Liverpool thrashed Roma at Anfield on Tuesday thanks to another stunning performance from Mohamed Salah.
Liverpool’s Champions League semifinal first leg against Roma went the way many expected after the starting lineups were revealed, not that that made the performance any less thrilling. The visitors went with the three-man backline they used in their comeback against Barcelona in the quarterfinals, a tactic that seemed, and ultimately proved, suicidal against the Reds attacking trio.
The strategy seemed to work for the 25 minutes, but it didn’t take long to realize the space Roma were leaving on the wings was playing to Liverpool’s strengths. Even in those opening stages, when the Reds struggled at times to cope with Roma’s press, Sadio Mane, Roberto Firmino and Mohamed Salah were able to find space behind Roma’s defense.
Liverpool’s chances came in waves after the 25th minute, and the Giallorossi quickly became overmatched, giving away possession easily and failing to apply the same level of intensity that had served them well in the opening exchanges. Eusebio Di Francesco, who has done so well in this competition, made a grave error by failing to account for Liverpool’s pace.
With all the talk of Liverpool’s suffocating press, it was the good old long ball that seemed to cause the most problems for the Italians early on. Roma’s three center-backs were hopeless against the runs of Salah and Mane in open space, as so many had predicted before the game, and then again when the lineups came out.
Still, we can discuss tactics all we want, but in the end it was the pure individual brilliance of Salah that proved decisive. The Egyptian’s two first-half goals showcased the entire gamut of his abilities: Silky smooth first touch, technique, speed, clinical finishing under pressure … the list goes on.
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If you thought Roma’s familiarity with Salah would help them deal with him, you were dead wrong. This is a player whose place on the podium of the world’s best is undeniable at the moment. Salah set the tone in the first half, and followed that up with two magical assists in the second, setting up Mane and then Firmino for tap-ins.
The Kop was singing and (prematurely) celebrating passage to another European final when Firmino made it 5-0 in the 67th minute, as pundits wondered where the performance ranked among the great nights of Liverpool’s past. Roma, meanwhile, had nothing left to do but try to minimize the damage.
They did more than that, as Edin Dzeko found the back of the net following some laughable defending from Dejan Lovren and Diego Perotta scored a second from the penalty spot. Once again, they need a 3-0 home win to go through. They’ve done it before against top class competition, and judging by Lovren’s penchant for defensive gaffes, they should get their chance to make it interesting at the Stadio Olympic next Tuesday.