David James has hailed Luis Diaz on Twitter for his display against Inter Milan as Liverpool opened a 2-0 aggregate lead in their Champions League last 16 tie on Wednesday night.
The Reds struck late at the San Siro to beat the reigning Serie A champions with goals from Roberto Firmino and Mohamed Salah. Jurgen Klopp’s Anfield natives left it until the 75th-minute to break the deadlock, despite the Nerazzurri controlling much of the match.
Edin Dzeko, Lautaro Martinez and Hakan Calhanoglu came close to opening the scoring for Simone Inzaghi’s side. But Liverpool made the Italian giants pay for their misses by scoring from their only two shots on target to take a big step toward sealing a quarter-final place.
Liverpool will host Inter Milan in the second-leg of their Champions League tie on March 8. Klopp will hope for positive news on Diogo Jota before the reverse fixture after the forward sustained an ankle injury. Firmino replaced the Portuguese early in the second-half in Italy.
James in awe of Diaz after Liverpool win over Inter Milan
Former Liverpool goalkeeper James adored Firmino’s header to break the deadlock against Inter Milan, but felt Diaz was game changing. Klopp introduced Firmino in place of Jota and brought Diaz off the bench for Sadio Mane in a bid to derail the Nerazzurri’s momentum.
Mane spurned a big chance to score from an Andrew Robertson free-kick early in the first-half at the San Siro. Diaz, though, added the spark Liverpool were missing and caused Inter Milan constant problems whenever on the ball. He also saw the home side block one shot.
The £37.5m January signing from Porto, rising to £50m, had the biggest influence on the game for James. He lauded both Diaz and Firmino after Liverpool beat Inter Milan, but hailed the former for delivering the Reds’ more important Champions League performance.
“Bobby scores with a wonderful header, but Diaz has been a game changer,” James wrote.
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