Liverpool inflicted on Napoli their first defeat in any competition since April as they won 2-0 at Anfield in the CHampions League.
Mohamed Salah's 85th-minute tap-in handed the Reds a late lead before Darwin Nunez - on as a substitute in the 73rd minute seemingly with a brief to cause as much chaos as possible in the final third - poked home a similar close-range finish in the eighth minute of injury-time. Napoli themselves had a goal chalked off for offside, following a three-minute VAR check, but failed to maintain a consistent period of pressure in a game that lacked intensity until Nunez arrived, which was perhaps not surprising given both teams had already qualified for the knockout stages.
While it was not quite the four clear goals needed to top Group A, last night provided Liverpool with their fifth European win in a row, an immediate bounce back from the 2-1 Premier League defeat at home too Leeds United and a chance to exact some semblance of revenge on Napoli for their opening game-week humiliation in September. And while James Milner came off shortly after receiving a heavy blow to the head, Jurgen Klopp will have been glad to see the likes of Ibrahima Konate and Thiago Alcantara come through unscathed.
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Here is what some of the national media, along with our own Paul Gorst, had to say on the encouraging win.
Henry Winter - The Times
Liverpool will hope this was the dead rubber that breathes life into their season. They overcame the in-form side of Europe, inflicting on Napoli their first defeat of the season, and regained some confidence after a difficult few weeks. Inevitably it was Mohamed Salah putting the Mo into momentum.
Anfield was at its raucous best in an eventful period that stretched from 85 minutes to the eighth minute of added time. Salah and Darwin Núñez both turned the ball in from close range, and Liverpool hope they have turned a corner. They had already qualified for the knockout stage of the Champions League, and were unlikely to secure the four-goal win to replace Napoli as group A winners, but this restored some pride.
They certainly did not look tired, especially not Salah who equalled Steven Gerrard’s record of 41 European goals for Liverpool with five minutes remaining. The Egyptian was indefatigable, putting into two lengthy runs after that, one earning a corner from which Núñez poached Liverpool’s second.
Núñez is a towering presence in Liverpool’s attack, spreading panic through opposing defences, quick and skilful, but still needing to improve his discipline. When Núñez is involved, and he rose from the bench to cause havoc, reports of Liverpool’s demise look even more misguided. Virgil van Dijk looked more like his old authoritative self, and dealt well with Victor Osimhen, while Thiago Alcântara’s ability to take the ball under pressure and somehow switch play out to the right was an elegant feature of Liverpool’s play. Kostas Tsimikas’s outswinging corners added to Liverpool’s threat.
Chris Bascombe - The Telegraph
Welcome to Jurgen Klopp’s new plan B. Unleash Darwin Nunez and embrace the chaos.
The Uruguayan striker is a fittingly erratic solution to Liverpool’s inconsistent season. It is not heavy metal football when Nunez is on song. This is more like the anarchy of punk rock. Nunez’s 18 minute cameo secured what - prior to his arrival - was an improbable 2-0 victory over a classy Napoli side, who suffered their first defeat of the season without really being sure how.
The memorable contribution was in keeping with Nunez’s reputation as an uncut diamond. He gives little impression he knows what he will do beyond collecting the ball and believing it will end up in the net - even if he receives it 50 yards from goal.
That will inevitably create contradictory impressions, often in the same fixture. Suffice to say Nunez’s first yard is in his feet, not his head like the more classical footballers. His introduction was game-changing here as his pace caused carnage and he physically bullied Napoli’s previously calm defenders, assisting Mohamed Salah in the 84th minute before tapping in for his first in front of the Kop in injury time. That was his fifth goal in seven games. Erling Haaland won’t be worrying about the golden boot yet, but given Liverpool’s striker is reportedly earning around £750k a week less, he is starting to offer bang for his buck.
Richard Jolly - The Independent
For the second time in four days, an unbeaten run ended at Anfield. This time, Liverpool could celebrate it. They had gone 29 league games without defeat on their own turf before Leeds triumphed on Saturday.
Napoli had not lost anywhere, to anyone, since Empoli in April, until Darwin Nunez rose highest to meet Kostas Tsimikas' corner, Alex Meret made a desperate attempt to stop his header from crossing the line and Mohamed Salah made sure. In a near action-replay, Meret made a second stunning save from Virgil van Dijk's header and Nunez applied the final touch on the line.
But, while they have lost to teams who kicked off in the bottom two places in the Premier League, Liverpool have beaten perhaps the two finest sides in Europe this season, in Manchester City and Napoli. Salah has scored in both and his seventh goal in five European games makes him the Champions League's top scorer. His own continental campaign began ignominiously and ineffectually in Naples but has improved dramatically since then.
He ensured Liverpool ended Napoli’s run of 13 straight victories and illustrated how hard it is to get the maximum 18 points in a group, which they did last season. Nevertheless, it took a series of replays to earn them a clean sheet. They showed a semblance of solidity, if not the fluency they used to exhibit. Yet a failure to win the group, likely ever since their traumatic trip to Italy, could result in a last-16 meeting with Real Madrid, Bayern Munich or Paris Saint-Germain.
Daniel Storey - The i
Is a 2-0 win in a dead rubber at home with both goals from tap ins a reason to be joyous, or is that damnation with faint praise? Liverpool confirmed that they will finish second in a group as top seeds, are likely to face one of Bayern Munich, Paris Saint-Germain or Real Madrid in the last-16 and lost another player to injury.
The application of bandages over wounds reopened by Nottingham Forest and Leeds is the broad positive; Liverpool have stopped the bleeding. Perhaps that’s a little harsh, given the opponent and given the recent low standards that Liverpool were trying to raise. Mohamed Salah needed a goal and got one. Virgil van Dijk’s ability to find space in the opposition penalty area is unmatched. Napoli were undefeated all season and lost. These are not to be sniffed at.
Liverpool have enjoyed comparative sanctuary in the Champions League this season. Europe’s premier club cup competition is an unusual place for a therapy session, but it has provided temporary relief to Klopp’s players, a safe space where they can pretend that they have a bounty of fit midfielders and defenders who are not living in fear of their colleagues making a dreadful mistake.
There aren’t even such things as relegation zones and bottom-three teams to humble Liverpool into mediocrity here, forcing Klopp to bemoan his raft of injuries and the blanket of fatigue that is smothering their potential. Liverpool have won twice away from home in the Champions League – truly it is the land of milk and honey and wonderful daydreams.
Paul Gorst - Liverpool ECHO
For all the cruel and frankly bizarre parodying and incessant hot-takes about Nunez’s Liverpool performances, he is going to score a lot of goals for this football club. The lazy attempts to form a narrative need to end here.
Liverpool's name is in the hat for the last 16 and they will learn their fate on November 7 when the draw is made. The Champions League has been a welcome respite from what is becoming something of a warped domestic campaign but with continental proceedings done now until February, Klopp will have to address the alarming slump in games with Spurs and Southampton before the break for the World Cup.
Quite what is still possible for Liverpool on home shores is difficult to truly assess but for now their European targets remain in place. It's the small mercy of an exasperating three months.
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