Liverpool defeated Belgian team Union Saint-Gilloise 2-0 at Anfield to avenge their contentious loss at Tottenham last weekend.
The Reds controlled the first half and ought to have taken the lead through Darwin Nunez within the opening quarter of the game, but the striker inexplicably missed wide from close range. However, Ryan Gravenberch scored his first goal for Liverpool in the 44th minute to give Klopp’s team the advantage.
As the game wore on, Union grew into the contest, though Luis Diaz missed a golden opportunity on the counter-attack to double their advantage. But, that didn’t matter as Jota secured the Reds all three points late on. Here are five talking points from the game.
Nunez’s embarrassing miss
Klopp couldn’t believe it when Nunez pushed the ball wide after missing a golden first-half chance when it was easier to score. After Mohamed Salah squared the ball across the outside of the six-yard box, the Uruguayan should have scored in the 17th minute, but Nunez shot wide.
It was a quite incredible miss from the 24-year-old, who must have taken his eye off the ball as the goal was gaping, following Salah’s neat cut-back. The incident came a matter of minutes after Nunez thought he had given Liverpool the lead as he tapped home from close-range, only for the offside flag to be raised.
Gravenberch’s first goal
Gravenberch scored his first Liverpool goal on the stroke of halftime, after going close earlier in the game. After Alexander-Arnold’s long-range effort was fumbled by Anthony Moris, the Dutchman capitalized with a strike from a few yards out.
Gravenberch has made a good start to life at Anfield since joining from Bayern Munich in the summer, and he put up another commanding display against Union. The Dutchman nearly scored again in the second half but was stopped by Moris’ excellent save. He lasted until the 78th minute before being replaced by Dominik Szoboszlai.
Quansah takes his opportunity
Having spent the second-half of last season on loan at Bristol Rovers, not many would have expected Jarell Quansah to have quite the impact he has had at the start of this season. The 19-year-old excelled after being thrown in for his debut against Newcastle in August, and he has not looked back
Quansah shone on his first Liverpool start at Wolves last month, and also grabbed his maiden Reds assist in the recent 3-1 win over Leicester. The England Under-20 international was handed another chance to impress after being handed his full Europa League debut against Union – and he took the opportunity with both hands.
Liverpool earned their first clean sheet in six matches since the last international break thanks to a fantastic display from the centre-back, who didn’t put a foot wrong.
