Liverpool will take a healthy lead back to Anfield after seeing off Sparta Prague 5-1 in the first leg of their Europa League last-16 tie, though Brighton were hammered by Roma and Aston Villa made to toil against Ajax.
The three Premier League sides experienced very contrasting fortunes in Thursday evening’s early kick-offs, with Liverpool giving up plenty of chances in the Czech Republic but showing their attacking class to bag five goals.
European novices Brighton had a very different experience and shipped four goals on a humbling night at the Stadio Olimpico, while Aston Villa and Ajax – playing in the Europa Conference League – had a man sent off apiece in an entertaining but goalless draw.
Sparta Prague 1-5 Liverpool
Jurgen Klopp – who had the fit-again Mohamed Salah back on the bench – named a strong side to deal with a hostile atmosphere in Prague with only two youngsters, Jarell Quansah and Harvey Elliott, in the line-up and Darwin Nunez picked to lead the line.
The Uruguayan had a great opportunity to grab an early goal inside the first two minutes after some excellent hustling from Wataru Endo but, after rounding the goalkeeper, Nunez scuffed his shot.
Liverpool did not have to wait long for a breakthrough, though, and took the lead in the sixth minute after Alexis Mac Allister had been hacked down inside the box. The Argentine stepped up and rolled the ball into the bottom corner.
Sparta showed flashes of threat on the break despite Liverpool’s control and the visitors were indebted to the reflexes of Caoimhin Kelleher – in combination with an excellent goal-line clearance from Joe Gomez – to prevent Lukas Haraslin from levelling the scores.
The Czech league leaders took encouragement from that and started to cut through Liverpool’s rearguard, with Ibrahima Konate forced into an important block and Kelleher increasingly involved, making one particularly good save to deny a deflected long-range effort.
But just when Liverpool were starting to wobble, Nunez picked up the ball on the edge of the box and fired a speculative effort towards goal that curled into the back of the net. On first viewing it looked like a screamer, though replays suggested goalkeeper Peter Vindahl Jensen should really have kept it out.
It definitely did not look like being Sparta’s night when Veljko Birmancevic missed a certified sitter just before half-time. Kelleher parried a shot straight to the Serbian but, with the goal gaping and just six yards out, he somehow tripped over his own feet and kicked the ball out of play.
Cody Gakpo could have put the match to bed moments later, missing two good chances, but Nunez made no such mistake with the final kick of the half, volleying a spectacular effort past Vindahl Jensen.
Yet still Sparta did not simply rollover and an often frenzied game delivered its most chaotic moment within moments of the restart, with a break down the right flank seeing substitute Conor Bradley leather the ball into the top corner of his own net.
Moments later they were in again but spurned the opportunity – and they were punished within minutes. Liverpool regained some composure and worked a pull-back for Luis Diaz, whose deflected effort deceived the goalkeeper and floated down the middle of goal to restore some calm for the visitors.
There was some bad news for Liverpool, though, with Konate forced off with an injury just three days out from Sunday’s huge clash with Manchester City, though Salah got a run out in the final 15 minutes.
The Egyptian thought he netted late on, but his effort was disallowed for offside by VAR. Dominik Szoboszlai, also returning from injury, did create a four-goal cushion in stoppage time, breaking forward, cutting inside and sending a pretty tame effort towards goal that Vindahl Jensen once again could have done better with.
Ajax 0-0 Aston Villa
Over in Amsterdam, Villa were competing in their first European knockout game for 15 years and are England’s sole representative in the Europa Conference League.
Despite Ajax’s pedigree, Villa’s fantastic form under Unai Emery made them the favourites for the tie, especially given how the Dutch giants have struggled this season.
And after Moussa Diaby tested goalkeeper Diant Ramaj inside five minutes, it looked like the home side were in for a long evening.
But the Villans scarcely got near Ajax’s goal for the rest of the first half, thanks in large part to their well-drilled opposition who were captained by former Liverpool skipper Jordan Henderson.
Chances were few and far between though Ajax looked far more dangerous thanks to young striker Brian Brobbey, who squandered a great chance to open the scoring when he fired into the side netting after breaking through Villa’s backline.
Unai Emery must have had stern words with his side at half-time as their intensity was much improved after the break, yet they still could not generate any chances.
Villa were not quite at full strength – Emery perhaps keeping an eye on the race to qualify for the Champions League, with a huge clash against Tottenham on Sunday – yet they still had plenty of quality on the pitch.
Their performance was surprising, therefore, and even after the introduction of Leon Bailey, John McGinn and Matty Cash their fortunes did not improve.
Ajax continued to cause problems, with Emiliano Martinez forced into making a great save to deny Kenneth Taylor’s first-time shot from the edge of the box.
Frustrations began to boil over for both sides – foul after foul stopping play – before Ezri Konsa was sent off after receiving a second yellow card for bringing down Chuba Akpom as he bared down on goal.
But Ajax barely got a chance to use their man advantage, as just minutes later Tristan Gooijer received his marching orders after a second booking for a poor foul on Nicolo Zaniolo.
Both sides came close to winning it in the dying minutes, with former Arsenal starlet Akpom unable to get his head on the end of good cross, while Bailey saw an effort brilliantly blocked by Ahmetcan Kaplan.
Ajax will be more than content with the way they frustrated the Villans, with the tie to be decided in next week’s second leg at Villa Park.
Roma 4-0 Brighton
Brighton, meanwhile, looked a little overawed by their trip to the Italian capital to take on Roma and fell behind when Leandro Paredes drilled a pass in behind the Seagull’s defence for Paulo Dybala, who rounded the goalkeeper and passed the ball into an empty net.
Shortly before the break, skipper Lewis Dunk failed to deal with a long ball forward and was robbed by Romelu Lukaku, who strode towards goal and fired in at the near post.
Any hopes of a comeback were squashed shortly after the hour-mark when a deep cross found Gianluca Mancini to poke home, before Bryan Cristante finished off a stunning, back-to-front team goal to leave Brighton needing a miracle in the second leg.
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