LIVERPOOL, England: Liverpool put their lackluster performance in the English Premier League (EPL) behind them when they advanced to the quarter-finals of the Champions League with a big 4-0 victory over Galatasaray at Anfield, early this morning.
Goals from Dominik Szoboszlai, Hugo Ekitike, Ryan Gravenberch and Mohamed Salah erased a 0-1 deficit in the first leg, setting up a meeting with defending champions Paris Saint-Germain in the last eight.
Arne Slot needs a reaction from the English champions after they were jeered by their own fans at Anfield last Sunday following a poor performance in the 1-1 draw against Tottenham.
Currently in fifth place in the EPL, the Champions League competition is seen as being able to save Liverpool’s season and his position as manager.
Slot rested several key players last weekend and benefited when his team displayed a dominant performance that should have resulted in a bigger goal.
Galatasaray’s hopes of causing a shock suffered an early blow when key striker Victor Osimhen suffered an arm injury after a collision with Ibrahima Konate in the opening minutes.
The Nigeria international was seen limping before being taken off at half-time and replaced by Leroy Sane.
Szoboszlai, who has been outstanding throughout Liverpool’s difficult season, equalised on aggregate with a neat finish from a corner kick in the 25th minute.
Salah then squandered the best opportunity to double his lead when he failed to complete a pass past Ugurcan Cakir.
Florian Wirtz’s attempt, which was slightly deflected by an opposing player, just went over the bar, while Cakir also denied Szoboszlai’s powerful attempt.
The Turkiye goalkeeper was once again a stumbling block when he saved Salah’s weak penalty kick after Szoboszlai was brought down in the penalty area.
But Liverpool doubled their lead in the second half.
Salah made up for the failure with a precise pass to Ekitike to score the second goal.
Two minutes later, Gravenberch pounced on the rebound after Salah’s initial attempt was parried.
Salah finally scored his 50th Champions League goal in impressive style with a powerful shot from Wirtz’s backheel.