Liverpool rode their luck on Wednesday night at the Parc des Princes to beat Paris Saint-Germain 1-0 in the first leg of their last-16 tie in the Champions League.
Harvey Elliott scored the winner in the 86th minute, just 40 seconds after replacing a spectral Mohamed Salah on the right wing.
It was a goal that contrasted ghoulishly with PSG's delicacy and finesse.
Liverpool goalkeeper Alisson, who had kept his side in the tie with half a dozen spectacular saves, hoofed the ball in the direction of Darwin Nunez. The Liverpool forward jumped up with PSG skipper Marquinhos and Nunez, the fresher of the pair, gained control on the edge of the box as Marquinhos slipped to the turf.
Rather than shooting, the Uruguayan side-footed the ball over to the right for the on-rushing Elliot to slide it past the PSG goalkeeper Gigi Donnarumma.
"If you have seen the game, it's a very good result for us," said Liverpool boss Arne Slot.
Quality
"I knew the quality of PSG before the game. They won 10 times in a row, scored goal after goal after goal. They have incredible pace with the wingers. Every underlying statistic shows you that they were the best team in the Champions League so I wasn't surprised that they were so good."
Few outfits have mastered Liverpool during their rampage into a 13-point lead at the top of the English Premier League and the League Cup final.
But from the outset Luis Enrique's men stated their intent to dominate.
With Vitinha and Joao Neves respectively as schemer and toiler-in-chief in the midfield and Ousmane Dembélé and Bradley Barcola roving down the wings, they engulfed Slot's men with Khvicha Kvaratskhelia, the January signing from Napoli, adding more trickery.
It was Dembélé's wizardry though that set up the first big chance of the night.
The 27-year-old France international whirled past Andy Robertson and Alexis Mac Allister on the right touchline and centred but Joao Neves scuffed his shot into the ground and the ball looped over the bar.
PSG continued the push forward and after 20 minutes, Kvaratskhelia curled the ball elegantly around Alisson into the net.
In vain. The Georgia international was offside when he received the pass.
Despite the escape, Liverpool's response failed to materialise and Slot's men were fortunate that Ibrahima Konaté was not sent off half an hour into the encounter for bringing down Barcola on the edge of the penalty area.
Barcola should have punished more backline sloppiness minutes later but he lashed the rebound over the bar after Dembélé had brought a good save from Alisson.
Changes
To the delight of the partisans in the house, it was a case of déjà vu after the pause. PSG monopolised possession, weaved intricate patterns and Liverpool repulsed.
Alisson's strong arm stopped Dembélé's effort and the 32-year-old Brazilian added to his highlights reel after 80 minutes with a flying save to push Désiré Doué's curler from the left away for a corner.
"Alisson had a great game," Enrique said. "We didn't let them play. Liverpool were better than us for the first five minutes and then it was all PSG."
Enrique, whose side enjoys a 13-point cushion at the top of the Ligue 1, is likely to rest his star players for the weekend game at Rennes.
"We go to Liverpool next week with nothing to lose," added the Spaniard. "And that makes us dangerous.
"It was potentially one of our best games of the season," he lamented. "We did everything to keep the ball. We played a full game. Their best player was their goalkeeper. That tells you everything."
Lille in the hunt
Three days after losing 4-1 in Ligue 1 at PSG, Lille drew 1-1 at Borussia Dortmund on Tuesday night. Karim Adeyemi opened for the scoring at the Signal Iduna Park afer 22 minutes.
But the hosts failed to match the intensity of the visitors in the second-half and paid the price for their lack of aggression when Hakon Haraldsson muscled through the Dortmund backline to level.
"We were timid in the way we used the ball’ in the first-half," said Lille boss Bruno Genesio. "We didn't take enough risks going forward, and we didn't make enough runs to offer options for the pass.
"But the second-half was much more accomplished. We took more risks and we deservedly got back on level terms. Overall I'm satisfied with a positive result.
The second leg will take place on 12 March at the Stade Pierre Mauroy.
"Given what we showed in the second-half in Dortmund, we almost regret not scoring a second goal but there's another match coming up. It's going to be a very tight game."
