Mart van Mourik23 Oct 2024, 22:59
Last updated: Oct 23, 2024, 10:59 PM
Liverpool achieved a hard-fought victory in the Champions League on Wednesday evening. When visiting RB Leipzig, manager Arne Slot’s team was 0-1 too strong thanks to a goal from Darwin Núñez. Xavi Simons had to leave the field injured in the second half. Nothing is yet clear about the cause of his injury.
No fewer than five Dutch people were at the kick-off in Leipzig. For the home team, both Lutsharel Geertruida and Xavi Simons started, while Virgil van Dijk, Ryan Gravenberch and Cody Gakpo started in Slot’s team.
The first warning shot was fired by Amadou Haidara, who fired hard from outside the box into the hands of Liverpool goalkeeper Caoimhin Kelleher. The latter made a mistake a few minutes later by heading the ball into Benjamin Sesko’s feet. He immediately tried to take a shot from the sideline, but the shot went just wide.
Things didn’t go well for RB Leipzig, because a few minutes later the supposed opening goal was disallowed. On a pass from Simons, Loïs Openda scored from an offside position.
Liverpool’s 0-1 in the 27th minute of play did stand. After a cross from the left, Mohamed Salah headed towards the bottom corner, after which Núñez gave the final push just before the ball fell.
Five minutes after the opening goal, Núñez came close to making it 0-2 after a phenomenal cross from the outside right of Gakpo, but his effort was narrowly saved by goalkeeper Péter Gulácsi.
In the second act, Liverpool got out of the starting blocks, although attempts by Gakpo (saving Gulacsi) and Alexis Mac Allister (cross) did not result in any goals. Fifteen minutes before the end, Xavi Simons had to leave the field in a state of dismay; Yussuf Poulsen was his replacement. In the final phase, an Openda goal was disallowed for offside.
