Liverpool continued their relentless march at home and with a hard-fought 1-0 win at Girona in the Champions League, propelled the Reds to six of six best results in European play.
Mohamed Salah scored his 50th UEFA Champions League goal from the penalty spot after the hour mark to keep Arne Slot’s best team at the festival so far sitting comfortably at the top of the table.
By contrast, Girona have just one win on their debut in Europe’s premier competition, and head coach Michel was left to rue missed chances after an overall spirited display.
Liverpool started confidently as expected, with Slot able to summon a strong squad after the Merseyside derby against Everton was postponed on Saturday due to bad weather.
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Alisson returned from a hamstring injury to score for the first time since Oct. 5 and the Brazilian foreigner was called into action to deny Bryan Gill the second attempt in the 11th minute. The offense shouldn’t have progressed that far, given that Daley Blind fired an aerial shot into Miguel Gutierrez’s left flank center with the goal at his mercy.
Gil lost his balance while scoring and Alisson also made some precision paints to beat a Yaser Asprilla goal after his counterpart Paulo Gazzaniga had frustrated Darwin Nunez.
Gazzaniga, the busier goalkeeper at the start of the second half, smartly denied Andy Robertson on the end of a Ryan Gravenberch pass. However, this attack was later decisively recalled for video review.
Donny van de Beek was punished for tripping over Luis Díaz inside the box. The decision was the right one in the end, even if Van de Beek can be considered simply unlucky. Salah sent on Gazzaniga to score his 16th goal of the season in all competitions. Match after match, it looks like this one will end up with more medals in his collection, even at this early stage.
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Venue: Estadi Montilivi, Girona Referee: Benoit Bastien (France)
Confirmed line-ups:
Girona (4-3-2-1, left to right): 13. Paulo Gazzaniga (GK) — 16. Alejandro Frances, 15 years old. Juanpe, 18 years old. Ladislav Krejci, 17 years old. Daley Blind — 6. Donny van de Beek, 14 years old Oriel Romeu, 3. Miguel Gutiérrez — 10. Yaser Asprilla, 20. Bryan Gul — 11. Amaut Danjuma
Liverpool (4-3-3, from left to right): 1. Alisson (GK) – 66. Trent Alexander-Arnold, 2. Joe Gomez, 4. Virgil van Dijk, 26 years old. Andy Robertson – 8. Dominik Szoboszlai, 38. Ryan Gravenberch, 17 years old. Curtis Jones – 11. Mohamed Salah, 9. Darwin Núñez, 7. Luis Díaz
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FULL TIME: Girona 0-1 Liverpool
Girona will feel this match was a missed opportunity to rescue their European prospects, but instead Liverpool secure an important three points in less-than-convincing fashion. The Reds worked hard to win their penalty, and then ground the game to a halt to protect the lead, but it was far from dominant as Girona missed a number of big opportunities, none looming larger than Bryan Gil’s slip.
63 mins: Liverpool had to be patient and give up several times but they made the breakthrough and it’s that Mo Salah guy! A VAR review penalized Donny van de Beek for a clumsy foul on Luis Diaz and Salah stepped up to send Paulo Gazzaniga on his way. .
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Mo Salah with his goal of the #UCL to break the impasse in Spain ? pic. twitter. com/sUsjBXPqqY
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Salah strikes again from the penalty spot! ?? @tntsports & @discoveryplusUK pic.twitter.com/Qj0hLTHl3J
Ukraine international Viktor Tsygankov is likely out for the rest of December, while Bojan Miovski sprained an ankle in training and will miss this fixture.
However, Girona is counting on the comeback of young Colombian Jhon Solís after missing the defeat against Madrid, while full-back Arnau Martínez returns from suspension. He joins Solís on the bench.
Liverpool face an opponent in this match, with former Manchester United duo Daley Blind and Donny van de Beek, now in Girona colours and starting.
Girona line-up (4-2-3-1, left): Gazzaniga (GK) – Arnau Martínez, López, Krejci, Gutiérrez – Martín, Romeu – Asprilla, Van de Beek, Gil – Ruiz
Injured: Tsygankov (undisc.), Miovski (ankle)Suspended: None
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Liverpool were boosted in their final training session prior to their journey to Spain. Goalkeeper Alisson and forward Diogo Jota each took part in the session. Alisson makes his first appearance in goal since October 5 and comes in as one of four changes.
There are still disorders in defense, with Ibrahima Konate, Conor Bradley and Kostas Tsimikas expected to return until the end of December.
Midfielder Alexis Mac Allister must serve a one-match suspension.
Liverpool line-up (4-2-3-1, left): Alisson (GK) – Alexander-Arnold, Gomez, Van Dijk, Robertson – Gravenberch, Jones – Salah, Szoboszlai, Diaz – Nunez
Injured: Konate (knee), Bradley (thigh), Tsimikas (foot), Alisson (thigh, doubt), Jota (doubt) Sanctioned: Mac Allister
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Dom is the Senior Content Creator at Sporting News UK. In the past he worked as a fan logo editor for Manchester City at Reach Plc. Prior to that, he gained more than a decade of experience in the sports journalism industry, primarily for the Stats Perform and Press Association news outlets. Dom has covered primary outdoor football events, adding Euro 2016 and the 2018 World Cup in Paris and St. Petersburg respectively, as well as high-profile foreign matches from the Premier League, Champions League and England. Cricket and boxing are his other wonderful sporting passions and he has covered Anthony Joshua, Tyson Fury, Wladimir Klitschko, Gennadiy Golovkin and Vasyl Lomachenko live from the ring.