Mohamed Salah scored his first goal since his public dispute with the club as Liverpool cruised into the Champions League last 16 with a dominant 6-0 victory over Qarabag at Anfield. The win ensures Liverpool avoid next month's play-off round, a welcome boost for manager Arne Slot given his mounting injury list.
Alexis Mac Allister opened the scoring from a corner, with Virgil van Dijk heading the ball into his path. Florian Wirtz doubled the lead before half-time, finishing calmly after a lay-off from Hugo Ekitiké. Salah made it 3-0 early in the second half, sweeping home from Dominik Szoboszlai's clever back-heel, then celebrated by thumping the Liver bird on his chest.
Ekitiké scored a superb solo goal, beating two defenders to a long clearance and slotting past the goalkeeper. Mac Allister added his second late on, capitalising on a defensive error. Substitute Federico Chiesa completed the rout in stoppage time.
Slot described the performance as the perfect tonic after last weekend's league defeat at Bournemouth. "We're happy to be going straight into the last 16," he said. "Only two years ago we were playing in the Europa League; now we are two seasons running in the top eight of the Champions League and hungry for more."
The win was marred by an early injury to Jeremie Frimpong, who limped off with a muscle problem. With defensive options already depleted, Slot was forced to field a back four of two defenders and two midfielders. He will hope to have Ibrahima Konaté and Joe Gomez back for Saturday's Premier League clash with Newcastle.
