Andy Hunter has filed his match report from Genk, so I’ll leave you with that. Thanks for your company - goodnight!
Ajax 0-1 Chelsea was the score in tonight’s earlier game. Read all about it.
Red Bull Salzburg 2-3 Napoli Unsurprisingly, the other Group E game was a cracker. Napoli nicked it despite two more goals from Erling Braut Haaland. Salzburg have scored 11 goals in three games - but they have lost the last two and will do well to qualify from here. In a way I hope they don’t, because they would be a very lively addition to the Europa League.
Full time: Genk 1-4 Liverpool
Peep peep! Liverpool end their run of away defeats in their Champions League group stage with an ultimately comfortable victory. They had too much class and too much nous, even if the scoreline is harsh on a charming Genk side. Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain scored twice, the second a delicious goal, with Sadio Mane and Mo Salah getting the others. Liverpool go top of the group and should - should - qualify without alarm from here.
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90+1 min Ianis Hagi - yep, him - comes on to replace the impressive Junya Ito.
90 min Three minutes of added time.
89 min “Just thinking what our best midfield three would be if all players were fit and firing,” writes Johnny. “I’d say Fabinho is nailed on, so that leaves Ox/Henderson/Gigi/Milner/Keita/Lallana. That’s quite a strong bunch to choose from! I do think we need someone with a bit more drive than Henderson so would happily have Ox in there as a regular. The season before last he was immense before the injury.”
The selection for the City game will be interesting, especially given Oxlade-Chamberlain’s form against them in 2017-18. I agree about Fabinho, who has no obvious replacement.
GOAL! Genk 1-4 Liverpool (Odey 88)
Genk deserve that consolation goal. Uronen bullies Keita off the ball down the left and plays the ball infield to the substitute Ndongala. He twists past Gomez and cuts tbe ball back towards the other substitute Odey, who beats Alisson with a nice shot on the turn from eight yards.
GOAL! Genk 0-4 Liverpool (Salah 87)
Another delightful goal! Salah receives Mane’s pass ball on the edge of the area with his back to goal, wriggles through a non-existent space between Cuesta and Lucami and drags the ball in off the far post with his right foot. The turn was delicious.
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84 min Wijnaldum blasts a cross shot just wide.
83 min “Goals from the edge of the box are invaluable for Liverpool,” says Niall Mullen. “We lack the Man City whirligig that creates space and clear-cut opportunities in and around the box against low block defences. Ox’s ability to stick it top or bottom bins should, in theory, create more space in behind as defenders rush out to block.”
Yes, goalscoring from midfield is one of Liverpool’s few weaknesses. I’m not sure who he would replace though. Henderson, at his best, is a really important player. I’ve never been that impressed by Wijnaldum, though I have a vague sense he does things I’m not intelligent enough to understand.
82 min Berge belts one over the bar from distance. It was beautifully struck but a few inches too high. He looks a good player, though.
81 min Stephen Odey replaces Paul Onuachu for Genk. In the other game, Napoli are leading 3-2 in Salzburg.
80 min Divock Origi, who came through the ranks at Genk before leaving for Lille, is warmly applauded by both sets of fans as he comes on to replace Roberto Firmino.
GOAL! Genk 0-3 Liverpool (Mane 77)
That defeat has been confirmed. Firmino finds Salah, who stabs a dainty through pass on the turn towards Mane. He charges onto the ball and lifts it confidently over Coucke. Lovely goal.
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76 min That second goal flattened Genk’s morale. They look resigned to defeat now.
73 min Gini Wijnaldum replaces the matchwinner Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain.
71 min The Norwegian Sander Berge has had a quietly impressive match in the Genk midfield. He reads the game really well for a 21-year-old, with and without the ball.
70 min Gomez shows impressive pace to beat Ndongala to a through ball from Ito - and then gets himself booked by stopping Ndongala taking a quick throw-in.
69 min “Hi Rob,” says Drew Gough. “From the Fun Fact Department: I’m watching this game in Turkey on a Turkish BeIn Sports feed, and the announcer calls every player by his last name except for James Milner, who is called by both names every time. Hashtag respect hashtag legend.”
I’d like to hear commentators double down and call him James Philip Milner.
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68 min Oxlade-Chamberlain’s deep, floated corner is headed over by van Dijk.
