Liverpool star silences critics with wonder strike

2 years ago 95

If you can't halt goals, people them instead.

That was the Trent Alexander-Arnold method successful the Champions League, arsenic the under-fire Liverpool defender silenced his critics with a spectacular escaped footwear successful a 2-0 triumph implicit Rangers.

The 23-year-old had been made a scapegoat for Liverpool's patchy aboriginal play signifier with his sometimes shaky defending exposed by the storied club's wide deficiency of cohesion.

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Alexander-Arnold's spot successful England's World Cup squad had besides travel into question successful immoderate quarters, but helium gave manager Gareth Southgate a timely reminder of his quality erstwhile helium sweetly curled the shot past 40-year-old Rangers goalkeeper Allan McGregor and into the apical corner.

That seventh infinitesimal onslaught eased the nerves of Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp pursuing a gully against Brighton that near them an unfamiliar ninth successful the Premier League.

Mohamed Salah past doubled Liverpool's pb with a 53rd infinitesimal penalty astatine Anfield aft Luis Diaz was fouled by 18-year-old Leon King.

Champions League highlights: Liverpool vs Rangers

"It was the cleanable nighttime for them and this crippled came astatine the cleanable time," Craig Foster said connected Stan Sport's coverage.

"It's been rather an absorbing 24 hours for Gareth Southgate," Mark Pougatch added from Liverpool.

"There was James Maddison's show for Leicester and present erstwhile Trent Alexander-Arnold does that, everybody goes 'oooh, there's different crushed wherefore helium should beryllium successful the England squad.' They virtually didn't adjacent propulsion a punch, Rangers."

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The crippled betwixt past season's runners-up successful England and Scotland was a 1 sided contention that could person seen Klopp's squad rack up a overmuch greater borderline of victory.

It was lone McGregor who kept the people respectable, repeatedly keeping Liverpool astatine bay.

He engaged successful a idiosyncratic dual with Darwin Nunez successful the archetypal fractional – and aft the interruption produced a spectacular fingertip prevention to propulsion distant a goal-bound effort from Diogo Jota.

The Glasgow nine looked retired of its extent from the opening moments arsenic Liverpool wholly dominated the shot and the chances.

Rangers did equine a precocious charge, with Rabbi Matondo's changeable cleared disconnected the enactment by Kostas Tsimikas and Antonio Colak forcing a prevention from Alisson from adjacent range.

Meanwhile, Napoli continued their scintillating signifier by battering Ajax 6-1 arsenic the Serie A leaders maintained their cleanable grounds successful Group A.

Giacomo Raspadori scored a extremity successful each fractional arsenic Napoli's unrelenting precocious pressing forwards and midfielders ne'er gave Ajax clip to physique up from the backmost and forced defenders to repeatedly crook implicit the ball, creating accidental aft chance.

It was lone the 2nd clip Ajax had conceded astatine slightest 5 goals successful a European match. The past juncture was a 5-1 decision by Bayern Munich successful 1980.

Napoli has present scored 13 goals successful 3 Group A matches this Champions League campaign.

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Luciano Spalletti's squad conceded an aboriginal extremity but rapidly seized full power astatine the Johan Cruyff Arena.

Napoli was without injured guardant Victor Osimhen but it did person Raspadori, who showed his people by scoring 2 goals successful 2 Nations League wins past period for Italy implicit England and Hungary.

After Mohammed Kudus deflected Kenneth Taylor's changeable into the Napoli extremity to springiness Ajax a ninth infinitesimal lead, it was Raspadori who equalised 9 minutes later, stooping astatine the acold station to caput successful a transverse from the near by Mathias Olivera.

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Defender Giovani Di Lorenzo gave Napoli the pb erstwhile helium bushed Jurrien Timber to a transverse from the close by Khvicha Kvaratskhelia and headed into the country successful the 33rd minute.

Just earlier halftime, Piotr Zielinski picked up the shot conscionable wrong his ain half, sprinted done a gaping spread successful the Ajax defence and changeable past Remko Pasveer who got a manus to the shot but could not halt the Poland midfielder scoring his 3rd extremity successful arsenic galore Champions League matches this season.

The unit didn't fto up aft the interruption and Raspadori grabbed his 2nd extremity successful the 47th aft Pasveer's sloppy walk to Calvin Bassey was intercepted.

Raspadori chopped done the static defence again successful the 63rd infinitesimal with a speedy speech of passes to acceptable up Kvaratskhelia for Napoli's 5th goal.

Substitute Giovanni Simeone made it 6-1 with a almighty adjacent scope changeable successful the 81st infinitesimal arsenic dejected Ajax fans poured retired of the stadium.

Those who stayed booed the location squad disconnected the pitch.

Ajax finished the lucifer with 10 men aft skipper Dusan Tadic was sent disconnected successful the 74th infinitesimal for his 2nd yellowish card.

In Germany, Tottenham again lacked a cutting borderline successful a 0-0 gully astatine Eintracht Frankfurt to permission their radical wide unfastened aft 3 rounds of games.

The lone goals scored by Antonio Conte's broadside successful Group D stay the precocious treble by Richarlison successful an underwhelming 2-0 triumph implicit 10 antheral Marseille successful the opening round, with the stalemate successful Frankfurt pursuing a 2-0 nonaccomplishment astatine Sporting.

Son Heung-min and Ivan Perisic came closest for Tottenham successful a lucifer that was extremity to extremity astatine times but wherever the finishing from some teams near a batch to beryllium desired.

Eintracht's champion accidental fell to Jesper Lindstrom but his 2nd fractional effort flew implicit the crossbar from a cardinal presumption wrong the area.

Tottenham and Eintracht moved to 4 points, 2 down Sporting and 1 much than Marseille.

Champions League highlights: Frankfurt vs Tottenham

All 4 teams person a realistic accidental of a apical 2 decorativeness to advance, with Tottenham having 2 location games remaining.

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