Alisson the hero as super-sub Elliott earns Liverpool smash-and-grab win at PSG
Both of these teams have raced to a 13-point lead in their domestic league, but it was expected that they would be separated by the finest of margins on the European stage.
PSG looked more threatening in the opening quarter-hour, though, with Ibrahima Konaté blocking Bradley Barcola’s attempt before Fabián Ruiz sent his follow-up wide.
Ousmane Dembele then glided up the pitch and picked out João Neves for a shot that bounced off the turf and over the crossbar, shortly before seeing a shot of his own deflected behind by Virgil van Dijk.
The ensuing corner wasn’t convincingly cleared and the ball was worked to Khvicha Kvaratskhelia, who was denied a stunning opener by a marginal offside call.
Achraf Hakimi and Kvaratskhelia each had a strike from range saved as Les Parisiens continued to suffocate the visitors. Disbelief that the game remained goalless only grew on the half-hour mark, as Alisson rushed out to halt Dembele before Barcola had one shot blocked by Dominik Szoboszlai and sent another over the crossbar.
Alisson then impressively denied Kvaratskhelia again to help the Reds make it to the break level, and the Liverpool goalkeeper had to remain alert after the restart as he tipped a free-kick wide and held a curling attempt from the Georgia international. Hakimi then slipped as he fired over and the Reds scrambled away some dangerous balls across goal.
The visitors hadn’t offered too much going the other way – as best encapsulated by Mohamed Salah’s struggles against Nuno Mendes – and Darwin Nunez caught Gianluigi Donnarumma while trying to make something happen after being introduced by Arne Slot.
Les Parisiens substitute Desire Doue was the latest to force an outstanding save from Alisson, who also palmed away Dembélé’s curling ball.
Having withstood all of that pressure, Liverpool went ahead when Nunez slid the ball across for Elliott to beat Donnarumma with his first touch just 47 seconds after coming off the bench, earning the Reds an advantage to take back to Anfield.
In doing so, they also ended PSG’s 22-game unbeaten run and 20-match scoring streak across all competitions.
