PLAYER RATINGS: LIVERPOOL 2-0 FC PORTO

Liverpool hosted Portuguese giants FC Porto and fought to a 2-0 victory. A quite astonishing goal by Thiago was followed up by another classic Mo Salah goal as the Reds stepped up the gears second half. The victory sees Liverpool move on to 15 points, their most ever in a CL group stage. Read on for player ratings from the game.

Alisson – 6.5

Not troubled. Just one routine save all game. He did make a one on one save but the attacker was offside anyways. One shaky moment when he inexplicably passed it straight to a Porto shirt. He got away with it though. Captain on the night and he crowned it with a comfortable clean sheet.

Williams – 7.5

He was defensively astute throughout. Didn’t give his man much of a sniff, especially second half. He battled Diaz well and won that individual duel. Going forward his touch was a bit scruffy. A lot of times he seemed to get the ball stuck under his feet. One excellent pick out to Minamino first half came to nothing. Solid display.

Matip – 7

His first touch of the game was a heavy one as his attempted long ball from kickoff was charged down. He then lost a simple header seconds later and they were almost in. Tightened up after that and made less mistakes. Won lots of headers and shackled his man well second half without giving away cheap free kicks.

Konaté – 6

The 22 year old actually started well, as his first few involvements were of him winning challenges. He was caught in possession in a bad position and he was lucky Porto didn’t punish the error. For such a big unit, his heading isn’t that great. He wins the headers but there’s no direction, as shown when he headed a Tsimikas corner straight at the keeper. Booked.

Tsimikas – 6.5

He also got caught in possession and was lucky Porto were in a forgiving mood. He struggled when we tried to build attacks from the back, with his passing not quite on the money. Defensively he was given a tough time too and he resulted to giving away cheap free kicks. His deliveries were a weapon though, as he put in a number of dangerous crosses.

Morton – 8

The kid is brilliant. There were no sign of nerves at all. He was tidy in possession and always knew what to do with the ball before he received it. It’s a shame they didn’t trust him in tight areas more often first half, because he showcased some silky touches. Played a fantastic diagonal to Salah in the build up to the second goal.

Oxlade-Chamberlain – 6.5

Another performance where you’re left wanting more. Off the ball he was great. Diligent defensively and always switched on to runners in behind. Never shy to track back and use his pace for recovery. Again though, his on the ball work wasn’t up to scratch. Ran down blind alleys too often and should have scored but didn’t get the right connection on his volley as he screwed it wide.

Thiago – 9

Played one pass astray early on but that was the only blemish on what was another accomplished performance. Porto pressed like maniacs and the Reds were sloppy with the ball early on. That was till the Spaniard got on the ball and got us playing. His touch, control and weight of pass is just a dream. Denied an assist by a tight offside call and then blasted us into the lead with technique of the highest order. What a goal!

Salah – 7.5

Frustrating night for long stretches as he was well marshalled by his man. He was over elaborate when he got on the ball too, which didn’t help. Contributed to the sloppiness of the first half with some poor crosses straight to the Porto defence. Found a bit more joy second half and sold Uribe a dummy to send him sprawling before finishing with aplomb inside the near post.

Minamino – 6.5

Worked hard, pressed well, didn’t stop running till full time. He was too easily knocked off the ball a number of times. Had a chance to play Salah in on one counter but hiss pass was overhit. Scored with his only real chance of the game as he steered a volley home but he was offside. Mistimed his jump to waste a Neco cross but again, he was offside.

Mané – 7

He also started sloppily as he gave the ball away a few times. Settled into the game and thought he had given us the lead with an excellent finish into the far corner. Somehow found offside for it as the goal was chalked off. Chested one corner down but lashed his left footed attempt wide. Unlucky not to score. Played some lovely sprayed passes to Salah.

Substitutes

Henderson – 7

Came on and played on the right of Morton. Exchanged passes with the youngster as he showed his faith in him. Set Salah up for his goal and tried to score himself from a free kick. His cheeky attempt was rolled under the jumping wall but it was well wide the near post. Attempted a couple of through passes but it didn’t come off.

Robertson – 7

Was like a man possessed when he came on. You could see he had the bit between the teeth as he went on several marauding runs down the left. Unlucky not to find a teammate with his final delivery but really forceful play. Defended well one on one. You can tell he wants that starting spot on Saturday. Good battle between him and Tsimikas right now.

Fabinho – 6.5

Wasn’t involved much. Sat at the base of midfield and cleaned up the few attacks that came his way.

Origi – 6.5

Thought he had won a penalty when he intercepted a loose pass by Mbemba and skinned him to win a foul. It was just outside the box though. He played on the left wing and kept trying to cut in and shoot, it was blocked both times.

Milner – 6

Came on and amusingly played false nine. He was good at it too, of course he was. Stung the keeper’s gloves with a left footed drive. Almost broke one player in half with a trademark James Milner tackle. The kind where he wins the ball and cleans the man out. Took a silly booking by delaying a free kick. He’ll now miss the Milan game. Very un-Milner like.

Jurgen Klopp

Picked perhaps a stronger team than many expected, but he is well within his right to. Took Thiago off early and also took Mané and Salah off as soon as it went 2-0. Showed trust in Morton to start him and leave him on for the full game. 5 wins from 5 in the so called group of death. No injuries. Clean sheet. Perfect night.