BEVERLY HILLS, October 21, (THEWILL) –Â Liverpool were away from home for the first fixture of their UEFA Champions League campaign and got off to a successful start as they fought hard to a 1-0 win over Ajax in Amsterdam.
The own goal by Argentine left back for Ajax Nicolas Tagliafico’s was the difference between the sides in a thrilling end-to-end Group D game that was tellingly short on midfield control at the Johan Cruyff Arena.
Continuing life without injured talismanic centre-back Virgil van Dijk in the Dutch capital, the visitors would be hoping that they do not witness more of the early mix-up between Adrian and Joe Gomez that suggested their defensive organisation is yet to jell.
Collective Liverpool fans’ hearts must have been in their mouths when goalkeeper Adrian’s attempt to launch the ball forward was closed down, leading to a headed chance for Ajax defender Lisandro Martinez that needed saving.
In another coordinated attack, Ajax moved the ball quickly to Dutch attacker Quincy Promes at close range. Yet, somehow, the substitute failed to beat Adrian when a goal looked all too certain.
The visitors eventually capitalised on that let-off in ruthless fashion. The full-blown attack at the other end was what forced the Tagliafico own goal from what was a horribly miscued Sadio Mane shot that followed a sublime goal poacher’s turn in the box.
To their credit, the hosts responded well to that setback, maintaining formation, and seeking loopholes to exploit. They would have been level at the stroke of the interval had Fabinho not acrobatically cleared Serbian centre forward Dusan Tadic’s lobbed attempt off the line with Adrian in no man’s land.
Seeing that and the near-absolute lack of control in the middle of the park was worrisome for coach Jurgen Klopp. So, a half time change saw the introduction of captain Jordan Henderson in place of youngster Curtis Jones.
If the substitution changed anything, it was not apparent. In a particularly revealing example that it was ineffectual, just a minute after the restart, the hosts danced their way through the Liverpool midfield before teeing up Davy Klaassen, the Dutch midfielder, who struck the post thunderously.
Klopp made the tactical option to switch things up in attack. So, he brought on Portuguese forward Diogo Jota, Japanese striker Takumi Minamino and Xherdan Shaqiri the Swiss from the bench to replace his starting front three.
Rather than add some level of boost for the visitors, the changes largely served to disrupt the flow of the game. Consequently, both sides struggled to create much during a scrappy finish to the game that ensured Liverpool took all three points.
Despite their inability to hit expected levels of performance, to have taken full points from what is supposed to be one of the tightest fixtures of the group games for the Reds represents an excellent start for Klopp’s men.
The men from Anfield next turn their attention back to the English Premier League with an home clash against Sheffield United on Saturday, while Ajax are away to VVV Venlo on the same day.
Jude Obafemi is a versatile senior Correspondent at THEWILL Newspapers, excelling in sourcing, researching, and delivering sports news stories for both print and digital publications.
