Liverpool locked horns with Benfica at the Estádio do Sport Lisboa e Benfica earlier tonight as they hoped to earn a victory on the road. The Reds made a bright start to the game and got their noses ahead via Ibrahima Konate’s header in the 17th minute. Sadio Mane doubled Liverpool’s advantage in the 34th minute when he found the back of the net from close range. The Merseyside outfit went into the half-time break 2-0 to the good.
Darwin Nunez pulled a goal back for the Portuguese giants just four minutes into the second half. However, Luis Diaz went on to seal the victory for Liverpool in the 87th minute with a great run and finish. The contest ended with Jurgen Klopp’s men coming away with an impressive 3-1 win from Portugal.
Let’s take a look at how each Liverpool player performed during the clash against Benfica.
GK: Alisson Becker – 7/10
The Brazilian keeper had one nervy moment in the second half. However, he deserves credit for making a couple of decent saves. Alisson managed to limit the opposition from scoring more than once.
RB: Trent Alexander-Arnold – 7/10
The English full-back was solid at the back and played an excellent pass to Diaz in the lead-up to Mane’s goal in the first half.
CB: Ibrahima Konate – 6.5/10
Konate opened the goal-scoring with a good header. He cleared the danger when needed but was at fault in the lead-up to Nunez’s goal.
CB: Virgil Van Dijk – 7.5/10
The Dutch centre-back didn’t put a foot wrong in the game and kept the Benfica attackers frustrated for most of the contest.
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LB: Andrew Robertson – 7.5/10
The Scottish left-back ran his socks off on the left flank and picked up an assist for setting up Konate’s opener.
CM: Naby Keita – 8/10
Keita controlled the flow of the game quite well and had a good game in the opponent’s half. He ended the game with an assist to his name for setting up Diaz’s goal.
CM: Fabinho – 7.5/10
He did a lot of the defensive dirty work for Liverpool at the centre of the park. The Brazilian was strong in the air as well.
CM: Thiago Alcantara – 7/10
The Spaniard hardly gave away the ball and played some nice passes to his teammates up top. He ran out of gas and was replaced at the hour mark.
RW: Mohamed Salah – 6.5/10
Salah tried to make things happen but lacked the cutting edge in front of the Benfica goal. He was substituted in the 60th minute.
ST: Sadio Mane – 7.5/10
The Senegal international dropped deep to link up play with others around him and scored Liverpool’s second goal from close range. However, he could last only 60 minutes.
LW: Luis Diaz – 8.5/10
Diaz produced a tireless shift in the Benfica half and deserves the man of the match award for scoring as well as creating a goal.
Substitutes:
ST: Roberto Firmino – 6/10
He interchanged possession well but never looked like he would score.
RW: Diogo Jota – 6/10
Jota wasted a glorious chance to find the back of the net late in the game.
CM: Jordan Henderson – 6/10
The English talent added some energy to Liverpool’s midfield.
RB: Joe Gomez – N/A
Gomez didn’t get enough minutes to warrant a rating.
CM: James Milner – N/A
He came on for the final few minutes of the game.
