Liverpool took on Porto at Anfield on a crisp, cold November night and although The Reds already knew that they were going to qualify for the knockout stages as group winners before kick-off, it was an opportunity for some players on the cusp of the starting eleven to make a big impact; none more so than Tyler Morton, who was making his Champions League debut.
It was a great start by the young man too, with him stringing several good passes together. However, Porto could have taken an early lead due to Kostas Tsimikas dwelling on the ball, but thankfully, Joel Matip came to the rescue.
The chance was closely followed by another good opening for Porto forward Evanilson, one which Ibou Konate dealt with well.
Konate, however, was later caught on the ball himself and Porto missed a guilt edged chance, with Luis Diaz causing havoc for The Reds defence to lay the ball on a plate, but fortunately for Liverpool, Otavio failed to take advantage of the good build up play.
From there, the game settled down but there were several good passes from Kostas Tsimikas to play in Takumi Minamino and Mohamed Salah respectfully. Porto goalkeeper Diogo Costa made a few mistakes in terms of kicking, but unfortunately, Salah was not able to take advantage of them.
Once again Otavio had an opportunity which he blazed over the bar as Porto continued to threaten but, in after was a rather passive first half, Liverpool sprang into action nine minutes before the interval as a wonderful pass from Thiago found Sadio Mané who finished well, but he was adjudged to have been just slightly offside and the game remained a stalemate.
Before the break Porto had a huge chance as Mehdi was clean through on goal but yet again it was a chance the Portuguese side failed to take as he chose to pass rather than take a shot at goal.
Porto started well again in the second half with Uribe flashing a shot just wide from a well worked free kick but n the 50th minute Liverpool got a free kick and goodness did they take advantage of it!
After the initial cross was cleared, it fell to Thiago who fired in a sublime strike to give The Reds the lead on the night and Anfield came alive!
Jordan Henderson and Andy Robertson were introduced, and almost instantly, Liverpool’s performance went up a gear. Opportunities were created for Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, and a lovely move was finished off by Taki Minamino but unfortunately it was ruled offside.
In any case, it proved to be irrelevant as a lovely ball was played by youngster Morton and as the Portuguese defence allowed the ball to bounce, Mo Salah took advantage and after some nice interplay with Henderson, he fired a sharp finish into the bottom right hand corner of the net to make it 17 goals in 17 games for the Egyptian King!
From that point on, The Reds were on easy street and Porto were made to rue a catalogue of missed chances. All in all, it was a positive night for Liverpool as they made it five wins out of five with minimal fuss.
The Reds will soon travel to Italy to face AC Milan with the chance to make history a win will see them become the first English side ever to win all six Champions League group games.
For Porto, they will now face Atletico Madrid at home knowing that a win will also guarantee them a place in the Last 16.
