Liverpool secured a late but vital win over Serie A opponents AC Milan in the opening group stage fixture of the Champions League at Anfield on Wednesday night.
MATCH PROCEEDINGS
The hosts were on the front foot over the course of the opening 15 minutes of play and were duly rewarded for their control with Trent Alexander-Arnold forcing AC Milan’s centre-back Fikayo Tomori to bundle the ball into his own net.
Jurgen Klopp’s men looked brilliant when going forward and had a golden chance to double their lead when a spot-kick came their way just minutes after the opening goal only for Mohamed Salah to miss from the spot.
Liverpool looked set to head into the half-time break with a one-goal lead intact but the travelling party to Anfield had other things in mind for their opponents who looked the better of both teams inside the opening 40 minutes.
Ante Rebic scored the leveller after some good work on the ball from the AC Milan frontline and the Croatian’s effort was followed up by Braham Diaz from close range to give AC Milan the lead at the end of the first half.
The Reds pulled one goal back in an immediate manner after play had resumed with Salah making amends for his earlier penalty miss by finding the back of the net from a clever pass from Divock Origi.
Liverpool sought to up the pressure on their Italian counterparts and nearly got a third when Diogo Jota went through on goal but his effort being denied by a last-ditch tackle.
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A very special @JHenderson winner β½οΈ pic.twitter.com/HSQIACw2uS
— Liverpool FC (@LFC) September 16, 2021
It all came down to the skipper Jordan Henderson to seal the win for his side with a brilliant first-time volleyed effort from the edge of the box which ended up in the bottom corner.
