A first Champions League night of the season at Anfield ended in a 2-0 victory for the hosts, as Liverpool FC worked their way towards notching up two wins out of as many games in Group D of the competition.
Diogo Jota opened the scoring for the Reds, the 23-year old Portuguese continuing his brilliant run of form as witnessed in recent times, and a late spot-kick by Mohammad Salah sealed all three points for Jurgen Klopp’s men on their Anfield showdown against Midtjylland.
TEAM NEWS
For the first time in Jurgen Klopp’s reign as the Liverpool FC boss, the famed attacking triplet of Roberto Firmino, Mohammad Salah, and Sadio Mane, were not amongst the XI that took the field, with the German tinkering with his side ahead of a crucial weekend fixture against West Ham United.
Takumi Minamino, Xherdan Shaqiri, and Divock Origi were all handed starts as Jota too was tipped for a more creative role on the pitch in the absence of Thiago Alcantara, who did not feature in the match despite staging a return to training.
MATCH PROCEEDINGS
The first real chance of the way went the visitor’s way when Anders Dreyer ran in behind the unaware Liverpool FC backline to have a great chance to find the back of the net past Alisson.
However, the Midtjylland winger was unable to keep the ball under the control and ended up drifting wide before having a pop on the goal, which was denied by the Liverpool FC No 1.
Following Dreyer’s effort on goal, it was the Reds who dominated the lion’s share of possession and had a great number of chances on goal, none being enough to give them the lead heading into the close of the first half.
However, the most important event of the opening 45 minutes at Anfield on Tuesday night turned out to be a very frightening moment for the hosts, as makeshift centre-back Fabinho had to be taken off the pitch.
19-year old Rhys Williams took the Brazillian’s spot in the heart of the defence, as Jurgen Klopp stressed upon not risking Fabinho’s supposed injury beyond any doubt, in the wake of Liverpool FC’s lack of depth at centre-back turning into a major worry for the Premier League champions.
Just prior to the half time whistle, Jota had a good chance on goal, only for his shot to be quite wayward, and James Milner’s effort being subject to a block inside the box.
Wijnaldum came off the bench to take Jordan Henderson’s place in the centre of the park besides Milner, as the hosts continued to try and break down a resilient looking Midtjylland backline.
And Klopp’s men did find the salvo to go ahead in the 55th minute when a superb linkup play between Shaqiri and Trent Alexander Arnold led to the latter setting up Jota with an easy finish from six yards out.
The Reds summer signing did not disappoint and put the ball past the Midtjylland goalkeeper for his third goal in his new club’s colours, giving Klopp much to think about his growing status in the first-team squad at Anfield.
The 🔟,0⃣0⃣0⃣ th goal in Reds history, netted by @DiogoJota18 👏⚽️ pic.twitter.com/9YZFFgzZgN
— Liverpool FC (@LFC) October 27, 2020
What made Jota’s opening strike against Tuesday night’s opponents even more special was that the 23-year old netted Liverpool FC’s 10,000th goal in the 128-year-old history of the Merseyside giants.
Firmino, when brought off the bench, had a wonderful chance to double Liverpool FC’s lead but his effort on goal was a bit too high, and it was Arnold once again who had found the Brazilian unmarked in the penalty area, with the Liverpool FC full-back being on flying form all throughout the match.
The Danish visitors did have a couple of chances to level the scoreline, but none of them were in a position to trouble Alisson as Liverpool FC looked all set to finish the game as victors.
A foul upon Mohammad Salah in the box in the dying moments of the game meant that the Reds had a final chance to put the game to bed, and the Egyptian converted the resulting spot-kick with ease to grab all three points for Jurgen Klopp’s side.
Two wins from two to start Group D 💪🔴
— Liverpool FC (@LFC) October 27, 2020
With a win over Midtjylland, Liverpool FC go up to the 1st position in the Groud D table of the 2020-21 Champions League campaign and look prime contenders to clinch European glory as the season unfolds over the coming year.
