It’s a red rocket!
Firmino comes off the bench to hit winner
LIVERPOOL won a dramatic Champions League opener when Roberto Firmino struck at the death against Paris Saint-Germain at Anfield last night. The Brazilian came off the bench to rescue last season’s beaten finalists after they had looked like blowing a two-goal lead. Daniel Sturridge scored on his first start in the competition for six years and James Milner added a second from the penalty spot for Liverpool but Thomas Meunier and French World Cup superstar Kylian Mbappe hit back to equalise. Tottenham’s miserable run of form continued with a dramatic 2-1 defeat away to Inter Milan, meaning Mauricio Pochettino has lost three games on the run for the first time as Spurs manager. Christian Eriksen opened the scoring after 53 minutes as Spurs dominated but Mauro Icardi and Matias Vecino won it for Inter.
FOR a man with one eye, Roberto Firmino certainly knew where the goal was. There was one minute of injury time gone when a man who might not have been on the pitch at all sized up the target and condemned Paris Saint Germain to defeat.
What a finish, what a response. Firmino only came on with 20 minutes to go. There was doubt he would play at all after a wayward finger from Tottenham’s Jan Vertonghen necessitated a trip hospital at the weekend.
As it was, Jurgen Klopp kept him on the bench until Daniel Sturridge had run his course. His impact from there was remarkable. Liverpool looked to have sur For rendered the win when Mohamed Salah gave the ball away, and PSG equalised.
An undeserved late equaliser was notice of the rarefied atmosphere. When loose play lets in a player of Neymar’s quality, and he can give the ball to Kylian Mbappe, goals often result. That is what occurred late in the second half and Jurgen Klopp’s face told the story. He knows he had the better team.
Yet Firmino delivered what Liverpool deserved. He won the header from the corner, he picked up the scraps after Virgil van Dijk had recycled the loose ball, striking it beautifully past Alphonse Areola. He celebrated with a hand over his eye. It probably won’t catch on.
Liverpool are already the team to beat at home, and they may yet be in Europe, too. The winning margin was always going to be slim, but the difference between the sides was not.
the majority of the match, Liverpool had overshadowed the PSG of Neymar, Mbappe, Edinson Cavani and Angel di Maria. They dominated the first half, controlled most of the second and could have scored more.
It was Liverpool who first had the ball in the net but Sturridge was ruled to have fouled Areola before Salah tapped the ball into an unguarded net.
Roughly half an hour in Liverpool got their second and PSG seemed completely rattled by the levels of energy and determination they faced.
Klopp turned to the crowd and punched the air in delight quite a few times in the opening skirmishes, invariably in response to a crunching tackle. One challenge by James Milner on Neymar brought a cheer from Anfield louder than for any incident bar the goals. The Brazilian rose gingerly, his pride hurt more than his body. When Klopp said PSG won’t have faced a team like Liverpool in recent months, this is what he meant.
They won’t have faced too many as magnificently committed to attack, either. But PSG deserve no little credit for living with them at the back as long as they did. Thiago Silva, the captain, was particularly good — a pity then it was his resistance that was broken for Liverpool’s opening goal.
It came after 30 minutes. An overhit cross from the right, collected by Andy Robertson on the left and whipped in first time, Kieran Trippier-style, to be met by Sturridge with a header that left Areola no chance.
Sturridge was only included because Firmino was not entirely comfortable after his eye injury. Sturridge does not bring as much to this team as Firmino, but this was a beautifully taken striker’s goal, capitalising on Thiago’s failure to cut out the cross. He celebrated in his trademark style: you may find it annoying — no one here did.
Momentarily, PSG lost their way. They had worked so hard to resist, indeed looked almost to have ridden the early red wave, and now this. Just six minutes later they were two down thanks to a truly calamitous piece of defending.
There really was no reason for Juan Bernat to trip Georginio Wijnaldum in the penalty area. The space was congested, there was barely a way through, yet the foul was obvious and immediately given by referee Cuneyt Cakir. Milner stepped up and, in front of The Kop, took a perfect penalty. Areola went the right way, but it was low and to his left and targeted with such precision, prescience was no ally.
There could have been more. In the first six minutes we saw the best and worst of Neymar, and the worst almost gifted a goal. Start with the positive: a run that began on the left side of the pitch, skipping challenges, ghosting past despairing opponents, ending up on the opposite flank, before just failing to release his forwards with a through pass.
Then, an ease of a different kind that Klopp would never tolerate, just stopping in his tracks as Mohamed Salah fed Milner and the midfielder broke on the right, cutting back a cross that forced Areola into action from a Virgil van Dijk shot. He also tipped one wide from Milner after seven minutes and just prevented an inswinging corner from Salah entering his net soon after.
That Salah removed a layer of clothing before taking the kick says something: it comes to something when a performance from an English club in mid-September is too hot for a man born in Egypt.
That PSG went in at half-time
STURRIDGE SCORES ON HIS FIRST CHAMPIONS LEAGUE START IN SIX YEARS!
only one down is testament to their powers of recovery as well as Liverpool’s propensity for self-harm. They might have come away with a point against Tottenham having dominated, and they let PSG back in undeservedly here, too.
Bernat played the ball to Angel di Maria and his cross struck Robertson, falling to Thomas Meunier to lash it past Alisson. In a knockout game that could have been fatal. Here, it was ultimately a disappointing nuisance. LIVERPOOL: Alisson 6.5, Alexander-Arnold 7, Gomez 6.5, Van Dijk 7, Robertson 7, Milner 8.5, Wijnaldum 8, Henderson 8, Salah 6.5 (Shaqiri 85), Sturridge 7 (Firmino 71), Mane 7 (Fabinho 90+3). Subs not used: Mignolet, Keita, Moreno, Matip. Goals: Sturridge 30, Milner 36, Firmino 90+1 Bookings: Van Dijk Manager: Jurgen Klopp 8 PSG: Areola 7, Meunier 7.5, Kimpembe 6, Thiago Silva 6.5, Bernat 6, Rabiot 5.5, Marquinhos 6, Di Maria 7 (Choupo-Moting 79), Mbappe 7.5, Cavani (Draxler 79) 5, Neymar 6. Subs not used: Cibois, Kehrer, Diarra, Nkunku, N’Soki. Goals: Meunier 40, Mbappe 82 Bookings: Meunier Manager: Thomas Tuchel 6.5 Referee: Cuneyt Cakir 7 Attendance: 52,478