Tuesday, January 21, 2025

Champions League Matchday 7 - Liverpool 2:1 Lille OSC Match Report

Goals from Mohamed Salah and Harvey Elliott earned Liverpool a 2-1 victory over 10-man Lille and with it passage into the last 16 of the Champions League.

The Reds took an opening half lead in L4 on Tuesday night via Salah’s well-placed effort, though found themselves level after the hour, the visitors netting through Jonathan David shortly after Aissa Mandi’s dismissal.

It was Elliott, however, who would have the final say on the night as his deflected strike earned Arne Slot’s men the spoils and qualification for the last 16 of the tournament.

Team news

Darwin Nunez started among four changes for Liverpool on matchday seven.

Conor Bradley and Jarell Quansah came into the Reds' line-up too, while Curtis Jones was also selected.

First half

Lille signalled their early intent inside the opening minute as Gabriel Gudmundsson drove down the left to shoot wide of Alisson’s post in a bid to catch the Reds cold.

Liverpool, however, dominated the bulk of possession thereafter, holding the visitors to very little in the way of attacking opportunities or efforts on goal.

Salah saw an effort well held by Lucas Chevalier a short while later in response, though the rest of the first 20 minutes of the contest passed with little incident.

On the half hour, Diaz darted down the left to flash a ball across the box, but Salah was unable to work an effort on target as the pace of the cross deceived the No.11’s run.

The Reds’ attacker, though, wasn’t to be denied four minutes later, as Liverpool broke the deadlock by turning from defence to attack in an instant.

Salah raced clear to latch onto Jones’ perfectly weighted ball from his own half, curling a shot into the net round the onrushing Chevalier, who had sprinted to the edge of his area to meet the chance.

Ahead of the interval, Dominik Szoboszlai flashed another shot wide of goal from distance, while Salah saw a brilliantly worked opening fall the wrong side of the box to double the lead.

The attacker brought the ball down on the right, raced into the area and saw his placed low effort fly past the far post.

Second half

The game continued in much the same way following the interval, with Liverpool enjoying most of the possession.

Their opening chance of the half came at a set-piece, Kostas Tsimikas delivering into the area for Quansah, who guided a header under pressure just over the bar from inside the six-yard box.

In minute 59, however, the game saw a flurry of action burst into life amid a frantic few minutes.

First, Mandi received a second yellow card for a trip on Diaz, who was advancing in the Lille half, seeing the visitors reduced down to 10 men.

They did, though, find an equaliser just three minutes later, David converting from inside the box after Hakon Arnar Haraldsson’s initial effort was blocked following Gudmundsson's low cross.

It took Liverpool only five minutes to restore their advantage, though, as substitute Elliott saw a deflected strike from distance at a corner ball fly into the net with Chevalier rooted to the spot.

In the closing stages, Salah saw another effort blocked away from a tight angle on the right, while another substitute in Federico Chiesa tested the reactions of Lille’s goalkeeper with a curling shot on a cutback.

Darwin Nunez did also have the ball in the back of the net in the final minute of normal time, however his follow up inside the box was ruled out for offside in what was the last of the action.

liverpoolfc.com


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