manager Roberto Mancini offered no excuses for Balotelli, who's been shown eight yellow cards and sent off twice in 20 matches this season. "When he does stupid things like tonight it's difficult for me, for him and the team," admitted Mancini. "Am I angry? What do you think? ... It's a problem because Mario can be a fantastic player."

Three minutes after Balotelli's red card, City took the lead when Aleksandar Kolarov rifled the ball into the Kiev net from 20 yards, but the Ukraine side came out in the second half determined to defend their slender lead. And the extra-man advantage proved crucial as City laboured to create opportunities to find a second goal.

With David Silva looking tired, and Carlos Tevez increasingly frustrated, City's dreams of Europa League glory disappeared before their eyes, leaving them with the Premier League as the only chance of silverware this season.

Mancini is rumoured to be considering dropping Balotelli from the City squad to face Chelsea on Sunday as punishment and it was clear the troubled striker's team-mates knew who to blame for their European exit. "As soon as we went down to 10 men, it was a very difficult game," said defender Vincent Kompany. "If we haven't qualified, it is down to one detail."

Rangers welcomed PSV Eindhoven to Ibrox after the Scots had held the Dutch side to a goalless draw in the first leg. But the visitors took the lead after just 13 minutes through Jeremain Lens. Though Rangers pressed hard for goals of their own in the second period, PSV held on.

It was a curiously flat display from Rangers. The decision by manager Walter Smith to rest several of his first-choice players indicated he had one eye on Sunday's league cup final against Aberdeen. ·