Player ratings as Liverpool end Champions League group stage on high note as Napoli fall at Anfield.
Liverpool defeated Napoli, who had easily defeated them in the reverse match, to end the group stage of the Champions League. This was Napoli’s first loss of the season.
After a lengthy period of stoppage time, Darwin Nunez extended the lead before Mohamed Salah, who had previously tied Steven Gerrard with 41 goals for Liverpool in European play, broke the tie. At 0-0, Napoli also had a goal ruled out.
It was a competitive but close first half. Both teams had about equal amounts of possession, and few clear scoring opportunities were produced by either team.
Despite a strong start from the in-form Khvicha Kvaratskhelia, the opposing goalkeeper Alex Meret might have anticipated being put to the test more frequently than he was. Just around 30 minutes had passed as the Italian goalkeeper swooped across his net to deflect Thiago’s initial effort.
Mohamed Salah was denied by Meret just before halftime, but the goal would not have counted due to an eventual offside flag.
James Milner appeared to indicate that he was feeling dizzy after a previous head-to-head collision at the conclusion of the first half, forcing Jurgen Klopp to turn to his bench early in the game.
Leo Ostigard, a former defender for Coventry and Stoke, made a diving header that appeared to give Napoli the advantage early in the second half. But after nearly four minutes of VAR review, it was decided that the Norwegian’s right ear was offside.
In any case, the second session saw a slight increase in the number of opportunities. Kvaratskhelia fired a volley goalward shortly after the goal was disallowed. Although it was deflected, Alisson probably benefited because it brought the ball closer to him.
For Liverpool, the goals didn’t come until the very end, and both were extremely similar in style. Every time, there was a corner and a close-range rebound conversion after a first Meret stop.
In the first, Darwin Nunez won a header that the Napoli goalie narrowly prevented from crossing the goal line, and Salah was there to nudge it in. Nunez deflected Virgil van Dijk’s bullet header deep into stoppage time for the second goal. The flag initially went up, however video analysis software (VAR) revealed that Nunez had been placed onside by Piotr Zielinski of Napoli.
Liverpool (4-3-3)
GK: Alisson Becker – 6/10
RB: Trent Alexander-Arnold – 6/10
CB: Ibrahima Konate – 6/10
CB: Virgil van Dijk – 6/10
LB: Kostas Tsimikas – 6/10
CM: James Milner (c) – 6/10
CM: Fabinho – 7/10
CM: Thiago – 6/10
RF: Mohamed Salah – 7/10
ST: Roberto Firmino – 6/10
LF: Curtis Jones – 7/10
SUB: Harvey Elliott (48′ for Milner) – 6/10
SUB: Darwin Nunez (73′ for Jones) – 7/10
SUB: Calvin Ramay (87′ for Alexander-Arnold) – N/A
SUB: Fabio Carvalho (87′ for Firmino) – N/A
SUB: Stefan Bajcetic (87′ for Thiago) – N/A
Manager: Jurgen Klopp – 7/10
Napoli (4-3-3)
GK: Alex Meret – 7/10
RB: Giovanni Di Lorenzo – 6/10
CB: Leo Ostigard – 7/10
CB: Kim Min-jae – 7/10
LB: Mathias Olivera – 7/10
CM: Andre-Frank Zambo Anguissa – 7/10
CM: Stanislav Lobotka – 7/10
CM: Tanguy Ndombele – 5/10
RW: Mateo Politano – 5/10
ST: Victor Osimhen – 6/10
LW: Khvicha Kvaratskhelia – 7/10
SUB: Hirving Lozano (70′ for Politano) – 5/10
SUB: Eljif Elmas (83′ for Lobotka) – N/A
SUB: Piotr Zielinski (83′ for Kvaratskhelia) N/A
SUB: Giovanni Simeone (89′ for Osimhen) – N/A
SUB: Giacomo Raspadori (89′ for Ndombele) – N/A
Manager: Luciano Spalletti – 6/10
Player of the match – Mathias Olivera