67 min “Millings!” says Matt Maradony (sic). “Millings has made my heart grow two sizes. I’m only just catching up with the action, as I’ve been puffing and panting around a five-a-side pitch. (One screamer off the post and in, and one goal conceded via a big ol’ annoying nutmeg. The beautiful game.) Two-nil up against the mighty Genk. Number seven in the post.”
66 min A change for Genk: Dieumerci Ndongala replaces the relatively anonymous Theo Bongonda.
64 min “Does this mean Oxlade-Chamberlain is hitting pre-injury form?” says Roger Theberge.
I actually thought he was better in general play when he came on at Old Trafford, but the second goal tonight was a timely reminder of his class. At his best, he’s certainly good enough to be a regular starter for Liverpool and England.
63 min Andy Robertson, who has had a fairly tricky night defensively, is replaced by Joe Gomez. James Milner will move to left-back.
62 min It’s been a good week for the forgotten midfielders of Liverpool.
59 min A good inswinging corner from the left is flicked on and wide of the far post by Samatta. That was half a chance.
That’s one of the most stylish goals we’ll see in this season’s Champions League. Firmino played a simple pass back to Oxlade-Chamberlain, lurking inside the D, and he stabbed an insouciant first-time shot with the outside of the boot that curved around Coucke, hit the underside of the bar and dropped into the net. Glorious stuff.
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GOAL! Genk 0-2 Liverpool (Oxlade-Chamberlain 57)
It is now! This is an outrageous goal from Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain!
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55 min Liverpool are still looking unusually sloppy, and Van Dijk administers a rollocking to someone after heading Ito’s cross behind. Their away form will determine what they win this season, because they should win at least 90 per cent of their home games. At the moment it’s not great.
52 min “Klopp’s Liverpool v Houllier’s Liverpool sort of happened in 2001,” says Niall Mullen. “Old Ged cannily predicted a goal glut before parking four buses and an oil tanker.”
I remember rushing home from work to watch that first leg. It reminded me of the film Human Traffic: the worse it got, the more determined I became to finish it. I was finally driven to a Twin Peaks VHS after about 70 minutes.
50 min Ito, whose movement is giving Robertson a few problems, wins a corner for Genk. Nothing comes of it, but they have picked up where they left off in the first half. Liverpool need to be careful.
Red Bull Salzburg 1-1 Napoli was the half-time score in the other Group E game. You can check all the latest scores here.
47 min “I have been watching the rugby World Cup - why does the review process work so well in rugby?” writes US01. “Why can we not have the same level of professionalism and respect in football that we see from the excellent people who referee and play the rugby games?”
I don’t know enough about rugby to comment, though I’m sure the culture of accepting the referee’s decision is one of the biggest reasons.
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46 min Peep peep! Genk begin the second half.
Ah, it seems Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain’s goal took a slight deflection, which might explain why the keeper Gaetan Coucke was flat-footed.
Half-time reading
Half-time chit chat “The downside to getting rid of VAR is dealing with actual violent conduct,” says Joe Harvey. “It was only four years ago when Deli All punched someone behind the ref’s back. I wouldn’t be too bothered with getting rid of it except in the case of Zidane-level stuff.”
The problem with that is that people would have a different view on what constitutes Zidane-level stuff.
Half time: Genk 0-1 Liverpool
Peep peep! Sometimes, despite all the noise and nonsense, football is good, old-fashioned fun. That was a life-affirming - okay, gently uplifting - 45 minutes, with both sides playing with playground enthusiasm and intent. Liverpool deserve their lead, provided by Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain’s early goal, but Genk have had chances and their captain Mbwana Samatta had an immense header ruled out for an offside in the build-up.
45 min Two minutes of added time.
44 min “Liverpool really need to find a way to win away from home against limited opposition who play defensively,” says Niall Mullen, lining up his punchline with tender loving care. “But enough about Sunday; how are they doing tonight?”
I’d love to see Klopp’s Liverpool v Houllier’s Liverpool.
42 min Liverpool’s Champions League group has been a whole heap of fun this season.
40 min Ito’s brilliant low cross from the right just evades the stretching Samatta in the middle. The ball runs beyond Bongonda, who retrieves it and hits a shot that is blocked by Milner. I think Ito might have been offside, had they scored, but it was another exhilarating moment. Genk, and their Tanzanian captain Samatta in particular, have attacked with infectious intent.
