If one team took 27 shots and put 10 on target for an xG of 1.82. and the other took only two shots putting one on target for an xG of 0.27, which team would you think won?
Pencils down. You are wrong. It’s not that one as Liverpool, despite doing next to nothing in attack for nearly the entire match, won 1-0 away to Paris Saint-Germain in the round of 16 first leg. Behind a strike that didn’t come from Mohamed Salah, but instead his replacement Harvey Elliott, the Reds youngster delivered the winning shot with his first touch of the game while being set up by fellow substitute Darwin Nunez. It’s yet another example of Arne Slot’s changes turning into goals, but they wouldn’t have mattered without the performance from Alisson in the net, with the Brazilian making nine saves.
Even Slot said that Liverpool had luck on their side. “If we got a draw, we would have been lucky,” he said after the game.
The Liverpool keeper delivered what he has described as the best performance of his life facing 10 shots and saving nine of them, preventing 2.26 goals. Even with PSG taking their shots from outside the box, the skill of players like Ousmane Dembele and Khvicha Kvaratskhelia allows PSG to take shots from wherever they want and usually it works, except when they’re faced by a a Brazilian wall.
“Probably [the best performance of my life] of my life … The manager was telling us how hard it would be to play against PSG, how good they are on the ball, we have to be ready to suffer, so when you see the clips as well from the opponents, you know what’s coming,” Allison said following the match.
“The bigger part of the chase is having someone to make the player who is having the chance think a little more, it makes my job easier. All the effort the team puts in and in the end, Harvey coming in and scoring a goal, it’s unbelievable. Great story and a great night.”
These are the kinds of nights that strengthen the belief that Liverpool can win this competition. Coming into the match, PSG had scored in 22 consecutive matches going unbeaten in all of them. Their last shutout and loss came in an away trip to face Bayern Munich during the league phase of the tournament, but statistically, Luis Enrique’s team were outclassed during that match, unlike this one.
Outside from not having a finishing touch, PSG were up for this match, but now they’ll have to show that they can shake this off in the second leg away to Anfield on Tuesday. If things are a little different earlier in the match, Liverpool may not have had these chances. Ibrahima Konate had a challenge on Bradley Barcola reviewed by VAR in the 28th minute that could’ve led to a red card and according to CBS Sports rules analyst Christina Unkel, the wrong decision was made on that review.
“I’m actually not going to agree with the referee and the VAR official in this play itself,” Unkel said. “I do think this should’ve been recommended down for a red card due to denying an obvious goal-scoring opportunity being that the contact happens outside of the penalty area.”
If Konate goes off, Liverpool maybe wouldn’t have been able to withstand all the chances that PSG generated, but it won’t matter in the end because the 1-0 lead can’t be taken away from them. It’ll be harder for PSG to dominate a match to that degree at Anfield and now Slot will have a better idea of how to set up his side to ensure they keep the slim lead. The Reds likely won’t worse than this in the second leg, but they will need to be wary of the danger that PSG can create with their attack, because if the finishing is on, this tie probably isn’t over.
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