UCL: Liverpool, Man City grab wins, set sight on Semi-finals
Liverpool are now standing in the pole position to book a spot in the semi-final of the UEFA Champions League after recording a 3-1 victory over Benfica in the first leg of the quarter-final played on Tuesday night.
It was a comfortable first half for Liverpool with goals from Ibrahim Konate and Sadio Mane gifting them a precious advantage above the home side.
Benfica stormed the second half with some ambitious moves which saw them gaining some dominance in the third quarter of the game. Their drive eventually pushed them to the scoreline when Darwin Nunez scored to reduce the tally.
Benfica were expecting their ultimate leveler when Virgil Vandijk ‘subtly’ held Darwin in the box in the 68th minute, but the game went by without the Referee making the calls the home side had expected.
Luiz Diaz sealed it for Liverpool with the third goal in the 87th minute after receiving a defense-splitting pass from Naby Keita -thus sending the Reds to the safest side of the encounter.
At the Etihad Stadium, it was a goalless draw between Manchester City and Athletico Madrid in the first half of the game. The game, which got robbed with high-level intensity left much to be desired in the reverse fixture despite Citizen’s win.
Phil Foden did set up Kelvin De Bruyne in the 70th minute who in turn wasted no time to send Oblak the wrong way to give Guardiola’s side a 1 nil victory over their visitors.
The second leg of the matches is scheduled to hold on Wednesday, 13th of April.
The Informant247