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39 min “What strikes me as strange about VAR is this emphasis on a clear mistake by the ref,” says Drew Gough. “You’d reckon Liverpool might have had a penalty and that wasn’t checked. Then the ref disallowed a goal for a shove that was overturned for an offside. Then you’d have hoped VAR could have shown there was no contact on Keita and our poor ref might correctly have shown a yellow for the ol’ simulation. But here we are, hey? To summarize, the trouble with all authoritarian surveillance systems is that technology tends to show that the people meant to be making smart decisions are a bunch of ding dongs but we persist with trusting in the correctness of their decisions.”
Problem is, if you review everything then matches will last four days. I would get rid of it, but that will never happen, so we might as well just grin and bear it.
36 min A quiet period in the game.
33 min Salah misses a great chance, heading wide from six yards after Lovren flicked on a right-wing corner. He mistimed the header completely.
31 min This is a very entertaining game. The indefatigable Robertson storms onto Mane’s clever flick and hits a shot from a tight angle that is beaten away by Coucke.
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31 min Salah curls a good free-kick just over the bar. We’ve now seen a replay of the disallowed goal, and it was unquestionably the correct decision: Ito was marginally offside in the build-up.
30 min Keita dives to win a foul in a good position, 25 yards from goal and to the right of centre.
29 min “Bobbie dearest,” says Mac Millings. “Liverpool-supporting Regular Contributor, Matt Dony, should be pleased with things so far, but not as pleased as with the fact that he has an entire World XI inspired by his name:
- Andony Zubizarreta
- Dony Rose
- Wilfried Dony
- Doneil Lennon
- Fernandoñyho
- Nordin Amramatt
- Shaun Mattdoney
- Matt Le Donier
- Malcolm Macdonyald
- Edson Arantes do Nyscimento
- Diego Maradony.
NO GOAL! It was apparently disallowed for offside in the build-up rather than a foul. I hope that’s the case, because it was a storming header and, although there was a bit of contact with Milner, football is a better game with headers like that. We haven’t seen a replay of the offside yet.
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I’ll level with you: I haven’t a clue what’s going on.
Ach, that’s a shame, and it was a glorious, emphatic header from Samatta at the far post. It’s now being checked by VAR.
NO GOAL! It’s been disallowed by the on-field referee for a supposed foul on Milner at the far post.
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GOAL! Genk 1-1 Liverpool (Samatta 26)
What a header!
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25 min Coucke makes a vital block from Mane’s close-range shot. The chance came after a delicious one-two with Firmino, who added yet another beauty to his highlights reel with a rabona reverse pass. He’s all kinds of genius, that lad.
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24 min Genk have been reasonably dangerous with their no-nonsense counter-attacks, and if they get the next goal this could become lively. If Liverpool get the next goal, we can all pack up and go home.
23 min Some news from the Press Association wires:
Liverpool have condemned an “offensive and inappropriate” banner which was hung in the away end before the Champions League match in Genk.
The banner, featuring a photoshopped picture of striker Divock Origi, was taken down as soon as the club were made aware of its existence.
“We sought to have it removed as soon as we became aware,” said a spokesman.
“The banner is highly offensive and inappropriate. We condemn its use and we will look to identify those responsible for bringing it into the stadium.”
22 min A Liverpool corner is fumbled by Coucke, who is relieved to see Mane’s follow-up shot blocked by one of the many defenders on the six-yard line.
20 min Genk almost profit from another long ball. This time Ito runs at Lovren in the area, only to slip over at the moment of opportunity.
18 min Liverpool are much the better team, despite the occasional threat of Genk’s front two. They look like a team who want to get qualification wrapped up before their final group game, away to Red Bull Salzburg.
15 min “Liverpool may be playing right to left to you Rob,” says Mark Grindrod, “but I prefer to view the MBM from the other side of the ground! ‘For those of you watching in black and white, Tottenham are playing in yellow …’”
12 min Genk are happy/have no option but to play on the break, launching long passes to the quick, muscular front pair of Samatta and Onuachu. I suspect Liverpool will face these tactics a lot away from home this season.
9 min “I LOVED Bros,” says Steve Waterhouse. “What you gonna do about it?”
Probably nothin’ at all.
