It was the first part of the champions league quarter-final first leg action, as Liverpool who have their eyes on the premier league title, locked horn against Porto who also have their eyes on the Premera Liga title, a game that ended in a solid victory for Liverpool, as they put one leg into the semifinals.
For Liverpool, this was a good win at home, going into the second leg in a very good position, with a 2 nil agg advantage. The champions league might not be their major priority due to their ambition to win the premier league after so many years, but they still want to win it and will fight to reach the finals yet again.
For Porto, it was a tough outing for them, and have a big task in front of them, to try to overturn the tie at home. Nevertheless, the tie isn’t over yet as a 2 nil deficit isn’t that much of a big deal in this competition as seen in the past and in previous games. It all boils down to what happens at Porto.
Brief Post-Match Analyses
As usual, it was a great champions league night atmosphere at Anfield, a fixture which the fans were all anticipated and excited about.
Liverpool lineup in their usual 4-3-3 formation, while Porto setup up in a 3-4-3 formation. The game began and the reds were asking so many questions from the Porto team very early in the game, which finally resulted to an early goal and scoring some minutes later to get the first leg done and dusted.
Keita opened the scoring in the 5th minute, receiving the ball from just outside the box, and finding the top right with a nice strike, to give the reds the all-important lead advantage.
Firmino got his name on the scoresheet in the 26th minute, tapping in from a squared pass, a goal that sealed the victory for the reds, to put them in a very good position for the second in Portugal.
Match Stats
According to the final stats of the game, Liverpool were the better team. The reds had more shots, with a total of 15 shots, 3 of them were on target, which resulted in 2 goals. Porto, on the other hand, had a total of 8 shots, 3 of them on target with none finding the back of the net.
Liverpool had more of the ball possession as expected at home, with a 65% possession, 641 passes, and 83% pass accuracy, while Porto had the other share of the ball possession, with 343 passes and a 67% pass accuracy.
The reds committed more of fouls in the game, with a total of 9 fouls committed, 2 of which were shown a yellow card and surprisingly no cards were shown. Porto, on the other hand, committed 7 fouls and had 2 yellow cards.
Liverpool were ruled offside 4 times in the game and also had 4 opportunities from the corner kick. Porto had just 2 offside calls and had 5 corners in the game.
It was a solid and a crucial victory for Liverpool as they are now in a very good position and a 2 goal agg advantage for the second leg. They are currently the favorites to make it into the semifinals and will be going into the second leg with full confidence.
And that is a wrap…
What do you think about this match?
I would love to read your own opinions… Enjoy your day.
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