Liverpool secure last 16 place with a tense 1-0 win over Napoli

Mohamed Salah scored the only goal of the game as Liverpool beat Napoli 1-0 at Anfield to see them through to the last-16 of the Champions League

Liverpool entered the clash knowing that a 1-0 victory would suffice but should the Italian side score then the Merseysiders would need to win by two clear goals.

Napoli came into the European clash riding a 12-game unbeaten run, which started back in October when they beat the Premier League outfit 1-0 in Naples.

The first-half was tense with both teams fully aware of the prize at stake. Both did flash early danger signs, however. First Andrew Robertson swung in a cross for Mohamed Salah who was left unmarked sprinting into the Napoli penalty area. The Egyptian’s touch was too heavy, though, and the ball was smothered by David Ospina in the Napoli goal.

The visiting Italians quickly retaliated with a lightening quick flurry forward of their own which culminated in Marek Hamsik taking aim from 20-yard out but his effort was guided over the crossbar.

Both sides traded bright attacking movements but their final ball was ultimately letting the two down.

The Reds thought they had got the much needed first goal with 20 minutes played when Sadio Mane tapped in from close range. The linesman raised his flag, however leaving the Senegal international in disbelief but earning applause from manager Jurgen Klopp.

The hosts looked the more settled side as the half wore on, Robertson in particular having great influence over the contest as he marauded forward from his left-back spot.

Salah and Mane was equally as troublesome for Carlo Ancelotti’s men and kept the Napoli defence on their toes.

It would be the Egyptian that broke the deadlock and gave the Reds a needed advantage with 33 minutes played.

Salah rolled his defender before turning and sprinting into the penalty area and sliding the ball between Ospina’s legs and into the far corner from a tight angle to send Anfield into a frenzy.

The home fans created a cacophony of noise thereafter creating a hostile territory for the visitors who looked more flustered with every passing minute.

Ancelotti’s men looked as nervous after the break as they did before it as they clumsily clattered into red shirts.

Their nerves almost saw them plummet to a two-goal deficiet as Jordan Henderson intercepted a pass in the Napoli half and fed Roberto Firmino. The Brazilian then laid the ball off to Salah but the former Roma forward blasted his shot wide of the mark. Liverpool were in the ascendancy.

The wave of red shirts flooding forward was unrelenting and shots rained down on the Napoli goal with Virgil van Dijk, Salah and Mane all firing efforts goalwards.

The game remained finely balanced with the home side well aware that one goal for the Serie A side would alter the complexion of the match entirely, and Napoli reminded Liverpool of their threat with just under an hour played. Dries Mertens and Raul Albiol both tested Alisson’s concentration, the Liverpool goalkeeper dealing with their attempts with minimal fuss.

Ancelotti threw on Polish striker Arkadiusz Milik in search of an equaliser with 23 minutes to play, the game precariously poised as the final quarter of the contest closed in.

The away side attacked with more urgency, giving the Liverpool defence more to think about in the final 20 minutes than they had done throughout the other 70 minutes.

Their eagerness to level almost saw them fall further behind, however. Salah sprinted away from chasing Gil Azzurri defenders and rounded Opsina but the ball drifted wider than intended. Salah’s eventual lofted effort required an athletic save from the Colombia shot-stopper.

Mane squandered another chance to double the Reds’ lead when he could not sort his feet out when coming in to meet a Robertson cross and fired his effort straight at Ospina from three yards out.

The final ten minutes saw the game become predictably stretched as both teams pushed for the game’s second goal. Van Dijk went close but was flagged offside while up the other end Milik had an effort well blocked by Joel Matip. Georginio Wijnaldum had three half chances to put his team two ahead with just seven minutes left but wasted the trio.

The tension was palpable in the dying embers of the game which was punctuated by another Mane miss from close range. This time he fired over from five yards after Salah found him on a cut-back pass.

Liverpool were almost made to pay for their lackluster finishing when a cross found Milik five yards out and one-on-one with Alisson. The stumbling Polish striker was unable to regain his balance, hitting his shot against the Brazilian keeper. It would be Napoli’s final chance as their Champions League hopes faded.

Mane would miss his third sitter of the game but it would not matter.

Referee Damir Skomina blew for full-time to send Liverpool into the last-16 of the Champions League and complete another memorable European night at Anfield.