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Liverpool moved to the top of the Champions League table with an impressive and emphatic victory over Bayer Leverkusen at Anfield tonight.
Liverpool and Aston Villa- who play tomorrow night against Belgian champions Club Brugge- were the only sides to go 3/3 in the Champions League before tonight, with Leverkusen also starting well with 2 wins and a draw, which game in their last Champions League fixture after dropping points to Stade Brestois.
Leverkusen would start the game on the front foot, with Nigerian striker Victor Boniface getting a chance on the edge of the box. However, Boniface failed to make a strong and true strike of the ball and his effort would bobble out for a goal kick in an effort that would struggle to trouble Kelleher in goal.
Liverpool would make their first chance in the 13th minute when a counter attack would see Mohamed Salah lay midfielder Curtis Jones off on the edge of the box for a shot, but the scouser could only place his effort into the palms of Finish goalkeeper Lukas Hradecky.
The game would swing back-and-forth from here, where in the 20th minute Dutch teammates Virgil Van Dijk and Jeremie Frimpong would collide in the box, sparking uproar from the Leverkusen fans in the Anfield Road stand. However, referee Danny Makkelie would have none of this, and play would resume after a short VAR review.
All fans would hold their breath in the 35th minute though, when Trent Alexander-Arnold stood over a free kick around 20 yards from goal. However, a powerful strike would be firmly rejected by a tall and imposing Leverkusen wall, and flicked away by Jonathan Tah. The resulting corner would be easily claimed by Hradecky again.
The deadlock would seemingly be broken by wingback Jeremie Frimpong in the 42nd minute of the game, when he would break away from Kostas Tsimikas and use his frightening pace to bare down on goal, before entering the box and slamming it to Kelleher’s right in front of the Kop. His elation would be cut short though when a VAR review would conclude that when taking it past Tsimikas, he had handled the ball to bring it under his control, a decision Tsimikas would rightfully appeal for immediately after the goal.
A final chance of the half saw Cody Gakpo break down the left hand side after being set in by Curtis Jones, who remained at the heartbeat of everything Liverpool were doing well. However, his effort wouldn’t trouble Hradeky who palmed the ball away and eventually cleared by Edmond Tapsoba. This would be the last meaningful moment of the first half: HT, 0-0.
No changes at half time, but it was Liverpool who came out the tunnel looking fresher at half time, as they dominated the possession from the off and enjoyed the opening chances of the second half. The Red’s first chance would see Ryan Gravenberch break through Leverkusen’s midfield, finding Mo Salah in the box, but his rushed right-footed effort would go sailing into the Kop.
As Liverpool continued to pen Leverkusen in, Anfield smelt blood, and as the atmosphere kicked into overdrive, Curtis Jones would find Luis Diaz, who broke in behind the Leverkusen backline and would send a delightful chipped effort sailing over Hradeky and send the Kop crazy. 1-0 Liverpool.
The noise would only increase from here, and as the Anfield faithful continued to push their team on further, Diaz would find Salah on the right hand side, who sent a bending effort into the back-post, where it would meet Cody Gakpo for 2-0 Liverpool. Despite the linesman immediately raising his flag to try and cancel out Red joy like he did in the first half for Gakpo’s international teammate Jeremie Frimpong, a VAR review would find that unlike the Leverkusen wingback, he was onside and Liverpool’s lead had, in fact, been doubled. 2-0 Liverpool.
Liverpool would continue to push on from here, as Alexis Mac Allister would force Hradeky to the ground to deny his effort from finding the bottom right hand corner in the 71st minute. However, Leverkusen could not prevent goal number 3 eventually going in, when Mo Salah would find Luis Diaz at the back post in the 82nd minute. The columbian easily shrugged off Jonas Hofmann, before bringing it down expertly and slotting past Hradecky to net his brace. 3-0 Liverpool.
There would be one more for the relentlessly noisy Anfield crowd, when substitute Darwin Nunez would bare down on the Leverkusen goal once more, and despite having a 4-on-2 situation, his shot would be blocked by Piero Hincapié, but this would only help land the ball at the feet of Diaz who would tap home into a virtually empty net for his hat trick. That’s now 11 goals this season for club and country for Diaz, leaving him just 6 away from his overall tally for club and country last season.
Liverpool would see out the final moments from there, making it 14 wins in 16 games for Arne Slot so far in charge of The Reds. FT: 4-0.
Liverpool now sit at the top of the Champions League table, and will remain there unless Aston Villa win by 4 goals or more tomorrow night. Leverkusen now sit 11th, and await the likes of RB Salzburg, Inter Milan, Atletico Madrid and Sparta Prague before their Champions League table-stage fixtures are done. Liverpool face Aston Villa and Southampton before their return to the competition, when a Real Madrid side struggling in Europe enter Anfield once again.
