The Courier & Advertiser (Fife Edition)
Liverpool bounce back after scare as Diaz puts them in pole position
BENFICA 1 LIVERPOOL 3
Winger Luis Diaz marked his return to Portugal with the crucial late goal which gave Liverpool a 3-1 lead over Benfica to take back to Anfield for their Champions League quarter-final second leg.
The former Porto star, signed in January, was booed relentlessly but he responded perfectly in the 87th minute to spare the blushes of Ibrahima Konate, whose mistake half an hour after scoring his first goal for the club had gifted the hosts a goal they barely deserved.
Jurgen Klopp’s side had been coasting at half-time in the Estadio da Luz after Sadio Mane’s goal doubled the advantage given to them by their centre-back’s header but, having squandered numerous chances, Konate’s legs got tangled as he tried to make a clearance early in the second half and Darwin Nunez capitalised.
It was a goal which changed the game for a long period, as Benfica suddenly looked the better side with Liverpool out of sorts, but Diaz had the final word to make the return look slightly more comfortable than it had done. Victory saw Liverpool, who had lost on their last three visits here, equal a club record of five successive away victories in Europe.
The omens had not been great for Benfica, third in Portugal’s Primeira Liga 15 points behind leaders Porto – whom Liverpool had hammered 5-1 and 2-0 in the group stages this season.
Of the six changes Klopp made, the best one was bringing right-back Trent Alexander-Arnold in after almost three weeks out with a hamstring injury.
His pass for Diaz to head into Mane’s path for the second goal was a thing of wonder, while the one he delivered for a strangely off-colour Mohamed Salah to race on to but shoot straight at goalkeeper Odisseas Vlachodimos was almost as good.
Konate made the crucial 17th-minute breakthrough when Diaz won a corner which Andy Robertson swung to the far post, where the defender easily outjumped Everton to beat the goalkeeper with a downward header.
Better was still to come as Alexander-Arnold’s crossfield ball was laid on a plate for Diaz to nod into Mane’s path and the Senegal international could not miss from close range, going past Steven Gerrard’s total of 22 Champions League goals.
Four minutes into the second half the mood changed after Konate’s calamity trying to deal with Rafa Silva’s low cross.
Just when it looked like frustration would get the better of Liverpool, Naby Keita’s perfect throughball allowed Diaz to round the goalkeeper and slot home an angled shot.