Key events
A beaming Ryan Gravenberch speaks to TNT Sports. “It’s great, it feels super good … it was the easiest goal of my career so far … it doesn’t matter, a goal is a goal! … when you give a player minutes you get confidence, and I think that’s it … the players are really nice, a good group … I am just enjoying it … Liverpool did a great job to buy such good players … we are in such a good mood … I was very happy the fans gave me such a good feeling [with the standing ovation he received as he went off] that I want to give something back.”
Union boss Alexander Blessin gathers his troops in the centre of the pitch and delivers a pep-talk. His side were second best, but they showed character to hang on in there, and towards the end of the game gave Liverpool’s nerves a good old jangle. Had Amoura spotted Nilsson free in the centre, had Rodriguez done likewise with Amoura, we could be talking about a different result. But the decision making was poor, the final ball lacking. Liverpool scored twice on the break, and will be happier with the result than their performance. The other game in the group finishes Toulouse 1-0 LASK, and Jurgen Klopp’s side are in the box seat in Group E going into the double-header with the French team.
FULL TIME: Liverpool 2-0 Union Saint-Gilloise
The whistle goes. Liverpool weren’t particularly impressive, but two goals on the counter were enough to see off a Union side who grew increasingly confident as the game went on.
90 min +5: Puertas slides in late on Gomez, just to the right of the Union box. He really should be booked, but the referee hasn’t shown a single card tonight – it’s been a friendly-enough affair – and clearly wants to keep it like that.
90 min +4: The relief around Anfield is palpable … but Liverpool remain their sloppy selves, Mac Allister playing a blind backpass that lets in Amoura. Alisson digs his team-mate out of a hole by saving with a strong arm.
GOAL! Liverpool 2-0 Union (Jota 90+2)
… opts to go short instead. An eventual cross is cleared, and Diaz tries to break free down the middle. He can’t control, and clanks into trouble, but the ball breaks off Sadiki to Jota, who strides down the inside-left channel and slots calmly across Moris and into the bottom right.
90 min +2: … but Liverpool are feeling the pressure now, and Alisson carelessly passes out of play. Sykes prepares to fling in a long throw, and …
90 min +1: Liverpool deal with the corner, as the first of five added minutes ticks round.
90 min: Rodriguez takes on Quansah down the right. Had he looked up, Amoura was absolutely clear in the middle. But he’s hoping to work room for a shot himself. He can’t get past Quansah, who pokes away to concede another corner.
88 min: Castro-Montes sits Tsimikas down with a crisp turn, then fizzes a low cross into the box from the right. Alisson flops on it with a couple of blue shirts homing in. This is unnecessarily nervy for Liverpool now; they’ve been really careless tonight.
86 min: Jones bobbles a low drive wide left. Moris had it covered.
85 min: Szoboszlai fires wide from distance. Then it’s the end of the road for Kevin Mac Allister. He’s replaced by Sykes.
84 min: Gomez flings in long from the right. Union clear and Sadiki nearly releases Amoura on the counter with a long rake. The visitors certainly fancy this.
82 min: Amoura crosses from the left. Quansah leans into the back of Rodriguez, who wants the penalty but isn’t getting one. It would have been soft. But you’ve seen them given, you know.
81 min: Another Union corner comes to nought. The wastefulness is catching.
80 min: Liverpool come so close to the second. Konate’s long diagonal pass releases Diaz down the inside left. Diaz chests down, enters the box, and steers a shot across Moris and off the base of the right-hand post. Elliott can’t convert the rebound, then Diaz slams a shot against his own man Jota, but the flag goes up for offside. Diaz had gone too early to meet Konate’s pass, and the whole period of play is moot.
79 min: Gravenberch has been one of Liverpool’s better performers tonight, scoring his first goal for his new club in the process. But his race is run this evening. On comes the new hero of the Kop, Dominik Szoboszlai.
78 min: Liverpool draw some of the sting out of the game with a period of sterile possession.
76 min: Castro-Montes chases after a long ball bouncing down the inside-right channel and attempts to Robbie Fowler a screamer into the net from 25 yards. The pastiche flies 25 yards over the bar. But that’s another half-chance for Union, who are beginning to sense the opportunity for an equaliser.
75 min: A double change for Union, who swap out Amani and Vanhoutte for Rasmussen and Sadiki.
74 min: Tsimikas spots a pocket of space in the centre of the park. He drops a shoulder to race into it, then blazes a wild shot over the bar.
73 min: Rodriguez and Quansah tussle hard for the ball down the Union right. Quansah does exceptionally well to ensure the Ecuador striker doesn’t tear clear. It costs Liverpool a corner. One leads to another, then Liverpool finally clear their lines. The hosts aren’t playing well, and the denizens of Anfield are getting crotchety.
71 min: Jota takes matters into his own hands by blazing down the left. But nobody’s kept up with him and he’s forced to cut back for Jones, who slowly one-twos his way with Elliott out of play for a goal kick.
70 min: Liverpool have dialled down the effort and are beginning to take liberties here. Union are getting closer and closer to making them pay.
68 min: Nilsson and Terho make way for Lapoussin and Rodriguez. Lapoussin immediately wins another Union corner, and Machida heads this one wide.
66 min: Amoura dribbles down the left and wins a corner off Konate. Had he looked up earlier, he’d have seen Nilsson in acres on his own. Nothing comes of the corner. What a waste.
65 min: Some clown has been shining a laser into Moris’s face. Hopefully the stewards will find whoever it is and give them an old-fashioned clip around the ear and/or a toe up the jacksie. What is wrong with people?
