Full player ratings: Salah, Alisson spare wasteful Liverpool 4/10 to secure Champions League last-16 spot

in , , , , , , ,

Liverpool hosted Napoli in the Champions League on Tuesday knowing that only a win would be enough to secure their passage to the knockout rounds of the competition. 

Jurgen Klopp’s side had to walk the line between getting the goal they needed, and not conceding one themselves, as a Napoli goal could have left them needing to win by two clear goals, depending on PSG’s game with Red Star Belgrade.

After a lively opening in which both sides created chances, Liverpool struck first with guess who…? Mohamed Salah, who absolutely merked Mario Rui and Kalidou Koulibaly before sticking the ball between the legs of David Ospina.

The Reds took that lead into the half-time break, with PSG also 2-0 ahead in Belgrade, meaning that Liverpool would be joining the French champions in qualifying from the group as it stood.

PSG ran out 3-1 winners against Red Star and Liverpool went for the throat against Napoli in the second half, not wanting to let the Italian back into the game.

They never managed a second goal, despite having a hat full of chances, but a combination of Alisson’s wondersave and relentless pressing meant that the Merseysiders still ran out as winners and advanced to the Champions League knockout rounds.

Here is how every player rated in Liverpool 1-0 Napoli.

Liverpool 

Alisson – 8 – Such a calming influence on that Liverpool defence. Claims crosses with ease, makes important saves in abundance (including in added time) and gives absolute confidence to the likes of Van Dijk and Matip that they can turn and give him the ball if they get into trouble. One of the signings of the summer does it again. 

(Photo credit should read PAUL ELLIS/AFP/Getty Images)

Trent Alexander-Arnold – 8 – Yet another mature performance way beyond the 20 years of Trent Alexander-Arnold. The England international flew up and down the right-hand side at will, causing havoc with his deep crosses, yet never seemed to be caught short at the back. These kinds of performances are becoming more and more familiar for Alexander-Arnold now.

Joel Matip – 6 – Heading into the game, Liverpool fans would have been most worried about how Joel Matip would cope with the likes of Mertens and Insigne. They need not have worried though as the 27-year-old put in an assured performance next to Virgil van Dijk and didn’t put a foot wrong.

Virgil van Dijk – 8 – And Virgil van Dijk’s claim as the world’s best centre-back gains yet more weight. The Dutchman gave another masterclass in defending, using his pace to sweep up anything that found it’s way behind the Liverpool back line. In possession, this guy is an absolute god and his long diagonal balls are a sight to behold. Name a more in-form centre-back at the moment, we’ll wait…

Andrew Robertson – 8 – Put in an equally dynamic performance to his full-back counterpart Alexander-Arnold. Sliced an interception in the second half that could have let Napoli in, but was fantastic in both attack and defence apart from that. Motors down the left like a Scottish Ferrari. 

James Milner – 8 – Gave yet another lesson in box-to-box midfield play. Need someone to break up Napoli attacks? Milner is on it, making more tackles (5) than any other Liverpool player. Need someone to unlock the defence and get Mohamed Salah in on goal? Milner has your back. One day, Milner is going to run out of energy and planet Earth will come to a standstill. But it isn’t today.

(Photo credit should read PAUL ELLIS/AFP/Getty Images)

Jordan Henderson – 6 – Put in an energetic and steady performance without doing anything overly spectacular. So important for Liverpool to have him back on form, though, as things start to get really busy in December. Helped Liverpool press really well across the pitch.

Georginio Wijnaldum – 6 – Similar to Henderson where he had plenty of energy and endeavour, without being outstanding. Wijnaldum has been one of Liverpool’s unsung heroes so far this season as the Reds advance in Europe and top the Premier League.

Mohamed Salah – 9 – Initally struggled to break down Koulibaly, until he decided to get around Mario Rui first to expose the Senegalese defender in a one-on-one battle. The one time he got the better of both, he put Liverpool 1-0, slipping the ball between David Ospina’s legs in the process. The rest of the time, he just kept picking on Rui and made the Portuguese full-back look stupid – could have easily scored more on another night.

(Photo credit should read PAUL ELLIS/AFP/Getty Images)

Roberto Firmino – 6 – Not the best night at the office for Roberto Firmino, who is looking short of confidence at the moment. Gave his usual amount of work off the ball to help the Liverpool press, and did drop deep to receive the ball, but his final ball just lacked that usual bit of conviction that makes him the perfect central pivot for Mane and Salah to work off.

