Key stats
- Liverpool have scored four goals beyond the 90th minute so far this season, twice as many as any other Premier League side in all competitions.
- Atletico Madrid have scored in their last nine games in the Champions League, their longest run of games with a goal in the competition since a run of 10 games from 5th April 2016 to 23rd November 2016.
- Alexander Isak's first touch in a Liverpool shirt was in the 10th minute of this match, by which time Mohamed Salah had already scored and assisted.
Highlights
Analysis
Virgil van Dijk starred for Liverpool with his late goal earning the defender a Flashscore rating of 8.5, with their new signing Alexander Isak picking up 7.2
Match report
Arne Slot’s named Liverpool’s first line-up for a European match to not feature an Englishman, but did include debutant Alexander Isak. They began in rampant fashion here with two goals in the opening six minutes, and it was a Scotsman who provided Liverpool’s opener.
Mohamed Salah’s free-kick hit Andy Robertson before beating Jan Oblak, as the full-back claimed his first European goal in almost six years. While there may have been an element of fortune about the first goal, the same could not be said about the second.
Salah netted his 250th English club goal with a trademark run and finish. He effortlessly weaved his way through the Atlético defence after a give and go with Ryan Gravenberch, and dispatched a sublime strike past Oblak to leave Atlético shell-shocked.
The Reds were then presented with a chance to add a third when referee Maurizio Mariani inexplicably pointed to the spot, penalising Clément Lenglet for handball in his attempts to block Jeremie Frimpong’s cross.
Fortunately for the visitors, a swift VAR review overturned the penalty award. Isak missed two chances to extend Liverpool’s lead in open play, and Atleti duly halved the deficit seconds before HT thanks to a fine finish by Marcos Llorente, exposing the hosts’ defensive vulnerabilities.
Those Liverpool fans packed inside Anfield may have been fearing déjà vu, with Atlético the last team to beat their side when leading at HT back in March 2020.
Giacomo Raspadori looked to heighten those concerns as his angled shot was kept out by Alisson, and Diego Simeone’s side had growing belief of a comeback. Salah had a chance to extinguish any hope of that following a rapid counter-attack, but his shot cannoned off the post.
Salah was the architect of everything positive going forward, but Simeone’s side still carried a significant threat of their own. Llorente’s looping effort sailed just over the target, and served as a reminder that this match was still very much in the balance.
Slot’s side failed to heed the warning signs, and Llorente punished them, restoring parity with a volley which took a huge deflection off Robertson, sparking wild celebrations on the touchline.
That looked as though it would be enough to secure a point for the Mattress Makers, but Van Dijk had other ideas, heading home Dominik Szoboszlai’s corner in front of the Kop to spark delirium in the stands, and bedlam on the touchline as a furious Simeone was sent off.
Flashscore Man of the Match: Mohamed Salah (Liverpool)
Click here to see all the stats of the match.
Post-match reaction
Liverpool captain Virgil van Dijk to TNT Sports: "We try, we kept pushing for the 3-1. We concede the equaliser, massively deflected. It was not great. We found a way again. We were dangerous in our set-pieces anyway, they were pretty aggressive I must say. I'm glad I got the winner.
"They're a team that never gives up, they have quality players that can punish you if you're not there in a split second, if you're a little bit too late and they punished us before the break and after the break we try to go for the 3-1.
"They get a bit of confidence from that as well. But we have to keep going and show the resilience we've been showing for many years and it was another great European night here again."
Liverpool defender Andy Robertson told TNT Sports: "We need to get back to winning a bit simpler and easier. The assistant manager turned to me when Virgil put it in and said he's getting too old for it, so I can't imagine what the fans are like. It's a great thing to have, being able to keep going until the end. When you're 2-0 up and playing so well in the first half it should've been a more comfortable night.
"I was just trying to get in the line of the keeper (when I scored), so he couldn't see. It's a great finish, give me the Puskas award now! But no, honestly I didn't know anything about it. It was a great start and thank goodness it went in.
"We've got a lot of new players, they need to settle in. Playing for a big club like this isn't easy. They've all done really well. They're the future. They're the ones going to take this club forward. They've shown glimpses and they're only going to get better."