Match reportLiverpool beat Galatasaray 4-0 at Anfield to reach UCL quarter-finals

The Reds produced a performance of authority and class to emphatically overturn a 1-0 deficit from last week’s first meeting in Istanbul, with Dominik Szoboszlai, Hugo Ekitike, Ryan Gravenberch and Mohamed Salah getting the goals.

Szoboszlai opened the scoring midway through a first half that ended with Salah seeing a penalty saved, before Ekitike and Gravenberch struck in a two-minute spell soon after the restart.

With just over an hour gone, Salah did get on the scoresheet – this after a Wilfried Singo own goal had been disallowed for offside against Jeremie Frimpong – with a trademark curler for his 50th Champions League goal.

The Egyptian then hit the crossbar before being substituted due to injury in the only negative to emerge from an otherwise wholly positive evening for Arne Slot and his team, who can now look forward to a last-eight showdown with PSG.

Team

There were four changes to Liverpool’s line-up. Ekitike and Salah started in attack, while Milos Kerkez and Ibrahima Konate returned in defence.

Liverpool: Alisson, Van Dijk, Konate, Kerkez, Wirtz (Ngumoha, 88), Szoboszlai, Mac Allister, Salah (Gakpo, 74), Ekitike (Chiesa, 88), Frimpong (Jones, 67), Gravenberch (Nyoni, 88).

Unused subs: Mamardashvili, Woodman, Gomez, Robertson, Nallo, Morrison.

First half

Roared on amid an atmosphere befitting of the occasion, the Reds made a fast start.

Galatasaray sought to stymie their momentum by wasting time at every opportunity but that was a tactic that irked both Liverpool team and crowd, and the home side refused to allow their tempo to drop.

The pressure on the visitors’ goal was bound to tell eventually and so it proved, via a clever corner routine, in minute 25.

Alexis Mac Allister was the taker, the No.10 deliberately feeding a low delivery into the path of the onrushing Szoboszlai, who calmly passed the ball into the bottom corner with a precise and first-time, left-foot hit.

Salah and Florian Wirtz missed big chances before Mac Allister hit the bar with a header from point-blank range following another inventive set-piece.

It seemed that Liverpool would go in at the break ahead in the tie when a penalty was awarded for Szoboszlai being felled by Ismail Jakobs in the area, but Salah’s low kick was saved by Ugurcan Cakir.

Second half

The Reds emerged for the second half in no mood to countenance elimination and a whirlwind 115-second spell saw them score twice to take charge of the tie.

First, Ekitike slotted home Salah’s perfectly weighted cross at the back post and then, after Salah’s powerful strike had been saved, Gravenberch was on hand to bobble in the rebound.

Galatasaray were now being completely overwhelmed as Liverpool attacked relentlessly and Singo diverted Frimpong’s cross into his own net, only for the No.30 to be ruled offside by VAR.

No matter as, with 62 minutes played, Salah reached yet another goalscoring landmark with a textbook effort that located the top corner from 20 yards.

It could, and perhaps should, have been more, with Salah hitting the woodwork from close range and Mac Allister seeing a late goal following a corner disallowed, but the job had been done and now a quarter-final against PSG awaits next month.

Attendance: 59,980