Osamagbe Imadiyi
On Wednesday, Liverpool’s first leg of their heavyweight Champions League last-16 match against Paris Saint-Germain ended in an unlikely 1-0 victory for Liverpool thanks to a goal from Harvey Elliott, who came on as a late substitute.
At the Parc des Princes, Elliott had just taken Mohamed Salah’s place when he scored in the 87th minute after a Darwin Nunez assist to give the Premier League leaders the lead heading into next week’s match.
Arne Slot’s team, who had so far withstood a thrashing at the hands of a dominant PSG, pulled off the ultimate smash and grab. A quarterfinal matchup with Aston Villa or Club Brugge awaits them if they win, but PSG demonstrated enough to indicate they will once again be very dangerous in England.
The first half saw 28 attempts on goal compared to their visitors’ two, with Khvicha Kvaratskhelia’s goal disallowed for a slight offside and Alisson Becker making several vital saves.
Ibrahima Konate knocked Barcola over on the edge of the area as he chased onto a long ball, triggering a VAR check for a potential red card, but the Italian referees dismissed the Liverpool defender. PSG’s counter-pressing style made it hard for Liverpool to get out of their half as they continued to attack after the interval.
Three minutes from time, Alisson sent a long kick downfield, and Nunez won the ball in midair before teeing up Elliott to shoot past Gianluigi Donnarumma into the far corner, indicating that this would not be PSG’s night.
