Liverpool booked their place in the last 16 of the Champions League with a win over Napoli at Anfield.
Liverpool booked their place in the last 16 of the Champions League at Anfield on Tuesday night, as Mo Salah’s goal was enough to beat Carlo Ancelotti’s side 1-0 – but fans were dismayed at the performance of Sadio Mane.
Salah gave Liverpool the lead in the 34th minute, nutmegging former Arsenal goalkeeper David Ospina from a tight angle to put Liverpool 1-0 up. The score remained the same, but there should have been plenty more goals.
Liverpool’s Egyptian hero missed a number of half-chances, before Mane missed three golden chances to double Liverpool’s lead. Teed up by Andy Robertson and then Salah, Mane missed from eight yards out with the goal begging.
Then, in injury time, he was put through on goal to finally see off the tie, only for the Senegal international to screw his shot well wide after beating Napoli’s last man Jose Callejon.
The Reds had goalkeeper Alisson to thank. The Brazilian pulled off a save worthy of his £66.7million price tag in the summer by denying Arkadiusz Milik with a wonderful close-range save to keep Liverpool in the lead.
Anfield’s fanbase were delighted with the win, but some chose to criticise 26-year-old Mane for his lack of finesse in front of goal. His three missed chances kept the fans nervous, rather than seeing a game out that could have finished comfortably.
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