Liverpool in seventh heaven as ‘special’ Salah and Elliott see off 10-man Lille

Arne Slot had two minor complaints: that Lille scored from their only shot on target and Liverpool are not guaranteed to win the Champions League group because of Barcelona’s 95th-minute winner at Benfica, where four minutes of stoppage time were signalled. They were the grumblings of a perfectionist.

Perfectionism is serving Liverpool well, however. Top spot may not be secured just yet but Slot’s side booked a place in the last 16 with a seventh successive victory. It equalled the club’s best sequence in the Champions League era.

Top of the Champions League group and the Premier League, Liverpool will fear no one in the knockout phase. There was the added bonus of setting a club record for most minutes without conceding in Europe, their 599 surpassing the 572 of Rafael Benítez’s team in 2005-06.

And of course a night of European milestones had to involve Mohamed Salah. The phenomenal forward became the first player in Liverpool’s illustrious history to register 50 European goals. His instinctive finish and Harvey Elliott’s deflected strike were enough to inflict a first defeat in 22 matches on Lille. “Special, that is the word to describe Mo’s performance at this club,” Slot said. “He has been outstanding at this club for so many years.”

Liverpool’s head coach insisted it was more important to skip the playoff round than to finish top. “If it was tennis and you are the No 1 seed it’s better to face the No 24 than the No 12,” he said. “But with this new format some teams are high [in the group] because they had a lucky draw and others are low because they had an unlucky draw. We don’t know yet if it’s an advantage.”

Lille harbour automatic qualification hopes of their own following an impressive campaign that includes victories against both Madrid clubs. The two teams cancelled each other out during a humdrum opening – both were polished in possession, well structured but lacking a cutting edge – then Salah took centre stage once again.

Lille were on the attack with Jonathan David when Kostas Tsimikas regained possession with a clean challenge. While David’s teammates appealed for a foul, Curtis Jones threaded a pass through the visiting defence for Salah to charge down on Lucas Chevalier’s goal. A first-time shot around the Lille keeper was sufficient for Salah to reach another Liverpool milestone. He celebrated by taking a seat on the advertising hoardings; several Liverpool players joined the forward on his throne in recognition of a remarkable achievement.

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Salah should have had a second moments before the interval when Luis Díaz found him with a superb diagonal ball. The Egypt international held off the close attentions of Gabriel Gudmundsson but, with only Chevalier to beat, he placed a low shot wide of the far post.

Lille created several promising situations with Rémy Cabella prominent down the left. But they lacked an end product throughout the first half. When Hákon Arnar Haraldsson was released inside the 18-yard box by Mitchel Bakker’s pass, Jones sprinted back to take the ball off his toes. The midfielder’s defensive work was particularly impressive given he had just received treatment for a second time on a suspected knee injury. Jones did not reappear for the second half while Ryan Gravenberch, who had played every minute of the Champions League campaign, was also withdrawn. Alexis Mac Allister and Elliott replaced the midfield duo.

Elliott’s creativity was immediately on show. The midfielder created a chance – an awkward one admittedly – for Conor Bradley, who shot over from a tight angle. He then played Darwin Núñez through on goal with another measured pass but Chevalier was off his line quickly to block the striker’s attempted chip. Tsimikas’s free-kicks were another dangerous weapon for Liverpool, but both Jarell Quansah and Mac Allister headed over when found unmarked inside the Lille area.

Liverpool’s task appeared more comfortable when Aïssa Mandi was sent off for a second bookable offence. The Lille right-back received his first yellow card for protesting against the referee’s correct refusal to penalise Tsimikas for the challenge that led to Liverpool’s opener. His second arrived for a blatant foul on Díaz.

Just two minutes later, however, Lille were level. Cabella released Gudmundsson to the byline and his low cross from the left found Haraldsson unmarked 12 yards from goal. The midfielder’s shot struck Tsimikas and fell invitingly for David, who gave Alisson no chance from close range.

It was the first goal Liverpool had conceded at home in the Champions League this season. It did not ruin their 100% record in the competition, however. Lille were level for five minutes.

When a Tsimikas corner was headed clear to Elliott, the substitute swept a first-time shot towards goal from 22 yards. His effort took a big deflection off the unfortunate Ngal’ayel Mukau and sailed into the bottom corner of Chevalier’s net.

Source: theguardian.com