Match reportSalah and Elliott strike to earn victory over 10-man Lille in Champions League

The Reds took a first-half lead at Anfield on Tuesday night via Salah’s well-placed effort, though found themselves level after the hour, the visitors netting through Jonathan David shortly after Aissa Mandi’s dismissal.

Elliott, however, had the final say in the game as his deflected strike earned Arne Slot’s men the points and qualification for the last 16 of the tournament.

Team

Darwin Nunez started as Slot made four changes to the Liverpool XI on matchday seven. Conor Bradley and Jarell Quansah came in to the Reds’ line-up too, while Curtis Jones was also selected.

Liverpool: Alisson, Van Dijk, Diaz (Chiesa, 74), Szoboszlai (Endo, 63), Nunez, Salah, Jones (Elliott, 46), Tsimikas, Gravenberch (Mac Allister, 46), Quansah, Bradley (Alexander-Arnold, 86).

Unused subs: Kelleher, Jaros, Konate, Gakpo, Robertson, Danns, Morton.

First half

Lille signalled their early intent inside the opening minute as Gabriel Gudmundsson drove down the left to shoot wide of Alisson Becker’s post in a bid to catch the Reds cold.

Liverpool, though, dominated the bulk of possession thereafter, holding the away side to very little in the way of attacking opportunities or efforts on goal.

Salah saw an attempt well held by Lucas Chevalier a short while later in response, as the rest of the first 20 minutes of the contest passed with little incident.

On the half-hour, Luis Diaz darted down the left to flash a ball across the box, but Salah was unable to work a strike on target as the pace of the cross deceived the No.11’s run.

The Egyptian wasn’t to be denied four minutes later, as Liverpool broke the deadlock by turning from defence to attack in an instant.

Salah raced clear to latch on to Jones’ perfectly weighted ball from his own half, curling a shot into the net round the onrushing Chevalier, who had sprinted to the edge of his area to meet the chance.

Ahead of the interval, Dominik Szoboszlai flashed another shot wide of goal from distance, while Salah saw a brilliantly worked opening fall the wrong side of the target to double the lead.

The attacker brought the ball down on the right, raced into the area and saw his placed low effort fly past the far post.

Second half

The game continued in much the same way following the interval, with Liverpool enjoying most of the possession.

Their opening chance of the half came at a set-piece, Kostas Tsimikas delivering into the area for Quansah, who guided a header under pressure just over the bar from inside the six-yard box.

Just prior to the hour, however, the game burst into life as a result of a flurry of action in a frantic few minutes.

First, Mandi received a second yellow card for a trip on Diaz, who was advancing in the Lille half, seeing the visitors reduced to 10 men.

They nevertheless produced an equaliser just three minutes later, David converting from inside the box after Hakon Arnar Haraldsson’s initial effort was blocked following Gudmundsson’s low cross.

It took the Reds only five minutes to restore their advantage, though, as substitute Elliott’s deflected strike from distance at a corner ball whistled into the net with Chevalier rooted to the spot.

In the closing stages, Salah saw another effort blocked away from a tight angle on the right, while another substitute in Federico Chiesa tested the reactions of Lille’s goalkeeper with a curling shot on a cutback.

Nunez did also have the ball in the back of the net in the final minute of normal time, only for his follow-up inside the box to be ruled out for offside in what was the last of the action.

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