Mo Salah penalty pushes Liverpool past Girona in Champions League

Liverpool have made a stunning start in the competition under coach Arne Slot, winning all six of their matches to move provisionally five points clear of second place Inter Milan. The English giants, six-time winners of the competition, were given a tough night by Champions League debutants Girona, who fell to a fifth defeat and are on the verge of elimination. Teams finishing in the top eight will avoid an extra round of play-off matches.

Slot started fit-again goalkeeper Alisson Becker after a two-month injury lay-off and the Brazilian showed no sign of rust on a busy night. After their Merseyside derby clash at Everton was called off because of a storm at the weekend, Slot was able to pick a fresh side, going with arguably his strongest available team to try and assure a top eight finish as soon as possible.

Champions League newcomers Girona, who lost several key players in the summer and are still rebuilding, opted for Arnaut Danjuma in attack with support from spritely duo Bryan Gil and Yaser Asprilla. Liverpool pinned the hosts back in the first 10 minutes and Girona stopper Paulo Gazzaniga pushed away a Joe Gomez header. After that Girona found their footing on a chilly night at their sold-out Montilivi stadium, reduced to under 10,000 capacity due to UEFA regulations, and they began to put Alisson to the test.

The goalkeeper saved from Alejandro Frances and then denied former Tottenham winger Gil, who slipped as he ran through on Liverpool's goal. Alisson also beat away a Miguel Gutierrez drive as the qualities of the side which pushed Real Madrid close to the Spanish title last season shone through. Darwin Nunez spurned Liverpool's first big chance after Salah slipped him in, with Gazzaniga keeping out the Uruguayan striker's low poke.

Alisson was tested again early in the second half by former Bournemouth forward Danjuma. The Dutchman then gave Liverpool's defence the slip with a clever dribble but fired over, as Slot's words ahead of the game were proven true - Girona were better than the standings suggested after four defeats in their first five matches. Despite their valiant efforts, the Liverpool juggernaut is proving hard to stop and the Premier League leaders took the lead with a penalty won by Luis Diaz.

The Colombian winger went down under a challenge from Donny van de Beek and after a VAR review, the referee pointed to the spot. Salah sent Gazzaniga the wrong way to net his 50th Champions League goal, pulling the Egyptian level with Filippo Inzaghi as the 10th-highest goalscorer of all-time in the competition. The winger is out of contract at the end of the season but his 16 goals across all competitions have been essential in Liverpool's superb first half of the season.

Slot replaced the wasteful Nunez with Cody Gakpo as he tried to see the game out, while Girona were deflated after conceding and unable to make further inroads as their Champions League dream draws towards a close.

 

December 10, 2024