FOOTBALL – LIVERPOOL booked their spot in the last 16 of the Champions League with a 2-1 victory over 10-man Lille last night at Anfield, thanks to goals from talisman Mohamed Salah and substitute Harvey Elliott.
Arne Slot’s men maintained their 100 per cent record and top the 36-team table with 21 points, three points clear of second-placed Barcelona with one game of the league phase remaining.
Salah netted his 50th European goal for Liverpool in the 34th minute when he sprinted onto a long pass from Curtis Jones before curling a shot around goalkeeper Lucas Chevalier.
Despite being reduced to 10 men when Aissa Mandi was shown his second yellow card in the 59th minute, Jonathan David levelled for the visitors three minutes later when he hammered home the loose ball after Hakon Arnar Haraldsson’s shot was blocked.
Liverpool quickly regained the lead when a corner was headed out to the edge of the box and Elliott fired a crisp shot that took a wild deflection into the net in the 67th minute.
Earlier, AS Monaco edged out Aston Villa 1-0 at home, thanks to an early goal from Wilfried Singo, to secure the Ligue 1 side their first win of the year.
Monaco snapped a four-game winless run across all competitions to provisionally sit ninth in the 36-team Champions League table with 13 points.
Villa, who were unbeaten in their last five matches in all competitions, slipped to seventh, also on 13 points with a top-eight finish now in jeopardy.
Meanwhile, Raphinha scored a late winner as Barcelona came from behind to win a remarkable game 5-4 against Benfica.
Juventus were held to a 0-0 draw at Belgian champions Club Brugge.
&uuid=(email))