Soccer
Liverpool take first leg of Champions League semi-final against Villarreal
Liverpool defeated Villarreal 2-0 at Anfield on Wednesday, earning a vital first-leg victory in the clubs' 2021-22 UEFA Champions League semi-final tie.
The Reds were up against a Villarreal side that had slayed European giants Juventus and Bayern Munich in the rounds leading up to their two-legged affair, and so Liverpool were wary of becoming another big-name victim of the Yellow Submarine. While there is still a second leg to be played, Jurgen Klopp's men will feel they've put themselves in a strong position to advance to the UCL final.
A rather uneventful first half was followed by a decisive final 45 minutes for Liverpool on Wednesday. In fact, the match was decided in a two-minute span early in the second half, started by an own goal by Villarreal's Pervis Estupiñán in the 53rd minute. The defender deflected Jordan Henderson's cross from the right flank over goalkeeper Gerónimo Rulli, giving the home side a fortuitous lead, albeit one that was deserved from the run of play.
Liverpool doubled their advantage two minutes later through Sadio Mané, who received a brilliant through ball from Mohamed Salah and poked the ball past Rulli at the top of the six-yard box.
Buoyed by their sudden cushion, the Reds didn't let up. In the 64th minute Andy Robertson thought he had written his own name on the scoresheet with a skillful one-touch finish off a Trent Alexander Arnold cross, but the goal was disallowed as Robertson was slightly offside.
Four minutes later, Virgil van Dijk forced Rulli into an uncomfortable save with a hard shot from distance, but the subsequent rebound was gobbled up by the goalkeeper before any Liverpool attacker could take advantage.
Then, in the 78th minute, Luis Diaz got past his defender on the left wing and charged toward the net, fizzing a low effort across the face of a wide-open goal only to watch the ball roll wide as none of his teammates were close enough to complete the easy tap-in.
Ultimately the hosts were left with just the two rapid-fire goals, but they also limited Villarreal to zero shots on target to set themselves up nicely for the May 3 second leg at the Estadio de la Cerámica.
