Man City 1-2 Liverpool: Reds make semi-finals with goals from Salah and Firmino
(April 10 2018)
Liverpool moved into the semi-finals of the Champions League as they came from behind to beat Manchester City 2-1 at the Etihad, and 5-1 on aggregate.
Although the eventual scoreline was comfortable, it was anything but that for the Reds as Gabriel Jesus gave City a second-minute lead in a dominant first half.
The key moment came just before half time when Leroy Sane had a goal wrongly ruled out for half time, before Pep Guardiola was sent to the stands for his protests to referee Antonio Mateu Lahoz.
Liverpool had rode their luck in the first half but emerged a different side after the break and secured the vital away goal through Mohamed Salah 11 minutes into the second half.
That effectively ended the game, but Roberto Firmino bagged his ninth European goal of the season to actually win the game for Jurgen Klopp’s men as they marched into the last four.
It was the best start possible for City as they opened the scoring inside two minutes as they profited from playing Liverpool at their own pressing game.
Virgil van Dijk was weak in possession and stopped playing when appealing for a non-existent free kick against Sterling, who then got into the space he’d vacated before squaring for Jesus to finish expertly.
From there it was another 43 minutes of almost total dominance from the home side who sent wave after wave of attacks on a nervous looking Liverpool who struggled to string two passes together.
Only half chances were created though until Bernardo Silva rattled the post on 40 minutes after cutting in from the right and firing left-footed.
The a second goal then should have come three minutes before the break when Sane bundled the ball in after a weak Karius punch rebounded off James Milner towards his own goal, only for the officials to wrongly rule it out for offside.
Guardiola was furious with Spanish referee Antonio Mateu as the teams left the pitch at the break, but his protests overstepped the mark in the official’s eyes as he was sent to the stands for the second half.
The City boss then had an elevated view as Liverpool struck back 11 minutes after the break when Mane muscled his way in behind and, after Ederson’s challenge halted his progress, Salah picked up the ball and chipped into the far corner.
A vital away goal shook City, who now needed to score five to go through, and Guardiola sent on Sergio Aguero to try and engineer an even more remarkable comeback.
However, any feint hope they had was extinguished on 77 minute when a Nicolas Otamendi mistake led to Firmino getting in down the left and he slid the ball into the far corner to finish the job.
Liverpool now go into the hat for the semi-final draw on Friday.
Reaction
Pep Guardiola felt Manchester City were on the wrong end of some poor refereeing decisions.
The City manager was sent to the stands for protesting to referee Antonio Mateu Lahoz.
"I said he was wrong," said Guardiola when asked about his dismissal. "I didn't insult him. I just said it was a penalty and it was a goal.
"The ball (for Sane) came from (James) Milner. He said, 'From Milner it came?'. 'Yes, from Milner'.
"When it comes from Milner it is not offside, and we go to half-time 2-0. Two-nil against that team is a little bit different.
"In these kind of games, in these competitions, the impact is so big. At Anfield the first goal from (Mohamed) Salah is offside. The goal from Gabriel Jesus in Anfield was a goal, not offside."
Guardiola has had his run-ins with Lahoz before. The Spanish official angered Guardiola by not giving City a penalty a last-16 clash last season and he also gave Napoli two penalties at the Etihad Stadium earlier in this campaign.
"I know him from Spain," Guardiola said. "I could imagine that."
Liverpool midfielder James Milner admitted his side had to hang tough in the first half after City started so well and got the early goal.
Milner told BT Sport: "They are a good team, they always put you under pressure. They had chances but that shows a lot how we came out in the second half."
Salah added: "They were were pressing very high in the beginning.
"We came back, we played hard and we got the result, that is the most important thing.
"Everyone gave 100 per cent and we are happy about that."