UCL: Liverpool end Napoli’s winning streak with late victory but finish second in group
Liverpool earned a hard-fought 2-0 victory against Napoli at Anfield in the Champions League tonight, with Mohamed Salah and Darwin Nunez both bagging beyond the last five minutes of normal time.
In trademark alert fashion, the Egyptian pounced on a rebound after substitute Nunez’s header was saved by Alex Meret, who was comfortably behind his goalline while desperately trying to claw away Salah’s effort.
Nunez doubled Liverpool’s lead with the last kick of the match in similar fashion as he reacted quickest to tap home after Meret had saved Virgil van Dijk’s header, with a lengthy VAR review correctly deeming the Uruguay forward to have been played onside by Piotr Zielinski.
The victory against Napoli – who headed to Anfield on a 13-match winning streak in all competitions since beating the Reds 4-1 in early September – should provide a boost to Jurgen Klopp’s side’s fragile confidence ahead of Sunday’s huge Premier League clash against Tottenham Hotspur, who joined them in the knockout stages with a 2-1 win away to Marseille.
However, it was not by the four-goal margin which was required to overthrow Napoli at the top of Group A, and the Reds could consequently end up facing Real Madrid, Paris Saint-Germain or Bayern Munich in the last-16 depending on results tomorrow night.
Given that both teams had already booked their places in the knockout rounds, it was a surprisingly committed affair with plenty of tackles flying in early on, while Khvicha Kvaratskhelia continued his irrepressible form by lighting up one of the most famous stadiums in world football through his pace and trickery down the left flank.
However, both goalkeepers were only tested once each in the first half, but they were certainly called into action more frequently after the break before Napoli looked to have taken the lead through Leo Ostigard’s point-blank header.
The central defender, who spent time on loan at Coventry City and Stoke City in recent seasons, was adjudged to have been marginally offside from Kvaratskhelia’s inswinging free-kick, before the Georgian winger’s volley deflected off Trent Alexander-Arnold and gratefully into Alisson’s arms five minutes later.
Likewise, Salah’s instinctive volley at full stretch was stabbed straight down the throat of Meret, who was subsequently helpless to prevent his team falling to their first defeat of the season despite keeping out the initial efforts in the build-up to both of Salah’s and Nunez’s goals.
