Liverpool have secured their place in the Champions League round of 16 with a 2-1 win against 10-man Lille at Anfield.
Gabriel Gudmundsson had an early chance for Lille inside the opening minute, which was driven wide of Alisson Becker’s post.
Liverpool then went on to dominate the first half, with Mo Salah having a shot saved by Lucas Chevalier in the 7th minute, but nothing much came of it for the first 20 minutes.
Salah then scored the opening goal of the game in the 34th minute with a clinical finish and an assist from Curtis Jones after Kostas Tsimikas won possession of the ball from Jonathan David.
The goal saw Salah hitting another milestone as it was his 50th European goal for Liverpool.
The hosts continued to be dominant in the second half.
Jarell Quansah went close with a header from a Tsimikas corner in the 53rd minute.
Six minutes later, Lille’s Aissa Mandi was sent off after receiving a second yellow card for tripping Luis Diaz who had received a lovely pass from Harvey Elliott.
Lille managed to find an unlikely equaliser just three minutes later, with David converting from inside the box after Hakon Arnar Haraldsson’s initial effort was blocked.
But Arne Slot’s team hit back and scored the winner. Elliott, on as a substitute, saw his strike from distance take a deflection and fly into the bottom corner.
There were a few more Liverpool efforts in the closing stages, but nothing came of them.
The Reds need just a point against PSV Eindhoven to claim the top spot in the Champions League table.
But they have already guaranteed a place in the knockout stages of the competition.
Lille had previously gone 21 games unbeaten coming into this match.
Liverpool captain Virgil Van Dijk said: “We prepared very well in my opinion, and there were some opportunities for players who don’t play as much.
“It puts us in a very good position for the rest of the campaign hopefully.”
