The score against Union Saint-Gilloise was 2-0 with Diogo Jota scoring as well.
As Liverpool laboured to a 2-0 Europa League victory to maintain their 100% record in Group E, Ryan Gravenberch’s scored his first goal for the club by taking advantage of a mistake by Union Saint-Gilloise custodian Anthony Moris.
Despite having a significant amount of offensive firepower at their disposal—248 goals between Mohamed Salah, Darwin Nunez, and Diogo Jota—it was a 21-year-old former Ajax and Bayern Munich midfielder who had only scored nine goals in five years who made the game-changing play just before halftime.
If either had been even somewhat close to their best, the game would have been out of reach before Gravenberch’s intervention. However, the fact that two of the front three were substituted at the break was more due to a predetermined plan than a reflection of their first-half efforts.
Jota stayed in the game the entire time and scored the second on a breakaway in extra time to calm any last-minute jitters.
Salah’s first appearance for the club in the Europa League would have sparked questions about the extent of the destruction he could wreak, especially after his 16-minute cameo in their opening European match provided a goal, an assist, and a few other chances.
He should have added to the 103 goals he has previously scored at Anfield in his 150th game as early as the fifth minute.
While filling in for the injured captain Virgil van Dijk, the brilliant young centre back Jarrell Quansah won the ball high in midfield and released the Egypt international down the middle, but he was unable to beat the goalkeeper.
It was the first of many chances that Gravenberch’s close-range shot eventually ended, and even though Liverpool never seemed in any real danger after Gustaf Nilsson had headed over Union’s best midway through the first half until the latter stages of the game, the contest was more tedious than it should have been.
Nunez’s rebound goal after Gravenberch’s strike in the 10th minute was flagged as offside, and in this case, UEFA’s VAR officials quickly made the right decision.
The Uruguayan international’s next attempt, which he shot wide from six yards after choosing to use his right foot rather than his left for Salah’s cross after Harvey Elliott had carried the ball easily through the Union midfield, only added to his humiliation in a video review.
Chances came and went, including a poor Salah header straight at the goalkeeper, a Jota penalty claim denied, and a Nunez effort deflected past the near post after Ibrahima Konate’s diagonal cross.
Union were defeated from their own offensive corner when captain-for-the-evening Trent Alexander-Arnold broke down the left, cut inside on his right foot, and blasted in a low shot that bounced in front of Moris after Union had just about withstood all that direct pressure.
The Luxembourg international should have known better than to spill the ball a few yards in front of him because it wasn’t the fiercest of blows.
Gravenberch didn’t require any additional prodding; he simply poked home the rebound from close range.
Salah, Nunez, and Wataru Endo, who had been struggling, were all taken off the pitch during a triple halftime change made by Jurgen Klopp, who also brought in Luis Diaz, Curtis Jones, and Alexis MacAllister, who had to wait 45 minutes before facing his brother Kevin in the opposition defence.
After an initial scare when Alisson Becker missed his punch at a corner and nearly turned the ball into his own net, Quansah swooped in from behind.
Jota’s header was deflected over by Moris, who also did a better job of keeping Gravenberch from scoring a second time with a curling shot. Even when Diaz beat Moris to the ball, his left-hand post saved him, and Jones’ low attempt just missed the goal.
Jota’s goal secured the victory, and success over Toulouse, which is two points behind, at Anfield in three weeks will go a long way towards ensuring Liverpool’s qualification to the knockout stages. However, if they want to advance with ease, Liverpool cannot continue to play so carelessly.