Mohammed Salah being the play maker of all time for Liverpool has scored a winning goal once more. Image : Liverpool FC shared via Facebook.
(The Post News)- In the Champions League on Tuesday, Liverpool defeated Girona by a slim margin of one to zero. With a penalty kick from the very competitive Mohammed Salah, the Red Devils maintained their strong winning record in Europe. Under coach Arne Slot, Liverpool has dominated the campaign, winning all six of their games to go five points ahead of Inter Milan in second place.
The six-time champion English giants had a difficult night against Champions League newcomers Girona, who lost for the fifth time and are now in danger of being eliminated. A further round of playoff games will not be required of teams that place in the top eight.
Following a two-month injury layoff, Slot started goalie Alisson Becker, who appeared to be fully recovered on a busy night. Slot was permitted to select a new team, perhaps his strongest available squad, to try to guarantee a top-eight finish as quickly as possible after their Merseyside derby match against Everton was postponed due to a storm over the weekend.
Champions League rookies Girona, who are still rebuilding after losing a number of important players in the summer, decided to use Arnaut Danjuma in attack with help from the lively Bryan Gil and Yaser Asprilla. In the first ten minutes, Girona goalkeeper Paulo Gazzaniga deflected a header from Joe Gomez as Liverpool pinned the home team back.
At their sold-out Montilivi stadium, which was lowered to less than 10,000 capacity due to UEFA regulations, Girona then found their footing on a cold night and started to challenge Alisson. Alejandro Frances was saved by the goalie, who then stopped Gil, a former Tottenham winger, from slipping as he rushed through on Liverpool’s goal. As the attributes of the team that nearly led Real Madrid to the Spanish championship the previous season were evident, Alisson also stopped a Miguel Gutierrez effort.
Salah slid Darwin Nunez into Liverpool’s first major chance, but Gazzaniga blocked the Uruguayan striker’s low poke. Early in the second half, former Bournemouth attacker Danjuma put Alisson to the test once more.
Slot’s pregame prediction that Girona were better than the standings indicated after four losses in their first five games was confirmed when the Dutchman then gave Liverpool’s defense the slip with a deft dribble but fired over. The Premier League leaders seized the lead thanks to a penalty that Luis Diaz won, but despite their best efforts, the Liverpool juggernaut is difficult to stop.
Donny van de Beek challenged the Colombian winger, and the referee pointed to the spot following a VAR review. Salah tied Filippo Inzaghi as the 10th-highest goalscorer in the history of the Champions League after sending Gazzaniga the wrong way with his 50th goal. The winger’s 16 goals in all competitions have been essential to Liverpool’s amazing start to the season, despite the fact that his contract expires at the end of the current campaign.
Slot sought to finish the game by substituting Cody Gakpo for the wasted Nunez, while Girona was despondent after losing and unable to gain any more ground as their Champions League hopes came to an end.
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