Liverpool beat Napoli in the Champions League. For a long time, the team of trainer Jürgen Klopp was the dominant party, without being able to open the score. In the 85th minute it was still hit via Mohamed Salah, after which Darwin Núñez also made it 2-0 in the same way. Napoli has thus lost its unbeaten status this season, although the team of coach Luciano Spalletti remains first in Group A based on mutual results, in which Ajax has qualified as number three for the knockout phase of the Europa League.
At Liverpool, Virgil van Dijk had a basic place, who saw Ibrahima Konaté standing next to him in the center. Kostas Tsimikas was preferred over Andy Robertson in the left-back position. In the midfield there were starting places for James Milner and Curtis Jones, who was posted behind strikers Salah and Roberto Firmino. At Napoli, Leo Østigård was preferred to Juan Jesus in the center back. Mathías Olivera was on the left side of the defense, putting Mário Rui on the bench. On the right winger position, Matteo Politano was drafted in the right winger position, at the expense of former PSV player Hirving Lozano. Piotr Zielinski also took a seat on the bench. The Pole saw Tanguy Ndombele take his position in midfield.
Jones got his first big chance of the game after just under five minutes of play. The midfielder shot just over the Italians’ goal in the sixteen. Liverpool had the upper hand in the first half, but great opportunities did not come after Jones’s chance. Just after half an hour of play, Kvicha Kvaratskhelia brought the ball to Ndombele, who gave the Neapolitans the first shot on target with his shot into the short corner, which was easily caught by Alisson Becker. In the counterpunch, Thiago tested Alex Meret’s reflexes. Just under five minutes before half time, Jones sent Salah away with a nice through ball, who came face-to-face with Meret and saw his shot go wide. Later it turned out that the star had left in an offside position.
Mohamed Salah gives the final push ??? Napoli heading for the first defeat of the season? ??#ZiggoSport #UCL #LIVNAP pic.twitter.com/DNjBNTPzbp
— Ziggo Sport Football (@ZS_Voetbal) Nov 1, 2022
Immediately after the interruption, Liverpool suffered a setback when Milner misdirected himself after a duel for the ball with Olivera and appeared to suffer a muscle injury. The veteran made a switch gesture and was replaced by Harvey Elliott. Napoli was the first team after the break to create a chance. On a pass from Giovanni Di Lorenzo, Victor Osimhen was unable to head, after which the ball ended up at Kvaratskhelia. The Georgian tried to surprise Alisson in the short corner, but shot wide. On the other side, Salah got a shot from a corner that went high.
Moments later, Napoli thought they were taking the lead. A cross from Kvaratskhelia came to Østigård’s head, who headed uncovered. Whether the goal would actually count was the question for minutes, after which referee Bastian Dankert rejected the goal after contact with the VAR, after it turned out that the Norwegian goalscorer was offside with the tip of his elbow. Despite the setback, Napoli had the chance to score a valid goal just minutes later. On a pass from Osimhen, Kvaratskhelia’s poorly hit volley ended up in Alisson’s gloves.
After Salah encountered Meret ten minutes before the end, it was hit five minutes before the end. A header from substitute Núñez could still be stopped on the line by the Napoli goalkeeper, but Salah’s rebound was all that could be done: 1-0. In the seven minutes of injury time, substitute Giacamo Raspadori shot well over. On the other hand, star Østigård prevented Salah from running in a cross from Núñez. In minute 98, Liverpool struck again, after Núñez tapped the ball into the goal line à la Salah after an initial save from Meret.