Liverpool secured a hard-fought win over AC Milan on Wednesday night. In a repeat of the 2005 and 2007 Champions League finals, the Premier League superpower won 3-2, after Milan managed to turn a deficit into a lead at the end of the first half. Virgil van Dijk sat on the bench for ninety minutes. At the same time, Atlético Madrid and FC Porto drew 0-0 after a goal from Porto was disallowed in the final phase, leaving Liverpool top of Group B.
Liverpool v AC Milan 3-2
For the first time, Liverpool and Milan met in the Champions League in a non-final match. The Reds put pressure from the first moment and rewarded themselves in the ninth minute. Trent-Alexander Arnold combined with Mohamed Salah and sprinted towards the penalty area. He gave himself space for a shot, which was touched by Fikayo Tomori and goalkeeper Mike Maignan proved too powerful. Shortly afterwards, Salah had an excellent opportunity to score himself. After Ismaël Bennacer blocked a shot from Andy Robertson with his arm, Salah was allowed to score for a penalty; Maignan, however, kept his shot out of the left corner.
It was only Salah’s second missed penalty for Liverpool in 19 attempts. It was an expensive miss, because in the final phase of the first half, Milan tilted the game 180 degrees. The visitors were certainly not the dominant party, but they equalized three minutes before the break via Ante Rebic and then scored via Brahim Díaz. Rebic’s goal came from a quick counterattack: the striker was found by Rafael Leão and found the far corner. A minute later, Díaz gave the last tap after a shot from Theo Hernández in front of the goal line was blocked by Robertson.
Liverpool came alongside three minutes after the break. Salah paired up with Divock Origi and found the space for a successful shot in the bottom corner. Salah thus became Liverpool’s joint top scorer in European matches at Anfield, with his fourteenth goal; club legend Steven Gerrard made just as many. Halfway through the second half, Liverpool completed the comeback, because Jordan Henderson took a falling ball wonderfully on the shoe after a rejected corner. Liverpool then held onto the lead without too much trouble.
Jordan Henderson
How do I give my team the lead again? So, what a bang! ??#ZiggoSport #UCL #LIVMIL pic.twitter.com/I8Ob9ePN5S— Ziggo Sport Football (@ZS_Voetbal) September 15, 2021
Atletico Madrid – FC Porto 0-0
In the lively opening phase, Luis Suarez appeared to break through Porto’s defence, but Pepe forced the Atlético striker to an ultimately harmless shot. The visitors could have scored themselves via Mehdi Taremi, who missed from close range after a deep ball from Jésus Corona. Porto midfielder Marko Grujic headed just wide from a corner, after which the match was closed a bit more. Just after the break, Atlético escaped again, when a cross from Otávio hit the post. Ángel Correa created danger on behalf of the Madrilenians and saw his shot narrowly missed by Diogo Costa. Taremi thought to shoot Porto to the win after a weak pass from Renan Lodi, but was called back because of a handball. In the fifth minute of stoppage time, Porto received a direct red card: Chancel Mbemba had to step in after taking down Antoine Griezmann in a promising situation.