FROM ANFIELD – Liverpool secured passage to the last 16 of the Champions League by beating ten-man Lille 2-1 at Anfield on Tuesday.
The Reds looked set for a live evening when Aissa Mandi took his marching orders with his side already trailing in a Mohamed Salah first half goal. But Jonathan David's strike ensured the hosts cruised to a victory which was sealed by Harvey Elliott's deflected effort in the second half.
Victory for Liverpool coupled with Barcelona's defeat at Benfica means they will go through to the next round as group winners.
How it unfolded
As had happened in most of LiverpoolThis season's matches at Anfield got off to a strange start to proceedings. As such, on the half-hour mark, both teams had only had a single shot, with neither managing to test the keeper.
However, it was at that moment that Liverpool came alive, starting a series of chances created late in the half by scoring through Salah. The Egyptian capped off a quick counterattack started by a Kostas Tsimikas tackle by running onto Curtis Jones' pass and finishing with his usual composure.
And he almost capped the half with another goal in similar circumstances, producing a superb first-time effort past Gabriel Gudmondsson, but this time sending his effort wide of the post.
Salah was almost on the scoresheet again after the restart but miscued a curling effort after a brilliant build-up, a chance for Liverpool following Jarell Quansah's pull to head over from a free-kick.
However, the mounting pressure soon showed in a different way, with Lille reduced to ten after Mandi received a second yellow card for bringing down Luis Diaz as he appeared to be going backwards.
But if that moment was supposed to signal the end of the game as a contest, then clearly no one had told the visitors, who leveled matters moments later when David headed home inside the box after the home side had failed to clear a cross from the left. .
That joy was short-lived, however, with a flurry of possessions restoring Liverpool's lead, a telling deflection from Ngal'Ayel Mukau ensuring Elliott's low shot slotted into the back of the net.
From there, Liverpool took things in stride, ensuring their upcoming trip to PSV Eindhoven has very little riding on it.
Check out the player ratings for Liverpool 2-1 Lille here.
So a considerable deflection may have helped, but Harvey Elliott's decisive goal here provided even more evidence that the youngster still has a big part to play for Liverpool this season.
The 21-year-old has struggled for minutes under Arne Slot but strengthened his case for greater involvement coming off the bench to play a key role in both goals. beat Brentford at the weekend.
And he was just as impressive here, pulling a stubborn Lille backline this way and that way before unleashing the strike that restored Liverpool's advantage. Surely Slot can no longer ignore a player who is not only one for the future, but clearly for now as well.
Liverpool will have known going into this game that the potential to secure passage to the last 16 of the Champions League promised benefits beyond a better draw in the knockout stages.
And they will get to reap the benefits of those next week when they travel to PSV Eindhoven to complete this leg of the competition. Slott will now have the luxury of fielding a completely overhauled team and leave some big guns behind for a well-earned rest.
Barcelona's late heroics against Benfica ensure they are the only club who can catch Liverpool at the summit of the league stage table, however there is no difference when it comes to the division between first and second place . Liverpool's guaranteed top-two position means they will play one of the teams that finish 15th, 16th, 17th or 18th in the round of 16 to.
Despite conceding a goal here, it was another performance that will have eased concerns about a perceived defensive faltering from Liverpool of late.
David's strike represented Lille's only shot on goal and their threat was handled expertly even when the sides were 11 v 11.
This was largely due to a superb collective effort which ensured a new club record for minutes without conceding in Europe was set, surpassing the previous benchmark of 572 set under Rafa Benitez.