Liverpool claimed their first win in the Champions League this season with a dramatic victory over Ajax.
The Reds scored a late goal to claim a 2-1 win at Anfield on Tuesday night in their second Group A fixture of the campaign. Mohamed Salah opened the scoring, before Mohammed Kudus equalised for the Eredivisie champions inside the first half.
In the closing moments of the match, Joel Matip’s header from a Kostas Tsimikas corner sealed the victory. The ball had just managed to go over the line, and earn Liverpool three precious points in the group.
Plenty of media outlets were at Anfield to watch Liverpool’s win, and there were some from the Netherlands there, too. Here is a round-up of what the Dutch media outlets thought of Tuesday night’s clash.
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Mike Verweij, via De Telegraaf
“After the punishment at Napoli (4-1) in round one, Jürgen Klopp did not take half measures. Joe Gomez, James Milner and Roberto Firmino disappeared on the bench and were replaced by Joël Matip, Thiago Alcantara and Diogo Jota, while Kostas Tsimikas replaced the injured Andy Robertson. The Liverpool coach did not make room in his basic formation for Darwin Nunez, which was taken over from Benfica for 100million euros.
“It was only after about six minutes that the team from Amsterdam seemed to have some peace and after fifteen minutes the team from Amsterdam made the first decent attack on the beautiful mat. Yet it was Liverpool that struck mercilessly. Jurriën Timber lost a header to Luis Diaz, after which Jota enabled Mo Salah, lost sight of by Daley Blind, to open the score (1-0). It was a shame for Blind (hundredth European game), because he continued to fight Salah excellently. Ajax briefly hung on to Anfield like a beaten boxer, was lucky that shots from Diaz and Jota (next) did not mean the final blow, but recovered nicely.
“After a magnificent attack that lasted one minute, 24 in which Schreuder's team had 27 ball contacts, the words of the Ajax fans that everything would be all right, at least for a while, turned out to be prophetic. Steven Berghuis eventually delivered the ball to Kudus, who made a devastating hit with the left and through the bottom of the bar (1-1). Liverpool top keeper Alisson Becker stood by and watched.”
Koen Greven, via NRC
“It feels like a blow to Klopp if Mane moves to Bayern Munich. In a search for a replacement, Liverpool end up with Darwin Núñez. No less than 75 million is spent for the Uruguayan striker of Benfica. An amount that can even reach a hundred million euros. Núñez scored in the Community Shield battle against City, but only managed to find the net in the competition against Fulham. The 23-year-old striker threatens to become an expensive miss for Klopp. Núñez's quest seems to symbolize this season's Liverpool.
"Liverpool are having a hard time finding their feet in the competition. With a 2-1 defeat to Manchester United as the low point. After six games, the team is seventh with nine points. Liverpool were surprised by Napoli last week. With Núñez starting on the bench, Klopp's team was completely outclassed by 4-1. Since then, the duel with Ajax for Klopp has been dominated by a sporting revenge. "We have to go back to basics," Klopp said before the game at Anfield.
"After a minute of silence for Queen Elizabeth II, Liverpool FC started the match with Ajax in good spirits. Again with new addition Núñez on the bench, the Ajax team managed to outplay large parts of the match. It was therefore waiting for the opening goal of Liverpool. That came in the seventeenth minute when a kick by Alisson Becker was extended up front and shoved into Salah's feet. The striker from Egypt left the outstanding goalkeeper Remko Pasveer no chance.
"Liverpool then seemed to overwhelm Ajax, but Alfred Schreuder's team surprisingly came back in the 27th minute. Mohammed Kudus once again proved himself as a striker by shooting the 1-1 hard. Liverpool then spent more than an hour looking for the winning goal. Núñez came on in the 66th minute but failed to score.
"Klopp was close to despair on the side. Until defender Joël Matip headed the ball towards the goal in the final phase. Dusan Tadic was just too late to save on the line. The ball was over the line according to the goal-line technology. Relief at Klopp. Relief at Liverpool. For now, they continue together."
Johan Inan, via Algemeen Dagblad
"As good as Ajax seemed the past month, so fragile the national champion appeared in the atmospheric football cathedral of Liverpool. In it, one Mo (Kudus) beautifully brushed away the opening goal of the other Mo (Salah), but the champion also spent the next hour in his own goal mouth. There, the gasping visitors got the lid on Joël Matip's nose in the final minute.
“Seven previous matches did not cause Ajax as many problems as one duel at Anfield. The champion arrived there after a handful of clean sheets, thirteen goals in the last three matches and above all, flashy football, in which the most expensive purchases Calvin Bassey and Steven Bergwijn, but also (re)fitted talents such as Devyne Rensch and Kenneth Taylor, shone.
“Many questions have already been answered in the past month. Certainly nationally, where many forecasts predicting a changing of the guard at the top were already thrown into the trash. But after a walkover against the poor Rangers FC, hardly anything meaningful could be said about what Ajax is capable of in Europe this time. Yes, Ajax flashed before the break, but to determine whether there is a real stunt team in it again, the transformed team really had to be subjected to a serious test case.”
Willem Vissers, via De Volkskrant
“Liverpool, one of the European superpowers of recent years, was considerably better than Ajax in almost everything, which survived a very difficult evening, and gave in two minutes before the end, after defender Joel Matip's header from a corner. Ajax is sometimes too big for the Netherlands and is allowed in Europe in the child seat in the back seat with the really big boys. Join us on the intoxicating journey through the old continent, with the most beautiful adventures, but get in and go to bed on time.
“Won one, lost one, enough perspective remains, in a difficult group, with the double against Napoli coming up. Home first. How Ajax survived was mainly a matter of excellent work by goalkeeper Remko Pasveer, stiff defence, plus at least two portions of luck.
“Liverpool have that many injured, but halfway through the second half Darwin Nunez and Roberto Firmino, internationals from Uruguay and Brazil, just came in. Nunez cost around 100 million euros this summer. His header for his previous club Benfica was fatal for Ajax, last season in the eighth finals. Fifteen minutes before the end, Ajax even got a great chance, at 1-1, when Daley Blind headed the ball in diagonally, just past the wrong side of the post.
“Ajax hardly managed to wrestle itself, or only with difficulty, from the pressure from Liverpool that is present everywhere on the field, the trademark when things go well with the team. Scorching pressure, thanks in part to the attackers, in this case Mohamed Salah, Diogo Jota and Luis Diaz from the kick-off, who are always ready to run the dirtiest metres, the distances that don't make big headlines in the newspaper.”
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