Sadio Mane – 4 – Mane’s movement was as electric as ever, but his potency in front of goal was strangely amiss and he was so, so wasteful. Could have had a coulple of goals against a creaking Napoli defence but either found himself offside or firing off target. Did, however, have Maksimovic absolutely terrified of moving on Napoli’s right-hand side.

Subs: 

Naby Keita (79 mins for Roberto Firmino) – 6 – Seems to be getting fitter by the minute and had plenty of energy in his short cameo.

Fabinho (85 mins for James Milner) – 5 – Is improving but looked nervous again tonight, slicing a clearance and missing a challenge to almost gift Napoli a decisive goal at the death.

Dejan Lovren (90 mins for Trent Alexander-Arnold) – 6 – Not enough time to influence the game.

Napoli

David Ospina – 6 – Could have easily given Ospina a 4/10 for letting Salah’s goal go through his legs, but could just as easily have given him an 8/10 for his string of saves in the second half that kept Napoli in it. That’s just another day in the life of David Ospina.

Nikola Maksimovic – 5 – Was absolutely terrified of Sadio Mane’s movement and totally pinned back by the advancing runs of Andrew Robertson. Was beaten in the air and on the deck too often and never got to grips with the pace and variety of the Liverpool attack.

Raul Albiol – 6 – Tried his best to keep Liverpool at bay and wasn’t disgraced. Not involved in Napoli’s poor defending for Salah’s goal but will be having strong words with Nikola Maksimovic about how exposed he was left by Mane at times.

Kalidou Koulibaly – 6 – Actually fared better than most defenders against Mohamed Salah and looked like the only player capable of keeping Napoli in the game. That was apart from that one moment in the first half which, unfortunately for Koulibaly, resulted in Liverpool taking the lead. Recently linked with a record-breaking move to Man Utd, the Senegalese will be fuming at Mario Rui for allowing him to be exposed in a one-on-one vs the Liverpool flyer.

It’s safe to say Twitter enjoyed the encounter between two African Player of the Year nominees.

Mario Rui – 2 – Probably cried himself to sleep after been torn inside out, upside down and side to side by Mohamed Salah. If he bombed forward, Salah exposed the space he left and went one-on-one with Koulibaly. If Rui decided to stay back, Salah just went past him as he wasn’t there, before running at Koulibaly, who won’t be sitting next to Rui on the team bus any time soon. Subbed after 70 minutes and couldn’t sink into his fast enough.

Allan – 7 – Made more tackles (11) than any other player and was given the unenviable task of trying to shield Napoli’s back four against onrushing Liverpool runners. The Brazilian carried out that job admirably though, and has done his growing reputation no harm at all.

Marek Hamsik – 6 – Fizzed a shot over in the first half and tried his best to get Napoli going, but to no avail. Was often left with few passing options and forced to try more speculative balls.

(Photo credit should read PAUL ELLIS/AFP/Getty Images)

Fabian Ruiz  – 5 – Fluffed a great chance to put Napoli level in the first half, and gave Mario Rui absolutely no cover out of possession. Was subbed after 62 minutes and will want to forget about this game as soon as possible.

Jose Callejon – 6 – Was too concerned with trying to help Maksimovic cope with Robertson and Mane to have a telling influence on the game. Did manage to play in Fabian Ruiz in the first half, though, but the Spaniard wasted the chance and denied his compatriot the assist.

Lorenzo Insigne – 5 – Was marked out of the game by Matip and Van Dijk in the first half. Saw more of the ball when dropping deep to collect in the second half, but, through no fault of his own, had absolutely nothing to aim at when he did get into possession.

Dries Mertens – 5 – A largely ineffective performance from the usually super-effective Belgian. Van Dijk did a job on Mertens here and the 31-year-old will definitely be looking forward to getting back to terrorizing Serie A defences.

Subs: 

Piotr Zielinski (62 mins for Fabian Ruiz) – 5 – Had little effect on the game when he came on.

Arkadiusz Milik (67 mins for Dries Mertens)  – 5 – Never adjusted to the tempo of the game and struggled to get the better of Van Dijk, who was totally in the groove.

Faouzi Ghoulam (70 mins for Mario Rui) – 5 – Spent more time firing crosses at the first defender than finding his teammates.

The post Liverpool 1-0 Napoli: Every player rated as Salah spares Mané’s blushes to secure Champions League knockout football appeared first on Squawka News.



From Squawka NewsSquawka News https://ift.tt/2SF7vMA
Labels: , , , , , , ,

No comments:

Post a Comment

Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)