Liverpool into Europa League round of 16

Coach Jurgen Klopp and his team beat LASK Linz 4-0, thereby winning first place in Group E with one match early.

Liverpool kept only two players from the starting lineup that drew with Man City on November 25. However, they were still strong enough to overwhelm LASK Linz. In the 12th minute, after Joe Gomez's right-wing cross, Luis Diaz flew to head the opening goal. In the 15th minute, Cody Gakpo doubled the gap from Mohamed Salah's low cross.

Liverpool continued to create chances for the remainder of the first half. Left-back Kostas Tsimikas could have made it 3-0, had his cross-shot not hit the crossbar. Salah also missed two chances, with a half-pass, half-shot wide and a shot straight at goalkeeper Tobias Lawal.

Salah celebrates scoring in Liverpool's 4-0 win over LASK Linz in the fifth round of the Europa League group stage on the evening of November 30, at Anfield. Photo: PA

Salah had to wait until the start of the second half to score his own goal. After Lawal fouled Gakpo in the box in the 51st minute, the Egyptian striker scored a penalty to make it 3-0. Salah scored his 199th goal in 323 appearances for Liverpool. If he scores against Fulham this weekend, he will have scored exactly 200 goals.

After Liverpool increased the score to 3-0, coach Klopp immediately rotated the squad. Initially, he brought on Trent Alexander-Arnold, Curtis Jones and Darwin Nunez to replace Ibrahima Konate, Salah and Diaz. Then, it was Ryan Gravenberch and Kostas Tsimikas' turn to leave the field to make way for Conor Bradley and Luke Chambers. The lineup shuffle made Liverpool no longer play as well as before. However, they were still strong enough to dominate the weakest opponent in the group.

In the 90+2 minute, Gakpo sealed the 4-0 victory. After escaping into the penalty area, the Dutch striker dribbled past a defender and shot into the middle of the goal.

The win over LASK Linz gave Liverpool 12 points and a game to spare, while second-placed Toulouse have just eight points after five games, having drawn 0-0 with Union Saint-Gilloise in the same game.

In the Europa League group stage, the top team qualifies directly for the round of 16, while the second-placed team must play a play-off against a team relegated from the Champions League. Toulouse are already guaranteed a play-off spot, thanks to their three-point advantage over third-placed Union Saint-Gilloise and their head-to-head record. Meanwhile, with five points and three points, Union Saint-Gilloise and LASK Linz still have a chance to play in the Conference League.

Thanh Quy

Source link: https://vnexpress.net/liverpool-vao-vong-1-8-europa-league-4683367.html