Liverpool eventually eased to a 2-1 Champions League win at home to a ten-man Lille side on Tuesday, extending their unblemished record in Europe's top club competition to seven straight wins this season.
Lille entered Tuesday's contest with the bitter taste of defeat, a distant memory, buoyed by a 21-match unbeaten streak stretching back to mid-September.
The French visitors had plenty of reason to be confident and were further emboldened by a strong, gutsy start. LiverpoolThe formidable front line as well as the Anfield crowd. It took a moment of magic in the 34th minute for Merseyside to finally break through.
Jonathan David, Lille's always looking forwardlost the ball deep inside Liverpool's half. Curtis Jones strode to the loose ball and slotted it through the scattered white shirts, splitting Lille and drawing Mohamed Salah for a one-on-one with Lucas Chevalier. There would be only one winner in that duel.
It looked like the outcome of the match as a whole was similar. Liverpool barely got out of second gear but didn't seem to need to, going into the second half with the side of a side sitting at the top of the Champions League table. A second yellow card for Lille right-back Aissa Mandi after an hour may well have ended the contest in the minds of many at Anfield.
Several Liverpool players seemed to be of the same opinion and Arne Slott's side were caught out by a low clearance from Gabriel Gudmundsson. Hakon Haraldsson's effort was blocked but David was on hand to draw Lille level just three minutes after being reduced to ten men.
It didn't take long for the Reds to recover from the shock of conceding the only second Champions League goal this season. Harvey Elliott, one of two first-half substitutions made by Slott when Liverpool were very much in cruise control, hit a clean half-volley from a corner into a crowded area, picking out the bottom corner via a slight deflection at the 67th minute.
Despite a few flickers of threat from Lille in the closing stages, Liverpool held on to claim the three points that guarantee their place in the last 16 of the Champions League, regardless of any other results from across the continent.
|
Player |
evaluations |
|---|---|
|
GC: Alisson |
6.3/10 |
|
RB: Conor Bradley |
7.0/10 |
|
CB: Jarell Quansah |
7.2/10 |
|
CB: Virgil van Dijk |
6.7/10 |
|
LB: Kostas Tsimikas |
7.7/10 |
|
CM: Dominik Szoboszlai |
6.5/10 |
|
CM: Ryan Gravenberch |
6.8/10 |
|
CM: Curtis Jones |
7.3/10 |
|
RW: Mohamed Salah |
7.9/10 |
|
ST: Darwin Nunez |
8.0/10 |
|
LW: Luis Diaz |
7.7/10 |
|
UNDER: Alexis Mac Allister (46' for Gravenberch) |
6.6/10 |
|
UNDER: Harvey Elliott (46' for Jones) |
7.4/10 |
|
UNDER: Wataru Endo (63' for Szoboszlai) |
6.2/10 |
|
UNDER: Federico Chiesa (75' for Diaz) |
6.2/10 |
|
UNDER: Trent Alexander-Arnold (86' for Bradley) |
N/A |
Subs not used: Caoimhin Kelleher (GK), Vitezslav Jaros (GK), Andy Robertson, Ibrahima Konate, Tyler Morton, Cody Gakpo, Jayden Danns
|
Player |
ASSESSMENT |
|---|---|
|
GC: Lucas Chevalier |
7.5/10 |
|
RB: Aisa Mandi |
5.2/10 |
|
CB: They found Diakite |
5.9/10 |
|
CB: Alexsandro Ribeiro |
6.6/10 |
|
LB: Gabriel Gudmundsson |
6.3/10 |
|
CM: Ngal Ayel Mukau |
5.8/10 |
|
CM: Benjamin Andre |
5.9/10 |
|
AM: Hack Haraldsson |
6.1/10 |
|
RW: Mitchell Bakker |
6.0/10 |
|
ST: Jonathan David |
7.2/10 |
|
LW: Remy Cabella |
6.8/10 |
|
UNDER: Thomas Meunier (63' for Bakker) |
6.7/10 |
|
UNDER: Osmane Sahraoui (63' for Cabella) |
6.6/10 |
|
UNDER: Ismaily (74' for Gudmundsson) |
6.1/10 |
|
UNDER: Ayyoub Bouaddi (74' for Mukau) |
6.2/10 |
Subs not used: Marc-Aurele Caillard (GK), Vito Mannone (GK), Isaac Cossier, Angel Gomes, Ethan Mbappe, Mohamed Bayo