Liverpool made it two wins from two in the Champions League as they claimed a hard-fought win over Bologna at Anfield.
The Reds looked like they might cruised to victory when Alexis Mac Allister capped a dominant start by scoring with 11 minutes gone.
However, an obstinate Bologna made things difficult from there, with Mohamed Salah only putting the seal on the win with a brilliant strike in the 75th minute.
How the game unfolded
Having started somewhat slowly last time out at Wolves, Liverpool looked far sharper from the off here, with a Ryan Gravenberch ball across the box almost turned home by both Dominik Szoboszlai and Luis Diaz moments after kick-off.
And the Reds had their opener with just 11 minutes gone, Mac Allister tucking away an unmissable Salah cross inside the six-yard box.
The hosts almost quickly doubled their advantage as Darwin Nunez saw a goal ruled out for offside before Szoboszlai rolled an effort past the post after slick build-up.
But the dominant nature of their start appeared to lead to complacency, allowing Bologna to get a foothold as the first half progressed.
To that end, they hit the woodwork twice in quick successions, Dan Nodye striking the bar and then the post as Liverpool struggled to clear their lines.
A Trent Alexander-Arnold giveaway then resulted in Kacper Urbanski forcing Alisson Becker into a smart save before Arne Slot’s team began to reassert themselves just before half-time.
Unfortunately for Liverpool, the break seemed to further energise Bologna, and they went close to levelling when Riccardo Orsolini hit Alisson with a shot from the left-hand side of the area soon after the restart.
But for all the issues the Reds were having in surpassing a man-to-man press, they were still giving up very few high-quality opportunities and needed only one of their own to seal the result.
In the end, that came to Salah, who used Alexander-Arnold’s overlapping run as a decoy to run to the centre of the box before smashing a beautiful curler home.
From there, Liverpool had little trouble in seeing out a deserved win.
Liverpool player ratings (4-2-3-1)
GK: Alisson Becker – 7/10 – Made a number of smart saves and important claims to keep Bologna at bay during their best moments.
RB: Trent Alexander-Arnold – 6/10 – Engaged in an enjoyable battle with Dan Ndoye that probably ended honours even.
CB: Ibrahima Konate – 7/10 – Always there to win an aerial duel or get a block in and played a big role in preventing Bologna turning their best moments into anything truly dangerous.
CB: Virgil van Dijk – 7/10 – Never looked uncomfortable when Bologna dared to try and threaten on his side of the pitch.
LB: Andy Robertson – 5/10 – Didn’t always find it easy defensively but was up and down the left flank all night offering an option.
CM: Ryan Gravenberch – 7/10 – Won his battles in midfield and produced some outrageous turns out of pressure as part of a now-customary excellent performance.
CM: Alexis Mac Allister – 7/10 – He could hardly miss the chance for his goal but impressed in other ways, constantly scrapping for possession and then using it calmly.
RM: Mohamed Salah – 8/10 – Provided a beautiful assist for Mac Allister’s opener and was Liverpool’s most effective creator across the remainder of the game. Capped it off with a stunning goal.
AM: Dominik Szoboszlai – 7/10 – Has been heavily criticised of late but was excellent here. Combined his usual relentlessness off the ball with some lovely touches on it.
LM: Luis Diaz – 6/10 – Not at his best in terms of goal but dragged his team up the pitch consistently with his dribbling while working his socks off defensively.
ST: Darwin Nunez – 4/10 – Failed to provide Liverpool with the out ball they needed when struggling with Bologna’s man-to-man press and was extremely wayward with his passing.
SUB: Diogo Jota (61 for Nunez) – 7/10
SUB: Kostas Tsimikas (72 for Robertson) – 6/10
SUB: Cody Gakpo (72 for Diaz) – 6/10
SUB: Conor Bradley (85 for Alexander-Arnold)
SUB: Curtis Jones (85 for Szoboszlai)
Subs not used: Kelleher, Jaros, Endo, Gomez, Quansah, Nyoni, Morton.
Arne Slot – 7/10 – We will see if his lack of rotation here hurts Liverpool when they go to Crystal Palace on Saturday, but you can’t argue with the fact that Liverpool got the job done.
