Super Salah shows his class as Reds show signs of promise

It was all decidedly low key but Liverpool moved a step closer to the last 16 of the Champions League with an ultimately routine victory over Maribor at Anfield.

Jurgen Klopp's men remain at the summit of Group E and if they win either of their final two games they will be rubbing shoulders with Europe's elite in the new year.

Kopites haven't enjoyed that sight since 2009.

Anyone expecting a repeat of the demolition job completed in Slovenia will have left underwhelmed as the Reds didn't come close to hitting those heights.

Instead it was a carbon copy of the Premier League contest with Huddersfield four days earlier.

Liverpool were well off the pace for 45 minutes, battling in vain to break down an opponent intent on damage limitation. But they raised the bar in the second half and as confidence flowed they swatted Maribor aside with ease.

Mohamed Salah's 10th goal of the season was followed by Emre Can's strike before substitute Daniel Sturridge had the final word late on.

Another 3-0 home win and another missed penalty after James Milner this time failed from the spot – Klopp had called for consistency and he's certainly had it so far this week.

Of course Liverpool will need to deliver when faced with much sterner tests to truly silence their critics, but since the debacle against Tottenham at Wembley the response has been promising.

Don't forget this is the Reds without Philippe Coutinho, Sadio Mane and Adam Lallana and after the international break the cavalry will return. Better days undoubtedly lie ahead.

It wasn't a night that will live long in the memory but there were still plenty of positives for Klopp to take from a contest in which complacency was always going to be the biggest danger.

Given a licence to attack, Trent Alexander-Arnold lit up the right flank and was a threat throughout. The exciting teenager full-back created the opener for Salah which he took in style.

The Egypt winger has been a revelation since his club record move from Roma. Liverpool's summer transfer strategy has rightly been the subject of scrutiny because of what they didn't address, but in terms of Salah that was £36.9million well spent.

The Reds' top scorer is already into double figures and with the havoc he causes he could treble that between now and May. He's a class act.

The fact that his national team boss Hector Cuper has agreed to rest him during the upcoming international break will be music to Klopp's ears. He needs wrapping in cotton wool.

Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain could be proud of his efforts after being handed only his second start since his £35million switch from Arsenal. The England international is starting to look like he belongs at Anfield.

Throw into the mix the sight of Sturridge scoring for the second successive game having gone two months without a goal and it was a successful night all round.

A fortnight ago Liverpool blew Maribor away with a lightning quick start. They were 3-0 up inside 20 minutes as Darko Milanic's men had no answer to the tempo and intensity of the Reds' attacking thrust.

Klopp had demanded the same again but it didn't happen. In the first half Liverpool lacked a creative spark, while Maribor proved they aren't really the pub side they resembled in the first meeting.

The visitors made Jose Mourinho look tactically gung-ho as they got 11 men behind the ball and rarely ventured past the halfway line. Loris Karius could have taken a seat in the Kop.

The Reds were camped in their half but just like in the opening 45 minutes against Huddersfield their build up play was too slow and predictable.

The ball repeatedly went sideways rather than forward. Maribor's well drilled backline comfortably kept the hosts out.

The game in Slovenia was without doubt the best Liverpool have pressed all season as they hassled and harried them into submission. But this time they didn't hunt in packs with the same hunger.

The Reds were forced into an early reshuffle when Gini Wijnaldum hobbled off as Jordan Henderson replaced him. With the captain sitting deep, Milner and Emre Can had a licence to bomb on and make a nuisance of themselves but Liverpool were too static.

Firmino was quiet and Salah didn't have his usual level of influence with Oxlade-Chamberlain the most lively of the front three.

Alexander-Arnold was one of the few to really catch the eye as he provided a steady steam of quality deliveries.

On the half hour mark veteran keeper Jasmin Handanovic was belatedly called into action. Oxlade-Chamberlain's cross for Firmino deflected goalwards off defender Jean-Claude Billong. The 39-year-old shot-stopper did brilliantly to tip it on to the bar.

For the second time in four days at Anfield, the interval triggered a transformation in the Reds' fortunes. Whatever Klopp said did the trick.

Liverpool were energised and played with much greater vigour. Within four minutes of the restart they were in front.

Joel Matip played it out to Alexander-Arnold, who whipped an inviting cross towards the near post. Salah darted ahead of Alexsander Rajcevic and flicked it beyond Handanovic.

Once in front, the outcome was never in doubt. Suddenly, the gulf in class, so glaring in Slovenia, was crystal clear again.

Firmino's backheel out-foxed Rajcevic, who responded by hauling him down in the box.

Milner was back on penalty duties after Salah's miss at the weekend but Handanovic guessed right and turned it on to the post. That's four successive spot-kicks Liverpool have wasted at Anfield.

This one didn't matter but it is an issue that needs addressing because there will be days ahead when they can't afford to be so profligate.

Maribor's resolve was broken and the chances kept on coming with Oxlade-Chamberlain's strike deflected over before Handanovic denied Firmino from close range.

Salah was left pounding the turf in frustration when he nodded wastefully into the Kop from Alberto Moreno's cross.

Midway through the second half Liverpool finally doubled their account.

It was exactly the kind of slick interchange which was conspicuous by its absence in the first half. Can played a neat one-two with Milner and coolly planted a right-footer past Handanovic.

A second successive clean sheet for the Reds was never in doubt but Matip, whose form has been cause for concern so far this term, was far from convincing at times as Martin Milec made him look cumbersome.

Sturridge's long wait to start a Champions League game for the Reds goes on but he made his mark with a late cameo.

Moreno's cross from Milner's short corner found the striker lurking at the far post and he finished emphatically. It was his first Champions League goal since he netted for Chelsea against Zilina in 2010.

Liverpool boast back-to-back wins for the first time since August. Now momentum must be maintained in the capital on Saturday.

Source: Liverpool Echo

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