Teenager Trent Alexander-Arnold on Tuesday curled in a magnificent free-kick on his European debut to set Liverpool on their way to a 2-1 win against TSG 1899 Hoffenheim, putting them on the brink of Champions League group-stage place.
Liverpool goalkeeper Simon Mignolet saved an early penalty and James Milner’s shot was deflected into his own net by Havard Nordtveit for the English Premier League side’s second goal in an end-to-end match.
An astonishing last-minute own-goal by BSC Young Boys defender Kasim Nuhu handed CSKA Moscow a 1-0 away win, while Sporting CP were held to a goalless draw at home by FCSB, formerly Steaua Bucharest, in two of the other Champions League playoff ties.
Photo: EPA
Alexander-Arnold, 18, who only made his Premier League debut in December last year, curled a free-kick through a gap in the Hoffenheim wall 10 minutes before halftime as Liverpool survived a rocky start.
It could have been different if Andrej Kramaric had converted a penalty for the Bundesliga side in the 12th minute, but he saw a weak effort saved by Mignolet.
Liverpool had another let-off just before halftime when Mignolet saved from Kramaric and Wagner rolled the rebound wide of the post.
Photo: Reuters
Hoffenheim, attempting to qualify for the group stage for the first time, had more possession, but Liverpool were more threatening and went further ahead in the 77th minute.
The hosts lost possession trying to play their way out of defense, the ball was switched to substitute James Milner on the left and his shot from a narrow angle deflected off Nordtveit’s chest and into the top corner.
Mark Uth pulled one back with three minutes left, chesting the ball down and drilling a low shot into the corner of the net.
Hoffenheim should have equalized in stoppage-time, but Benjamin Huebner sent a header over the bar while he was unchallenged.
“It was a little dangerous in the first half, but as always when we play football, we found spaces in between and created wonderful chances,” Livepool manager Juergen Klopp said. “The result is OK. The first half is done and if you said before the game we would win, I would take the result... Only the person who does not know about Hoffenheim can be surprised by this.”
Young Boys dominated the second half against CSKA, but the Swiss side ended up losing after an almost comical own-goal.
A long ball was cleared into the Young Boys half, which Nuhu headed into the air.
The Ghanaian then tried to head the ball back to goalkeeper David von Ballmoos, but instead it flew over the stranded goalkeeper and bounced agonizingly inside the post and into the net as he tried desperately to claw it away.
Minutes earlier, CSKA goalkeeper Igor Akinfeev made a superb reflex effort to tip Guillaume Horau’s shot over the bar.
FCSB, European champions in 1986 in their old guise as Steaua, held out fairly comfortably against an uninspired Sporting, despite having Mihai Pintilii sent off with 10 minutes left for a second bookable offense.
The Romanian side, runners-up in their league last season, could even have snatched a win as Gabriel Enache and Junior Morais both went close in the second half.
Azeri champions Qarabag beat Copenhagen 1-0, while APOEL Nicosia were 2-0 winners at home to SK Slavia Prague in the evening’s other ties.
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