Liverpool shattered a club record that had stood for nearly 20 years with their 2-1 victory over Lille in the Champions League.
Arne Slot’s team entered the match at Anfield knowing that a single point would secure their top spot in the Champions League group stages.
The Reds took the lead in the first half with Mohamed Salah’s composed finish, and their confidence for another three points grew when Lille defender Aissa Mandi received a second yellow card for fouling Luis Diaz…Continue Reading
However, the French side, who were on a club-record unbeaten run of 21 games, equalized in the 62nd minute through Jonathan David.
Before conceding, Liverpool had set their own club record for the longest period without conceding a goal in European competition since the 2005/06 season under Rafael Benitez, going beyond 572 minutes.
Though they fell just short of the 600-minute mark due to David’s equalizer, Liverpool regained the lead five minutes later with Harvey Elliott’s goal.
Darwin Nunez thought he had secured a 3-1 lead, but the assistant referee raised the offside flag.
This result means Liverpool finished at the top of their Champions League group. Despite this, they could still face a challenging tie in the last 16 due to the unpredictable results in the new eight-game format.
Liverpool remains the only team with a 100% record, having won seven consecutive games.
Speaking to Amazon Prime after the game, Slot said: “I knew Lille were 21 games unbeaten. They beat Real Madrid, they beat Atletico Madrid.
“And, without any disrespect, they don’t do this with the best players in the world. So that tells you they’re very well organised and difficult to play through. And it’s a hard-working team.
“It was not so easy, so I was really pleased with the patience we had. Not forcing difficult passes, but just keeping the ball, having complete dominance. The only thing I wasn’t happy about is that, for a few weeks now, one chance conceded, one goal conceded.”
