Elliott’s Late Goal Seals Liverpool Win Over PSG

After going on to give a lucky 1-0 victory against Paris St Germain, who outplayed their opponents during Wednesday’s Champions League last-16 first leg match, Liverpool substitute Harvey Elliott scored a last-gasp winner 47 seconds after arriving on.

After a pass from fellow substitute Darwin Nunez for a hardly-earned triumph in Paris, Elliott slanted home in the 87th minute against the flow of play after goalkeeper Alisson had kept Liverpool in the game with a number of superb saves. Compared to PSG’s 28, Liverpool aimed for their first shot on target and second effort.

“To go away with a win from here was probably a bit more than we deserved,” said Slot.

Having won 18 and drawn two of their last 20 games, Luis Enrique’s PSG was left to regret lost opportunities while considering a difficult return leg at Anfield next Tuesday.

“We shall present our character and the team we are. Their midfielder Vitinha declared: “We are going to win there.” “The win from the game we participated was more than justified. We just couldn’t score; we had lots of chances.”

Champions League

The Champions League last eight will see the aggregate victor facing either Aston Villa or Club Brugge. PSG started strongly with Liverpool’s effort at a high press not lasting very long.

Joao Neves blasted his attempt over the bar from Dembele’s cutback following the France forward’s outrun of two defenders in the 16th minute, giving the hosts their first clean chance. Alarm bells were ringing for Liverpool and they again escaped punishment in the 20th when Khvicha Kvaratskhelia’s superb curled effort was ruled out for offside after a VAR review.

Following a challenge from Ibrahima Konate, Bradley Barcola went down and another video check for a possible red card was called for, but the visitors stayed with eleven men. Alisson parived Neves’ 25-metre strike before denying Dembele while Liverpool was in survival mode. The ball passed Barcola’s path, whose initial strike was blocked before his second flew over.

The Brazilian keeper’s firm hand was there again to stop Kvaratskhelia and he made saves left, right and centre early in a one-sided second half. “Without him, I don’t know where we’d be,” said goalscorer Elliott.

Slot sent Curtis Jones and Nunez on for Luis Diaz and Diogo Jota hoping to shift the momentum but PSG stayed a notch above.

Alisson

Alisson, again, stretched to tip away Desire Doue’s missile 10 minutes from time and he also played a key role in the buildup to the goal. With the clock ticking down, Nunez showed his strength to win Alisson’s long ball and played perfectly into the path of Elliott, who calmly slid the ball past Gianluigi Donnarumma.

“You could see they (PSG) had become a bit tired at the end,” added Elliott. “It was down to me to put the opportunity away and fortunately it went in.”

Alisson, who was named man of the match, said it was the performance of his life. “We had to be ready to suffer … It was a tough night for us with a happy end,” he said.

“We worked hard. We gave away so many chances … And then at the end Harvey coming in and scoring the goal. It’s unbelievable. A great story. A great night for us.”