Girona 0-1 Liverpool:Liverpool maintained 100% record with a narrow win
FlashFootball 2024/12/11 01:07
Liverpool kept up their perfect record in this season's Champions League with a 1-0 win at Girona on Tuesday. The only goal of the game came from Mohamed Salah's second-half penalty.
A sixth win from six puts Liverpool, already guaranteed at least a playoff place before kickoff, on 18 points, five ahead of Bayer Leverkusen, Aston Villa, Inter Milan and Brest, while Girona are in 30th place on three points.
Girona suffered their fifth defeat of the competition but made Liverpool work hard for the win. In the first half, they had chances to take the lead but were stopped by the visitors' goalkeeper Alisson.
Liverpool had a tough time against a team that was happy to sit back and wait for an opportunity. They managed to score from the penalty spot with Salah converting in the 63rd minute after Luis Díaz was fouled.
"Six wins out of six, you can't ask for much better than that. It's not easy to do or there would be more teams doing it," Liverpool defender Andy Robertson said.
"We've played a lot better than tonight, we weren't at our highest level, but at this point it's about winning the games and securing qualification."
Liverpool defender Joe Gomez was unlucky not to score his first goal for the club, but was denied by a reaction save from Paulo Gazzaniga from a close-range header. The keeper also saved a shot from Darwin Núñez minutes later.
Girona were happy to break on the counter-attack with every player behind the ball, and Liverpool keeper Alisson, making his first appearance since early October after a hamstring injury, was soon called into action.
Daley Blind completely missed a cross on the edge of the six-yard box, but the ball fell to Alejandro Francés and Alisson managed to hold his effort at the second attempt. He later also managed to punch away a shot from Miguel Gutiérrez.
Núñez had another shot saved when he was put through by Salah, and Girona responded with a shot from outside the area by Yáser Asprilla, which Alisson saved and got a corner, with Girona growing in confidence.
Alisson was involved again at the start of the second half, saving from Arnaut Danjuma. Liverpool had trouble breaking down Girona's defence before a foul by Donny van de Beek on Diaz gave Salah a chance to take a penalty.
Salah missed a penalty in Liverpool's last Champions League game against Real Madrid, but he got it right this time, sending the keeper the wrong way and the ball into the bottom corner.
Girona never really had a chance to equalise, with Liverpool controlling the ball much better than in the first half and leaving the Estadi Montilivi with all three points.
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UEFA Champions League
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Liverpool
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Girona
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