Alisson’s heroics and late Elliott strike secure Liverpool’s victory | OneFootball

PSG 0 – 1 Liverpool – The Champions League 1st Leg Postmortem

The atmosphere in Paris was electric and the footballing enthralling for the Champions League encounter, as PSG tried to dismantle Liverpool in the opening leg of their much anticipated last 16 tie. A ferocious display of attacking intent was evident throughout this game, however, the heroics of Alisson Becker were the most impressive part of this match.

Below is how the team lined up, with match details following.

The Starting Eleven

GK – Alisson Becker

RB – Trent Alexander Arnold

RCB – Ibrahima Konaté

LCB – Virgil van Dijk (c)

LB – Andy Robertson

CM – Alexis Mac Allister

ACM – Dominik Szoboszlai

CM – Ryan Gravenberch

RF – Mohamed Salah

CF – Diogo Jota

LF – Luis Díaz

Subs

Curtis Jones – Diogo Jota (66 mins)

Darwin Núñez – Luis Díaz (66 mins)

Wataru Endō – Ryan Gravenberch (77 mins)

Harvey Elliott – Mohamed Salah (87 mins)

Goals (Assisted by)

PSG 0 – 1 Liverpool

Harvey Elliott (Darwin Núñez) 87 mins

Important Match Stats

Possession

PSG 70% – 30% Liverpool

XG

PSG 1.82 – 0.27 Liverpool

Total Shots

PSG 27 – 2 Liverpool

Corner Kicks

PSG 14 – 2 Liverpool

Offsides

PSG 3 – 0 Liverpool

Fouls

PSG 3 – 7 Liverpool

Goalkeeper Saves

PSG 0 – 9 Liverpool

The First Half

Match Overview

The match began with Liverpool immediately pushed onto the back foot as the attacking endeavour of the Parians took hold of the Premier League leaders from the opening whistle. Khvicha Kvaratskhelia was the Georgian winger who had long been linked with a move to Merseyside, however, his January transfer to PSG was something which created the most scintillating attack in all of world football. As the former Napoli wide man, Kvicha, tormented from the right, Bradley Barcola offered powerful attacking play from the left. Through the middle, it was the former Barca sensation, Ousmane Dembélé, who drifted along the front line and created incredible movement through the Reds defensive third.

Several first-half chances fell to Kvicha who had a wonderful left-footed strike disallowed for offside, whereas a right-footed effort was saved low by the brilliant Alisson Becker. The French prodigy, Barcola, was set free at one point early on, though he was knocked down by his powerful international teammate, Ibrahima Konaté, just before he entered the Reds penalty area. The referee had a good vantage point and ignored the pleas of the home side, whereas VAR was unable to intervene due to the challenge not being inside the box or representing as a dangerous foul that would elicit a straight red card.

The game ambled on and Liverpool offered very little in terms of offensive play. Chances came and went as the command of Alisson Becker continued to frustrate the team in blue. Ousmane Dembélé was thwarted in a one-on-one moment with Arne Slot’s Brazilian keeper, however, the world-class stopper was able to scramble and repel once again. Multiple attempts by the Ligue 1 giants seemed destined to either fly over or around the LFC goal frame, with anything on target being saved by Liverpool’s legendary number one.

The first half ended with Liverpool surviving the French onslaught and holding onto a 0-0 scoreline.

The Second Half

Liverpool made no changes to the team which started the game as they looked to build on a tough first half. The game opened up a little with Liverpool starting to settle into their defensive stance. Trent Alexander Arnold was impressive in restricting access on his flank, whilst Andy Robertson never stopped harrying and clearing his lines to gain some relief for his underfire team.

Throughout this game, Mohamed Salah and Diogo Jota were largely ineffective as they were well marshalled and bullied out of possession, whereas the Columbian flyer, Luis Díaz, offered only mild relief on the ball but was often too far from goal to truly impact offensively. The work rate of Alexis Mac Allister and Dominik Szoboszlai was continuous, as the defensive strength of Virgil van Dijk and Ibrahima Konaté was tested to the maximum.

The game state remained unwavering as PSG continually threatened to take the game away from their opponents, which was emphatically halted by the gigantic performance of Liverpool’s goalkeeper. Save after wonderful save ensued, with strong decision-making creating the most spectacular goalkeeping performance that the European Cup has ever seen. Crosses were caught, palmed away from danger or held onto with gusto as the minutes ticked by.

It would be the second-half substitutions by Arne Slot which best aided his team’s outfield pursuit. Curtis Jones added supreme ball retention and control, as Darwin Núñez offered more physicality to test his markers and a ruffled Gianluigi Donnarumma who felt the full weight of the strapping Uruguayan. Wataru Endō would enter the fray soon after for the ineffective Ryan Gravenberch, which allowed the Japan skipper to clatter into challenges and add more bite to his team in red.

It would be the final alteration who would grab the opportunity to cement his place in history, with the underused presence of Harvey Elliott entering the fray for the final minutes of this match. Almost immediately, a long punt forward by the unanimous man of the match, Ali, found Darwin centrally and progressive. The powerful centre forward was able to muscle his way towards the edge of the PSG box before laying off a delicate pass into the path of an on-rushing Elliott. With just 46 seconds passed since the diminutive winger entered the battle, a calm first-time strike glided into the corner with Donnarumma only able to flick the ball deeper into the bottom corner. The first goal of the game had finally arrived and it came with Liverpool’s first attempt on goal.

The match concluded with a score of 0-1 to the visitors following a continuing surge by the hosts to try and level the first leg.

Final Thoughts

This match was the perfect result given the game state and dominance of the hosts. The energy of Anfield will be vital in allowing Liverpool more control of the return leg next Tuesday, as a draw will be enough to see the Reds into the quarter-finals of this season’s Champions League.

Steven Smith’s Score Prediction:

PSG 2 – 2 Liverpool