63 min: Alexander-Arnold, recovering from a hamstring injury, has finished his shift tonight. He’s replaced by Gomez, and Alisson takes the armband. Gomez’s first act is to curl a delicious ball in from a deep position on the right. Diaz mistimes his dive and can’t connect with his head. Goal kick.
62 min: There used to be a Liverpool fanzine called Another Wasted Corner. Well, that.
61 min: Gravenberch sends Diaz scampering down the left. Diaz falls over, but springs up again and passes back to Gravenberch, who opens his body and sends a curler towards the top right. Moris extends to top over the bar.
60 min: This is really scrappy now, the ball seemingly uncontrollable.
58 min: Jones takes a whack from distance. Deflected. Over. Alexander-Arnold sends the set piece in. Quansah heads wildly over but commits a foul in doing so anyway.
57 min: Tsimikas barrels down the left and digs out a cross that Jota can’t quite get his head to in the middle. Liverpool come again, Alexander-Arnold whipping one in from the right. Burgess heads behind and nothing comes of this corner either.
55 min: Gravenberch chest-passes a floating ball down the middle and into the box for Diaz, who briefly looks like getting to it before Moris. But the keeper is on point.
53 min: Alexis Mac Allister swings in from the right. Jota rises highest to win a header and aims for the top right. A bit too close to Moris, though, and the keeper tips over the bar. Nothing comes of the corner.
51 min: Alisson makes up for his error by safely catching the second corner. Union have been second best tonight yet they’ve had their chances.
50 min: Puertas dribbles his way down the left and into the Liverpool box. Konate sticks out a perfectly timed leg for a corner that Alisson aims a punch at, only to fail to connect. Quansah is forced to bash the loose ball out for another corner before anyone in blue can poke home from close range.
49 min: All a bit scrappy during the opening exchanges of the second half.
47 min: With both of his sons now prowling around the Anfield pitch, Colo Mac Allister looks down from the stand with pride and a quiet dignity.
Liverpool get the second half underway, having made three changes. Luis Diaz, Curtis Jones and Alexis Mac Allister come on for Salah, Nunez and Endo.
Half-time postbag: British-fans-of-Union special!
“As a Brit in Belgium – and a Union season ticket holder – I’d just like to say that, although we last won the league in the 1930s, thanks to the vagaries of the Belgian league system that doesn’t tell the whole story. Over the last two ‘regular’ seasons we’ve probably spent more time at the top of the table than any other team – including at the end of the regular season. It’s just we have this barking mad play-off system over here which means finishing top doesn’t necessarily mean you win the league. Mind you, still better than when I first started watching them in the third tier” – Dave Lloyd
“Like many other Brits, FC Union St Gilles were my ‘Brussels team’ when I lived and worked in Brussels 2015-2018, covering Brexit. If you haven’t already, do Google Images their ground – delightful 9,000 capacity [sic!] in woods on the edge of a Brussels park, with an Art Deco clubhouse. Mostly standing. Look at those stands, and imagine thinking: ‘in a few years, this team will be playing Liverpool in Europe!’” – Matt Tempest (formerly of this parish, and no doubt still reeling at the shock of his beloved Bradford City telling Mark Hughes to do one)
Half-time reading. Liverpool travel to Brighton in the Premier League on Sunday. Here’s what the Seagulls did in France earlier this evening.
HALF TIME: Liverpool 1-0 Union Saint-Gilloise
There’s just enough time for Konate to hold off Nilsson as he rampages down the right, and the whistle goes with Union giving as good as they’re getting, despite that gift of a goal. Gravenberch will be happy with his first strike in Liverpool colours, but Jurgen Klopp may not be so content with his team’s overall performance. He sprints off down the tunnel to prepare his half-time speech.
45 min +1: Liverpool don’t score from Union’s corner this time, so there’s an improvement.
45 min: Liverpool nearly give up an equaliser immediately. Amoura dinks the ball past Konate and beats him in a footrace down the middle. Alisson comes out of his box to claim only for Amoura to chip over him … but there’s not enough juice behind the shot and Konate is able to make up the ground and hoick clear for another corner.
GOAL! Liverpool 1-0 Union SG (Gravenberch 44)
Union win a corner down the left. It does them no good whatsoever. Some shoving in the box. The whistle goes for a foul, and Alisson gets Liverpool off on the immediate counter. Alexander-Arnold exchanges passes with Nunez down the left. He curls low and hard towards the bottom right. Moris spills a shot he should hold, and Gravenberch slots into the bottom left from a couple of yards.
42 min: Union’s fans continue to dominate the soundtrack at an otherwise silent Anfield. The home team have lost all momentum and their supporters are responding similarly.
40 min: Liverpool pass it around the midfield to little effect, all of their early verve long gone. “If both Mac Allister brothers are at Anfield, does this mean nobody is Home Alone?” wonders Peter Bradshaw Gary Byrne, because somebody had to.
38 min: Castro-Montes dribbles in cutely from the left, beating a couple of challenges before attempting to slide Nilsson free down the channel and into the box. Nilsson spins but can’t control and the ball sails through to Alisson.
37 min: One corner leads to another, which leads to Alexander-Arnold slicing a ludicrously ambitious long-distance drive deep into the stand.
36 min: Konate shovels a pass down the middle and finds Nunez to the left of the D. Nunez takes a touch before belting a rising shot towards the top left. Moris parries around the post for a corner.
