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Liverpool ends Napoli’s winning streak with late victory but finish second in group.
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Darwin Nunez and Mohamed Salah lead Liverpool to a spirited victory over Napoli.
Liverpool rebounded from their loss to Leeds United with a tenacious 2-0 victory over Napoli, but it did not stop the Serie A side from finishing top of their Champions League group.
Salah pounced on a rebound after Alex Meret saved substitute Nunez’s header despite standing safely behind his goal line and furiously attempting to paw Salah’s strike away in his characteristically quick fashion.
Nunez doubled Liverpool’s lead with the last kick of the match in a similar fashion as he reacted quickest to tap home after Meret had saved Virgil van Dijk’s header, with a lengthy VAR review correctly deeming Uruguay forward to have been played onside by Piotr Zielinski.
Ahead to Sunday’s vital Premier League match against Tottenham Hotspur, who joined them in the knockout stages with a 2-1 win away to Marseille, Jurgen Klopp’s side should benefit from the victory over Napoli, who came to Anfield on a 13-match winning streak in all competitions since defeating the Reds 4-1 in early September.
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However, it was not by the four-goal margin which was required to overthrow Napoli at the top of Group A, and the Reds could consequently end up facing Real Madrid, Paris Saint-Germain or Bayern Munich in the last 16 depending on results tomorrow night.
Given that both teams had already secured their spots in the knockout rounds, it was an unusually physical match that saw many early tackles fly. Khvicha Kvaratskhelia kept up his unstoppable form by illuminating one of football’s most prestigious stadiums with his speed and trickery down the left flank.
However, both goalkeepers were only tested once each in the first half, but they were certainly called into action more frequently after the break before Napoli looked to have taken the lead through Leo Ostigard’s point-blank header.
Kvaratskhelia’s inswinging free-kick was ruled to have been slightly offside by the central defender, who has recently been on loan at Coventry City and Stoke City. Five minutes later, the Georgian winger’s shot rebounded off Trent Alexander-Arnold and gladly fell into Alisson’s arms.
Similarly, Salah’s instinctive volley at full stretch pierced straight down Meret’s throat, leaving him helpless to prevent his team’s first defeat of the season despite keeping out the initial efforts in the build-up to both Salah’s and Nunez’s goals.