Liverpool maintained their flawless record in this season’s Champions League by beating Real Madrid 2-0 at Anfield.
An action-packed second half that featured goals from Alexis Mac Allister and Cody Gakpo also included missed penalties by Kylian Mbappe – whose effort was saved by Caoimhin Kelleher soon after Mac Allister’s opener – and Mohamed Salah.
The Reds produced yet another performance of class and authority to deservedly defeat the holders and reel off a fifth consecutive victory in the competition’s league phase.
Team news
Mac Allister and Luis Diaz were restored to Liverpool’s starting line-up in place of Dominik Szoboszlai and Gakpo as Slot made two changes from Sunday’s win at Southampton.
First half
A first half high on quality though low on clear-cut chances for either team nearly began in ideal fashion for the Reds, but Raul Asencio avoided scoring an own goal by hacking the ball off the goalline after Darwin Nunez had forced Thibaut Courtois into a save.
Diaz scuffed an attempt to beat Courtois at his near post and then Real settled, with Luka Modric pulling the strings in midfield.
The visitors’ increased presence in the contest did not translate to opportunities to trouble Kelleher, however, and they were again indebted to Courtois as he advanced to smother Nunez’s effort at source.
As the game ebbed and flowed, the decibel level inside Anfield was cranked up considerably when Conor Bradley emphatically halted a Real counter-attack with a thumping tackle that dispossessed Mbappe.
Liverpool’s best spell of the half followed, with Nunez and Diaz each having headed attempts on goal, but it remained deadlocked at the break.
Second half
The Reds’ intent was clear from the first whistle of the second period and Curtis Jones saw a shot deflect wide before Courtois parried away Bradley’s downward header from close range.
The long-awaited opener would soon follow, though, thanks to Mac Allister. The No.10 played a neat one-two with Bradley and duly gave Courtois insufficient time to react by rapidly dispatching a precise finish into the far bottom corner.
Kelleher’s latest penalty heroics were required when, against the run of play, Andy Robertson was adjudged to have tripped Lucas Vazquez, handing Mbappe the chance to equalise on the hour.
But the Liverpool goalkeeper read his intentions, springing to his left to palm the kick away to deafening approval from the home support.
An increasingly absorbing match would provide yet more drama soon after as Salah befuddled Ferland Mendy until the defender brought him down inside the area. Salah sent Courtois the wrong way from the spot, but his kick kissed the outside of the post and ended up in the Kop.
Ultimately that would matter little, however, as, Liverpool quickly doubled their lead anyway.
A quick corner between Jones and Robertson afforded the latter the room to deliver an inswinging cross and there was Gakpo, rising high to plant his header into the corner and rubber-stamp yet another Champions League victory.
via liverpoolfc.com
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