Maribor vs Liverpool. UEFA Champions League Group E.
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Wednesday 18 October 2017 08:09, UK
Liverpool recorded their biggest away win in Europe as they thrashed Maribor 7-0 in the Champions League on Tuesday.
Roberto Firmino, Mohamed Salah and Philippe Coutinho scored inside the opening 20 minutes of a completely one-sided Group E clash.
Salah added a fourth before the break and Firmino, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain and Trent Alexander-Arnold completed the rout in the second half.
The win, coupled with Spartak Moscow's 5-1 victory over Sevilla, sees Liverpool move top of Group E on five points.
It is also a welcome boost for the Reds, who had won just one of their last eight matches, ahead of their clash against Tottenham on Sunday, live on Sky Sports Premier League.
Maribor have never won a home match in the Champions League and were unable to recover from a terrible start that saw them gift Liverpool the lead inside five minutes, with Salah pouncing on a misplaced pass and crossing for Firmino to tap in.
Coutinho added a second, volleying in after a well-worked move, before Firmino slid through for Salah to finish in the 20th minute.
Liverpool made it 4-0 when Alberto Moreno crossed for Salah to tap in just ahead of Firmino, while Maribor's only chance of the first half came late on when Marko Suler headed wide from a free-kick.
Liverpool continued to dominate after half-time and Firmino nodded in the fifth from Coutinho's free-kick in the 54th minute.
Perhaps with one eye on their clash against Spurs on Sunday, Liverpool took their foot off the gas slightly and made changes, but they still finished with two late goals as substitute Oxlade-Chamberlain scored his first for the club and Alexander-Arnold fired in a deflected effort.
Liverpool's front three of Firmino, Salah and Coutinho were all excellent.
Maribor could not get close to Coutinho, who has now scored in his last four successive away games, while Firmino ended his month-long scoring drought with a brace.
But Salah takes the man-of-the-match honours for another exciting display that saw him score twice, set up another and always look threatening whenever he got the ball around the box.
"It was just a fantastic performance. You have to look at the opposition but you can only beat what is in front of you. Somebody was going to cop a result like this and because they were playing Maribor it was probably expected.
"They got off to a very good start and the great thing is there has been two clean sheets [in a row] as well now so there was good focus from the lads at the back. While they were scoring all these goals, they didn't let themselves down.
"It set them up really well. Spurs have obviously had a difficult one and that's good as [Liverpool] got well rested. It has got the makings of a fantastic match on Sunday with two teams in fine form."
Liverpool travel to Tottenham on Sunday, live on Sky Sports Premier League, before hosting Huddersfield on Saturday, October 28. They face Maribor in the reverse fixture on Wednesday, November 1.
