Europa League: Steaua Bucharest 1 Liverpool 1

Liverpool secured their place in the Europa League knockout stages following a 1-1 draw away to Steaua Bucharest on Thursday.

Milan Jovanovic gave the visitors a 19th-minute lead before an error from Reds goalkeeper Pepe Reina gifted Eder Bonfim the equaliser on the hour mark.

Reina, a fill-in captain for the injured Steven Gerrard and Jamie Carragher, was targeted by fans with a laser pen throughout the match, which also led to a delay to the start of play.

Liverpool boss Roy Hodgson opted to rest several of his key players for the encounter, including Fernando Torres and Raul Meireles, giving youngsters Martin Kelly, Dani Pacheco and Jonjo Shelvey a rare start.

Fringe players Jovanovic and Ryan Babel were both included in the starting side and impressed throughout, with both linking up for Liverpool’s goal.

Steaua wasted a golden chance early when Eric Bicfalvi headed over from Iasmin Latovlevici’s delivery, and the hosts were made to pay when Jovanovic met Babel’s cross at the far post with a convincing header.

Pacheco went close soon after but the Reds were fortunate to lead at half-time after Bogdan Stancu, a prolific goalscorer in the Romanian First Division, misfired from eight yards.

It was a shocking miss and spurred the hosts on in the second half, with Stancu and Geraldo Alves going close to levelling proceedings.

The equaliser seemed inevitable and came after 61 minutes when a relatively tame header from Bonfim was fumbled by Reina before the ball rolled through the custodian’s legs and over the line.

It was a bizarre goal and seemed to reignite Liverpool’s charge, with Sotirios Kyrgiakos going close to netting a late winner.

But a draw was a fair result as Liverpool left the Romanian capital as Group K winners after Napoli had drawn 3-3 at Utrecht in the group’s other encounter.