Liverpool made it two wins from two within the Champions League as they claimed a hard-fought win over Bologna at Anfield.
The Reds appeared like they could cruised to victory when Alexis Mac Allister capped a dominant begin by scoring with 11 minutes gone.
Nonetheless, an obstinate Bologna made issues tough from there, with Mohamed Salah solely placing the seal on the win with a superb strike within the seventy fifth minute.
How the sport unfolded
Having began considerably slowly final trip at Wolves, Liverpool appeared far sharper from the off right here, with a Ryan Gravenberch ball throughout the field nearly turned house by each Dominik Szoboszlai and Luis Diaz moments after kick-off.
And the Reds had their opener with simply 11 minutes gone, Mac Allister tucking away an unmissable Salah cross contained in the six-yard field.
The hosts nearly rapidly doubled their benefit as Darwin Nunez noticed a aim dominated out for offside earlier than Szoboszlai rolled an effort previous the publish after slick build-up.
However the dominant nature of their begin appeared to result in complacency, permitting Bologna to get a foothold as the primary half progressed.
To that finish, they hit the woodwork twice in fast successions, Dan Nodye hanging the bar after which the publish as Liverpool struggled to clear their strains.
A Trent Alexander-Arnold giveaway then resulted in Kacper Urbanski forcing Alisson Becker into a wise save earlier than Arne Slot’s staff started to reassert themselves simply earlier than half-time.
Sadly for Liverpool, the break appeared to additional energise Bologna, and so they went near levelling when Riccardo Orsolini hit Alisson with a shot from the left-hand aspect of the world quickly after the restart.
However for all the problems the Reds had been having in surpassing a man-to-man press, they had been nonetheless giving up only a few high-quality alternatives and wanted solely considered one of their very own to seal the outcome.
In the long run, that got here to Salah, who used Alexander-Arnold’s overlapping run as a decoy to run to the centre of the field earlier than smashing a fantastic roller house.
From there, Liverpool had little hassle in seeing out a deserved win.
GK: Alisson Becker – 7/10 – Made numerous sensible saves and vital claims to maintain Bologna at bay throughout their finest moments.
RB: Trent Alexander-Arnold – 6/10 – Engaged in an pleasant battle with Dan Ndoye that in all probability ended honours even.
CB: Ibrahima Konate – 7/10 – All the time there to win an aerial duel or get a block in and performed an enormous function in stopping Bologna turning their finest moments into something really harmful.
CB: Virgil van Dijk – 7/10 – By no means appeared uncomfortable when Bologna dared to try to threaten on his aspect of the pitch.
LB: Andy Robertson – 5/10 – Did not at all times discover it simple defensively however was up and down the left flank all evening providing an choice.
CM: Ryan Gravenberch – 7/10 – Gained his battles in midfield and produced some outrageous seems of stress as a part of a now-customary wonderful efficiency.
CM: Alexis Mac Allister – 7/10 – He may hardly miss the prospect for his aim however impressed in different methods, continually scrapping for possession after which utilizing it calmly.
RM: Mohamed Salah – 8/10 – Supplied a fantastic help for Mac Allister’s opener and was Liverpool’s best creator throughout the rest of the sport. Capped it off with a surprising aim.
AM: Dominik Szoboszlai – 7/10 – Has been closely criticised of late however was wonderful right here. Mixed his ordinary relentlessness off the ball with some beautiful touches on it.
LM: Luis Diaz – 6/10 – Not at his finest by way of aim however dragged his staff up the pitch persistently together with his dribbling whereas working his socks off defensively.
ST: Darwin Nunez – 4/10 – Failed to offer Liverpool with the out ball they wanted when fighting Bologna’s man-to-man press and was extraordinarily wayward together with his passing.
Substitutes
SUB: Diogo Jota (61 for Nunez) – 7/10
SUB: Kostas Tsimikas (72 for Robertson) – 6/10
SUB: Cody Gakpo (72 for Diaz) – 6/10
SUB: Conor Bradley (85 for Alexander-Arnold)
SUB: Curtis Jones (85 for Szoboszlai)
Subs not used: Kelleher, Jaros, Endo, Gomez, Quansah, Nyoni, Morton.
Supervisor
Arne Slot – 7/10 – We are going to see if his lack of rotation right here hurts Liverpool after they go to Crystal Palace on Saturday, however you’ll be able to’t argue with the truth that Liverpool received the job performed.
