Lyon's Argentinian midfielder Cesar Delgado celebrates the winner [AFP]

Yossi Benayoun had put the five-time champions ahead four minutes before halftime but an injury-hit and directionless home side conceded to Maxime Gonalons midway through the second half and was then hit by a counterattack in injury time.

Sidney Govou sent a pass right across the goalmouth and, with the home defence hesitating, Cesar Fabian Delgado arrived at the far post to score the winner.

"It leaves us with a lot to do,'' Liverpool defender Jamie Carragher said. "We're going through a tough match but we've been through them before.

"We'll pull through. We always do.''

But Liverpool also lost captain Steven Gerrard to injury and could be without the influential England midfielder for Sunday's Premier League match against fierce rival Manchester United.

Liverpool has three points from three Group E matches, six fewer than Lyon.

The loss heaps more pressure on manager Rafa Benitez, whose team is eighth in the Premier League with four losses from nine games.

Gerrard replaced

Benitez replaced Gerrard with Fabio Aurelio in the 25th minute because he was struggling with the groin injury that kept him out of Saturday's 1-0 loss at Sunderland.

The move was precautionary but Gerrard received immediate treatment for the injury, which is similar to the one that kept Spain striker Fernando Torres out of Tuesday's match.

Dirk Kuyt replaced Torres in attack and looked to have scored in the 15th when he headed in Gerrard's left-wing cross, but the referee ruled out the goal for a push on a defender by Kuyt as the Netherlands forward tried to make room in the area.

But Liverpool was lucky not to be trailing by then.

Aly Cissokho hit a fierce cross from the left to Lisandro Lopez, who had the whole goal to aim at but placed his firm header straight at goalkeeper Jose Reina.

Liverpool was troubled by Lyon's speedy counterattacks but Benayoun started a 41st-minute move that ended with him scoring unmarked from about eight metres.

With Lyon pressing for a goal, Benayoun gained possession just inside his own half and immediately started an attack. Aurelio sent in a low pass from the left and, although Kuyt and debut-making fullback Martin Kelly missed the ball, Benayoun scored.

Lyon defender Cris was carried off shortly after the goal with a head injury and Aurelio almost scored immediately after, with only a stellar, one-handed block from Hugo Lloris keeping out his close-range header.

Two more saves in the 72nd, one of them a reflex kick, seemed to have preserved Liverpool's lead but Gonalons got to the rebound unmarked to score from close range.

Delgado then hit the winner to leave Liverpool in a position where it may need to win all three of its remaining matches to qualify.

Italy's Alberto Gilardino, right, recieves some affection after his goal [AFP]

Also in Group E, Adrian Mutu scored two first-half goals to help Fiorentina defeat Debrecen 4-3.

Debrecen surprised Fiorentina with a goal by Peter Czitkovics in the second minute, but Mutu's double and another goal by Alberto Gilardino put Fiorentina 3-1 up by the 20th minute.

Rudolf Gergely scored for Debrecen in the 28th with a curling shot fromthe left side after eluding several defenders with some fancy dribbling.

Fiorentina's Mario Santana made it 4-2 in the 37th before Debrecen's Adamo Coulibaly scored an 89th-minute header, the only goal in the second half.

Fiorentina coach Cesare Prandelli praised the home side's fighting spirit in the loss, saying he was surprised by their decision to field two strikers instead of one.

"I saw two teams which wanted to win but we were able to neutralize Debrecen's attacks,'' Prandelli said. "I congratulate Debrecen for not giving up and not losing concentration even when they were down 4-2.''

Prandelli said Mutu has been sharp in practice lately, and was able to carry that over the game.

"I am very, very happy with Mutu's performance and his play was a credit to the team,'' Prandelli said.

Mutu also assisted on Gilardino's goal, and it was a save on his shot by Debrecen goalkeeper Vukasin Poleksic which allowed Santana to convert the rebound from 14 yards.

Debrecen coach Andras Herczeg blamed the defeat on the lapses by the back line at the start of the match which allowed Fiorentina to score three times in 13 minutes.

"Such defensive mistakes are not forgiven at this level of play,'' Herczeg said. "Still, it was a very exciting match and we have nothing to be ashamed of.''