8 min: Alisson makes a fine diving save from Onuachu! He looked well ffside as he ran onto another long ball from the back, and I suspect it would have been disallowed had he scored, but Alisson couldn’t be sure of that and he made an outstanding reaction save low to his right.
7 min Liverpool appeal for a penalty when Firmino is eased over in the area. It probably was a foul, though I don’t think it was clear enough for VAR to get involved. Jurgen Klopp does not concur.
5 min A chance out of nothing for Genk. A long ball out of defence puts Samatta clear of the defence, the wrong side of the last man Keita. He chests and then knees the ball into the area before cracking a left-footed shot well wide of the far post. Robertson did well to get back and ensure Samatta had to take the shot earlier than he would have liked.
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3 min It wasn’t the fiercest strike from Oxlade-Chamberlain, but it was well placed and might have sneaked in even if Coucke had dived. He is such a fine player, Oxlade-Chamberlain, and it’s great to see him back.
A perfect start for Liverpool. Fabinho played a nice little pass to find Oxlade-Chamberlain in a bit of space, 25 yards from goal. He got the ball out of his feet and drove a low shot that beat the unsighted, flat-footed Coucke and rolled into the far corner.
GOAL! Genk 0-1 Liverpool (Oxlade-Chamberlain 2)
That didn’t take long.
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1 min Keita redefines the backpass, twisting his body to guide the ball off his shoulder blade into the path of Robertson. Good lad.
1 min Peep peep! Liverpoo, in red, kick off from right to left. Genk are in blue.
The players are ready for action. There’s a pulsating atmosphere in the Luminus Arena.
Pre-match reading
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“Trivia question guess: (100% Google search free),” says Peter Oh. “Bon Jovi, Livin’ on a Prayer?”
I think that was 1987. Anyway, wrong! It was this popular record.
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Chelsea’s spectacular form looks set to continue: Michy Bathsuayi has given them a late lead in Amsterdam.
“Hi Rob,” says Peter Oh. ““Racing Genk was founded in 1988? I wouldn’t really blame the travelling Liverpool supporters if they break into, ‘You ain’t got no history!’”
Yep, 1st July 1988. A gold star for naming the No1 in the UK charts back then.
Ajax v Chelsea The second half has just started in Amsterdam. You will believe the score!
Team news
Mo Salah returns in what is a strong Liverpool starting line-up. James Milner is preferred to Joe Gomez at right-back.
Genk (4-2-3-1) Coucke; Maehle, Cuesta, Lucumi, Uronen; Heynen, Berge; Ito, Samatta Bongonda; Onuachu.
Substitutes: Vandevoordt, De Norre, Dewaest, Hrosovsky, Hagi, Ndongala.
Liverpool (4-3-3) Alisson; Milner, Lovren, Van Dijk, Robertson; Oxlade-Chamberlain, Fabinho, Keita; Salah, Firmino, Mane.
Substitutes: Adrian, Wijnaldum, Gomez, Henderson, Lallana, Brewster, Origi.
Referee Slavko Vincic (Slovenia).
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Preamble
Good evening. It’s an odd thing to say about a team who are European champions and runaway leaders in England, but Liverpool kind of need to stop playing silly buggers. They have lost their last four group games away from home in Champions League, making qualification for the knockout stages – when they really come alive – tougher than it needs to be.
They’ll almost certainly be fine, because they’re the best team in Europe right now, but they could do with a win in Belgium tonight to keep everything in order. Genk have not won in 14 attempts in the Champions League proper, going back to 2002, although they have drawn six of their seven games at home – including a worthy 0-0 against Napoli last month.
Like Liverpool’s last European opponents, Red Ball Salzburg, Genk provide a home for future stars. You could make quite a team out of those who have played for or come through the ranks here: Courtois, De Bruyne, Bailey, Koulibaly, Milinkovic-Savic, Ndidi and Liverpool’s own Origi are all on the list.
The current, very young side includes the prolific Tanzanian forward Mbwana Samatta and the classy Norwegian midfielder Sander Berge. They also signed Ianis Hagi - yep - from FC Viitorul Constanta in the summer.
Genk were surprising but emphatic winners of last year’s Belgian title, their fourth championship since the club was founded in 1988. And while their defence hasn’t started too well, with four defeats in the first 10 games, that doesn’t really matter tonight. They have the chance to beat the European champions, and become legends all over again.
Kick off is at 8pm.
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