Liverpool maintain perfect record with 2-0 win over Porto
Second-half goals by Thiago Alcantara and Mohamed Salah earned a
below-strength Liverpool a 2-0 win over Porto to maintain their 100% record in
Champions League Group B on Wednesday.
Porto, who started the day second in
the group behind already-qualified Liverpool, wasted numerous first-half
opportunities and were made to pay a heavy price.
Their record against Liverpool now
stands at played 10, drawn three and lost seven.
Liverpool, with the likes of Virgil
van Dijk and Jordan Henderson rested, went ahead through Thiago's stunning low
strike in the 52nd minute before Salah made the points safe with a clinical
finish in the 70th.
Juergen Klopp's side have a maximum
15 points from their five matches and matched a remarkable record as they
became the first English club to score two goals in 16 successive games in all
competitions since Wolverhampton Wanderers in 1939.
Porto retain hopes of joining
Liverpool in the last 16, however, as they hung on to second place with five
points thanks to Atletico Madrid's 1-0 home defeat by AC Milan.
Porto host Atletico (four) in their
final match in the group with Milan (four) hosting Liverpool.
"So many good things happened
tonight, players got minutes, rhythm, confidence, nobody got hurt," Klopp
said. "Thiago's goal... wow!"
FRINGE PLAYERS
With top spot already assured it was
a night for some of Liverpool's fringe players to impress, as 19-year-old Tyler
Morton made his Champions League debut and Takumi Minamino earned a rare start.
Yet they struggled in the first half
in which Porto were the better and more eager side.
The Portuguese champions were close
to taking the lead when Mehdi Taremi's glancing header deflected off Joel Matip
and went narrowly wide of Alisson's post.
Evanilson then had a shot blocked by
Ibrahima Konate but Porto's best chance arrived when Colombian Luis Diaz raced
away and squared for Otavio who sliced horribly wide under pressure from Kostas
Tsimikas.
Liverpool occasionally changed gear
and thought they had gone ahead when Thiago's pass split the Porto defence and
Sadio Mane ran through to score. However, his celebrations on his 50th European
game for Liverpool were cut short by a VAR check which showed he had been
fractionally offside.
Porto coach Sergio Conceicao was
then furious before halftime as Taremi bizarrely opted to try to pick out a
team mate when he had the chance to test Alisson.
The chances kept arriving for Porto
at the start of the second half with Mateus Uribe's shot on the turn flashing
past the post and they were soon to regret their profligacy.
In the 52nd minute Alex
Oxlade-Chamberlain's free kick was headed out and the elegant Thiago met a bouncing
ball on the edge of the area with the sweetest of low strikes with the outside
of his right foot to send a skimming shot arrowing past keeper Diogo Costa and
inside the post.
"The goal was the beauty I like
to bring in football," Thiago said of his first Champions League goal for
Liverpool.
Salah then combined with substitute
Henderson before cutting in from the right and beating Costa with a left-foot
shot for his sixth goal so far in the group stage.