Harvey Elliott scored with his first touch after coming on as a late substitute to give Liverpool an unlikely 1-0 win away to Paris Saint-Germain in the first leg of their heavyweight Champions League last-16 tie on Wednesday.
Elliott had just replaced Mohamed Salah when he fired in from a Darwin Nunez assist in the 87th minute at the Parc des Princes to hand the Premier League leaders the advantage ahead of next week’s return.
It was the ultimate smash and grab act from Arne Slot’s side, who up to that point had survived a pummelling from in-form PSG.
Khvicha Kvaratskhelia had a first-half strike disallowed for a marginal offside and Alisson Becker made several crucial saves as the French league leaders had 28 attempts on goal to their visitors’ two.
Salah had been almost completely anonymous as Liverpool looked set to fail to score in a game for just the fourth time all season, but now they will be confident of pressing home their advantage at Anfield.
If they emerge victorious, a quarter-final against Aston Villa or Club Brugge awaits, although PSG showed enough to suggest they will again be extremely dangerous in England.
Luis Enrique’s team came into this game on a run of 10 straight victories and had scored 21 goals in their last five Champions League outings, including a 4-2 defeat of Manchester City in January.
This performance, however, was more like those at the start of their Champions League campaign, when they struggled to turn chances into goals in defeats against the likes of Arsenal, Atletico Madrid and Bayern Munich.
January signing Kvaratskhelia had been selected instead of exciting teenage prospect Desire Doue, and the Georgian completed a fluid front three alongside Bradley Barcola and Ousmane Dembele.
Liverpool, meanwhile, were without Cody Gakpo, so Diogo Jota came in for his first appearance in the Champions League since October 2.
The hotly anticipated clash between the runaway leaders of the English and French leagues had the potential to be Liverpool’s toughest test this season, and that is how the game panned out for long spells.
PSG are no longer a team dominated by a couple of superstar forwards, but rather a voracious collective of dynamic, hard-working young players under the guidance of their intense Spanish coach.
– Alisson stars –
They pinned Liverpool back from the off and enjoyed 65 percent possession over the course of the game.
Kvaratskhelia thought he had opened the scoring on 20 minutes when he collected a Vitinha pass inside the area and curled a shot beyond Alisson into the far corner.
The home players and fans celebrated, but the goal was eventually disallowed for a tight offside decision.
Liverpool were off the hook, as was the case when Joao Neves fired over from a low Dembele centre a little earlier, and when Alisson saved from Dembele on the half-hour and the ball came to Barcola whose shot was too high.
The home side might have feared Salah, but the Egyptian could not get into the game as PSG attacked in droves.
There was a VAR check for a possible red card when Barcola was knocked over by Ibrahima Konate on the edge of the area as he chased onto a long ball, but the Italian officials let the Liverpool defender off.
Paris continued to launch a barrage of attacks after the break, their counter-pressing game making it difficult for Liverpool to escape their half.
Kvaratskhelia tested Alisson from a free-kick and Achraf Hakimi sent a shot narrowly over, before Doue was denied by a brilliant save from Liverpool’s Brazilian goalkeeper.
Doue, on as a substitute, cut in from the left 10 minutes from the end and sent a shot curling towards the far top corner, but Alisson flew to his left and stretched to tip the ball behind.
It was not going to be PSG’s night, and when Alisson sent a long kick downfield three minutes from time, Nunez won the ball in the air before teeing up Elliott to shoot beyond Gianluigi Donnarumma into the far corner.
AFP
