Liverpool defeated Belgian team Union Saint-Gilloise at Anfield on Thursday night to make it two wins in a row to open their Europa League group stage campaign.
Even though Ryan Gravenberch’s 79 minutes on the field weren’t quite a vintage Liverpool effort, he was impressive the entire time, scoring his first goal since joining for £34.5 million from Bayern Munich and significantly assisting the team’s 2-0 victory.
In the waning moments, Union applied some late pressure, and Diogo Jota won the second.
How the game unfolded
Anthony Moris, a goalie with the Union and a Luxembourg international, likely anticipated a busy night when he came at Anfield, and he got just that. As soon as the first clear opportunity presented itself, he made a stop from Mohamed Salah.
Darwin Nunez turned in the rebound after Moris stopped Gravenberch from scoring, giving Liverpool another opportunity early on. The Uruguayan, however, was called offside. Soon after, Nunez also missed what appeared to be a goal as Salah crossed low from the right.
Union, meanwhile, didn’t pose much of a danger and took almost 20 minutes to fire a shot. Although Liverpool were unable to capitalize on their superiority, Belgian confidence was rising, and Gustaf Nilsson missed a fantastic opportunity.
Prior to the Union goalkeeper giving Liverpool the lead in first-half stoppage time, Liverpool lacked a cutting edge. Moris would go on to stop Nunez. He was unable to save Alexander-Arnold’s stroke, and Gravenberch—who was already outstanding—was the first to react and score on the rebound.
Jurgen Klopp made changes at halftime despite the fact that the Reds had been the better team overall because the game had occasionally been labored. Since Alexis was brought in to play against Kevin, an elder brother and Union defender, it also represented a sweet moment for the Mac Allister family.
The influence of Liverpool Mac Allister was felt when he set up Jota early in the second half, but Moris went a long way to make amends by making a spectacular stop from the header. Moris persisted in frustrating Gravenberch, moving away. However, as long as the margin of victory was held to one goal, the Reds were exposed, and that was evident when Union had a few corners and started to take more risks.
Although a flag was raised, substitute Luis Diaz hit the post at the other end as Union appealed for a penalty after Kevin Rodriguez was pushed over by Jarell Quansah.
Eventually, despite the tight finish, Jota secured the victory after Union’s Noah Sadiki’s tackle on Diaz put the ball in his way. The left-footed finish was calm and composed as it approached the goal, giving Moris little chance.
Liverpool player ratings (4-3-3)
GK: Alisson – 5/10 – Not the night he was most convincing. At one point, came flying out of his goal and flailed at a cross after yelling for the defenders to turn around.
RB: Trent Alexander-Arnold (c) – 7/10 – made the game-changing goal with a deft left-side counterattack and actually played decent defense as well.
CB: Ibrahima Konate – 7/10 – Only misplaced a handful of passes all night and played the game with everything in front of him at almost all times.
CB: Jarell Quansah – 7/10 – Ran the risk of giving away a penalty late on, but it would have been harsh. Generally did well and will benefit from getting another start.
LB: Kostas Tsimikas – 6/10 – Final ball was a bit lacking when he got forward. No complaints, defensively.
CM: Harvey Elliott – 5/10 – Liverpool weren’t particularly fluid and this was perhaps a missed opportunity to really imprint himself against weaker opposition.
CM: Wataru Endo – 5/10 – Increasingly clear that he won’t be a starter for the biggest games, but still has an important rotation role to fill. Taking time to settle though.
CM: Ryan Gravenberch – 8/10 – Showed quick reactions and good anticipation to open his Liverpool account. Had other good chances and was heavily involved from the start until he came off.
RW: Mohamed Salah – 6/10 – Perhaps surprising to see him start over Ben Doak. Missed an early chance but was brought off after 45 minutes anyway.
ST: Darwin Nunez – 6/10 – Saw one would be goal disallowed and missed another really good chance. Involved in the build-up to Gravenberch’s strike, at least.
LW: Diogo Jota – 7/10 – Some wayward shooting and one really cool finish.
Substitutes
SUB: Luis Diaz (46′ for Nunez) – 7/10
SUB: Alexis Mac Allister (46′ for Endo) – 6/10
SUB: Curtis Jones (46′ for Salah) – 6/10
SUB: Joe Gomez (63′ for Alexander-Arnold) – 6/10
SUB: Dominik Szoboszlai (79′ for Gravenberch) – 6/10
Subs not used: Jaros (GK), Mrozek (GK), Van Dijk, Chambers, Matip, Robertson, Doak
Manager
Jurgen Klopp – 7/10 – Clearly keen not to underestimate the opposition by naming a strong team and made it even stronger by the changes he put into the game at the break.
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