Liverpool put one foot forward in the quarter-finals of the European Football League competition with a major victory over its host, Sparta Prague, Czech Republic, 5-1, on Thursday in the first leg of the round of 16, while Roma surprised its English guest, Brighton, with a clean victory. 4-0.
At the Letna Stadium in Prague, Liverpool took the lead in the 6th minute through Alexis McAllister from a penalty kick, and Darwin Nunez added the second and third goals in the 25th and third minutes of first-half stoppage time.
In the 53rd minute, Luis Diaz added the team’s fourth goal, while Dominik Suboslai scored the fifth goal in the fourth minute of stoppage time in the second half.
Unlike its last two matches away from home, when it lost to French club Toulouse and Belgian Saint-Geloise in the group stage, Klopp’s team returned to Anfield victorious in a match that witnessed the return of the services of Egyptian star Mohamed Salah, who entered. In the last quarter of an hour after recovering from his injury.
Liverpool started the match in the best way after opening the scoring in the sixth minute with a penalty kick executed by Argentine Alexis McAllister, which he executed himself (6).
Then Nunes added the third for his team in the last seconds of the first half when he received the ball from Mac Allister. He controlled it on the right side of the penalty area and then fired it wonderfully into the right corner (3 + 45).
Sparta reduced the gap with a gift from Northern Irish substitute Connor Bradley, who accidentally turned the ball into his team’s net with his first touch (46), but Colombian Luis Dias restored the gap to what it was by scoring the fourth goal with a pass from Harvey Elliott and the help of one of the defenders from whom the ball turned into a ball. The net (53), before Hungarian substitute Dominik Soboszlai concluded the festival with the fifth after a fatal defensive error (4+90).
The Reds then retreated and allowed the hosts to threaten their goal on more than one occasion, but Uruguayan Darwin Nunes frustrated the home team when he added the second goal with a wonderful shot from outside the area (25), scoring the thousandth goal. For a team led by Klopp, who decided to leave at the end of the season.