Liverpool beat Bologna to maintain their perfect start in the Champions League.
Arne Slot had called for a ‘special night’ at Anfield but it was a rather strange contest where the Reds dominated for the first 25 minutes but then the game lost its spark.
Alexis Mac Allister opened the scoring in the 11th minute and Mohamed Salah wrapped up proceedings after 75 minutes with a stunning curling effort.
The Reds have maximum points so far from their first two games back amongst Europe’s elite, meanwhile the Italian side have one point after their draw with Shakhtar Donetsk in the first matchweek.
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Story of the Match
Arne Slot made just one change from the 2-1 victory over Wolves on Saturday evening, with Darwin Nunez, who was ill for the Molineux contest, replacing Diogo Jota in the starting XI.
Federico Chiesa missed out for the Reds through injury, although he is expected to be back in the squad for the weekend’s clash with Crystal Palace.
The Italians made four changes to the team that drew with Atalanta on the weekend, with Juan Miranda, Nikola Moro, Kacper Urbanski and Thijs Dallinga replacing Charalampos Lukogiannis, Michel Aebischer, Giovanni Fabbian and Santiago Castro.
The latter was a surprise considering that the 20-year-old Argentine has scored three goals in the I Rossoblù‘s last three league matches.
An early Liverpool flurry
The first chance came the way of the hosts just a minute into the contest, a wonderful combination between Salah and Ryan Gravenberch ended with the Dutchman playing a dangerous ball across the box but no Reds attacker could get on the end of it.
The visitors responded six minutes later with a wild effort from Riccardo Orsolini after Gravenberch had lost the ball on the turn close to his own penalty box.
They thought they had taken the lead just a minute later, Dallinga with a neat finish over the onrushing Alisson from a through ball, however, he made his run too early and was ruled offside.
It was the hosts who would open the scoring just after the ten minute mark, Mac Allister getting on the end of a Salah cross and tapping home from close range after he had started the move initially.
The returning Nunez thought he had doubled the deficit as the game approached the 18 minute mark but he went too early and was offside as he slotted the ball past Lukasz Skorupski.
It felt like only a matter of time before the hosts got a second goal and Dominik Szoboszlai nearly obliged, his effort sailing narrowly wide of the target after Salah had teed him up.
The first booking of the contest went the way of Virgil van Dijk after a collision with Dallinga in the 26th minute.
The visitors had two chances either side of the half an hour mark and it looked as if Liverpool had lost their momentum as Dan Ndoye had one effort deflected onto the crossbar then another hit the post.
A surprise double booking was the punishment for Ibrahima Konate and Sam Beukema after a tussle as they jostled for position before a corner for the hosts as the game idled towards the half time break.
Reds search for a second
The first chance of the second half went to the hosts, Nunez connecting with a Salah cross but unable to direct his header below the crossbar.
The fourth booking of the night was handed to Andy Robertson and from the resulting free-kick, Orsolini forced a save from Alisson.
The visitors had another chance shortly after, Urbanski smashing well over the crossbar from range after the space had opened up for him.
A corner for the hosts was then nearly put into the net by a Bologna defender but went narrowly wide.
The first substitutions of the night were made by the both sides around the hour mark, Jota replacing Nunez for the Reds and Nicolo Casale and Aebischer replacing Beukema and Urbanski for the Italians.
Just three minutes later, Salah came close to doubling the lead, as his curling effort sailed just wide of the far post.
Another booking went the way of the visitors, Aebischer cautioned for a late challenge on Mac Allister with the 70 minute mark approaching.
As the game passed that mark, Cody Gakpo and Kostas Tsimikas replaced Luis Diaz and Robertson as Arne Slot sought to re-establish his side’s momentum in the contest.
Five minutes later, the Reds finally had their second, Salah cutting inside onto his lethal left foot and curling a vicious effort into the top corner after Szoboszlai had given him the ball on the edge of the area.
That was the Egyptian’s 49th Champions League goal and probably one of his best, an absolutely wonderful effort to settle the nerves of the Anfield faithful, who were getting more and more restless the longer the game went on with a narrow lead.
He nearly had an assist to follow, a superb ball through to Cody Gakpo was just waiting for the Dutch attacker to pounce but the goalkeeper got there first.
The visitors then made a double change, Ndoye and Dallinga replaced by Castro and Aston Villa loanee Samuel Iling-Junior.
After the 80 minute mark had elapsed, Gravenberch picked up the ball and drove towards the Bologna box and unfortunately released a rather tame effort that dribbled wide after some excellent work to create the chance.
Vincenzo Italiano made his side’s final alteration a minute later, Remo Frueler replaced by Fabbian and the Reds responded with their own final changes, Conor Bradley and Curtis Jones replacing Trent Alexander-Arnold and Szoboszlai.
As the final minute approached, Tsimikas was booked and gave away a foul in a very dangerous position on the edge of the box, but the free-kick hit the wall.
Bologna were still pushing for what was probably a consolation at this point and Iling-Junior fired a long range effort well over the bar as full-time approached.
Ryan Gravenberch
Once again the Dutch midfielder was the star man for the Reds.
The 22-year-old made the most ball recoveries (nine) and completed the most passes into the final third (seven) for Liverpool.
Those two stats sum up his performance, he was all over the pitch, and has become a key cog in Arne Slot’s machine.
