RB Leipzig vs Liverpool LIVE: Champions League result and reaction as Darwin Nunez goal secures win
RB Leipzig 0-1 Liverpool: Arne Slot’s men remain unbeaten so far in European after overcoming the German side
Liverpool weathered a late Leipzig storm to secure a 1-0 win on their travels in the Champions League. The Reds are still unbeaten in the European top-flight with three wins from their three matches and join Aston Villa on a maximum nine points.
There were two decisive factors in the game. The first was Darwin Nunez, a striker in desperate need of a goal. He popped up in the first half to get on the end of a headed effort from Mo Salah. Salah’s shot looked to be going in, but Nunez made sure and sent Liverpool ahead just moments after the hosts had had a goal disallowed.
The second factor was Liverpool’s deputy goalkeeper Coaimhin Kelleher. The Irishman had a superb outing making around six solid saves to deny a forward line containing Benjamin Sesko and Xavi Simons and keep a clean sheet under a late surge from the German side.
At time it wasn’t pretty but Liverpool managed the game well and got themselves over the line.
Relive the Champions League action with our live blog below:
RB Leipzig 0-1 Liverpool
85 mins: Five minutes to go in Leipzig and Liverpool are under threat. The momentum is all with the hosts who look the most likely team to score again.
Liverpool are making more and more mistakes as the pressure ramps up. Can they see this one out?
RB Leipzig 0-1 Liverpool
82 mins: Disallowed!
Lois Openda has the ball in the back of the net once again but this one is ruled out too. Benjamin Henrichs gets into a forward position and cuts into the box.
He blazes a shot at goal forcing Kelleher to push a one-handed stop away. The ball drops to Openda who puts it in but a VAR check confirms he was ahead of the ball and the last defender.
RB Leipzig 0-1 Liverpool
81 mins: Dominik Szoboszlai takes a shot from outside the box. He’d love a goal on his return to Leipzig but this one gets blocked by the defenders.
RB Leipzig 0-1 Liverpool
78 mins: Xavi Simons goes down after an attempted clearance with the ball only going as far as Cody Gakpo. Gakpo checks to the right and shoots but laces the ball over the top.
Xavi looks in a bad way. He needs help getting off the pitch and is quickly subbed out for Yussuf Poulsen. It looks like an ankle issue for the forward.
RB Leipzig 0-1 Liverpool
75 mins: Here come the changes from Arne Slot.
Curtis Jones, Joe Gomez and Andy Robertson are all introduced for Liverpool. Kostas Tsimikas, Trent Alexander-Arnold and Darwin Nunez are the men replaced.
RB Leipzig 0-1 Liverpool
72 mins: Save!
Liverpool are broken down after Konate loses the ball Arthur Vermeeren dribbles into the box and pokes a pass through to Benjamin Sesko who shoots but gets charged down by Caoimhin Kelleher.
The Liverpool goalkeeper is then forced into another stop with Xavi Simons shooting from range a minute or so later and the goalkeeper pushes this one over the bar!
RB Leipzig 0-1 Liverpool
70 mins: Crossbar! A quick interchange of passes between Dominik Szoboszlai and Alexis Mac Allister sees the latter work the ball into space before striking a decent effort onto the crossbar!
That would have been a cracker.
RB Leipzig 0-1 Liverpool
67 mins: As I post that Openda sprints in behind Ibrahima Konate and collects a through ball. He dances into the box and shoots but Konate manages to deflect it out of the play.
The offside flag spares Liverpool having to defend a corner but they can’t afford to switch off.
RB Leipzig 0-1 Liverpool
66 mins: The tempo is slowing down which won’t matter much to Liverpool who have been the better side on the whole. Leipzig are seeing more of the ball but Liverpool’s defence is pretty strong.
Ex-players bemused after Darwin Nunez denied penalty for Liverpool in Champions League
Liverpool striker Darwin Nunez poked in his second goal of the season during the first half of his team’s Champions League encounter with RB Leipzig - but rather than his goalscoring exploits, it was a potential penalty situation which had everybody talking about the Uruguayan on Wednesday night.
Restored to the starting lineup due to an injury to Diogo Jota, Nunez put in a typically hard-working display in the first 45 minutes, notching the opener from just two yards out after getting on the end of Mohamed Salah’s header.
But just a few minutes later, he thought he’d won his side a chance to go two goals clear from the penalty spot after he was clearly tripped by Willi Orban in the box, having beaten the Leipzig defender to the ball - only for the referee, Swiss official Sandro Scharer, to signal for a goal kick.
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