Reds rally to ease Anfield's anxiety

LIVERPOOL, England－Liverpool fans held their collective breath and diverted their eyes to the referee.

Had Joel Matip's 89th-minute header crossed the line for a goal to seal a precious win?

The match official looked at his watch, gave the signal and Anfield went wild.

With a late goal needing confirmation by goal-line technology, the Reds beat Ajax 2-1 on Tuesday to claim their first points in this season's Champions League.

"I wasn't sure, to be honest," Matip said about his winner that ended his nine-year goal drought in the competition. "When I saw the referee (award it), the emotions came out."

It wasn't just the result that was huge for Liverpool. It was also the way the English team performed, a week after the humiliation of its 4-1 loss at Napoli in the opening round of Group A games.

The pressing was better. The intensity was higher. Thiago Alcantara's display in central midfield in his first start of the season after injury was hugely encouraging, knitting the team together.

This was more like Liverpool, even if the team wound up needing a last-gasp goal to see off the Dutch champion.

"Coming back from the horror show in Naples, it was important we showed a reaction," Liverpool defender Virgil van Dijk said. "It wasn't easy … but it's something to work on."

Looking to make amends for that defeat in Italy which manager Jurgen Klopp described as the worst performance in his seven-year tenure, Liverpool started strongly and Mohamed Salah ended his run of seven Champions League games without a goal by putting the team ahead in the 17th minute.

Luis Diaz headed on a long clearance from goalkeeper Alisson Becker, Diogo Jota collected the ball and fed Salah, who took one touch to steady himself before shooting low inside the post.

Mohammed Kudus smashed a shot off the underside of the crossbar for the equalizer in the 27th after Ajax midfielder Edson Alvarez ran in behind Trent Alexander-Arnold and cut a cross back into the penalty area.

Liverpool was the better team for the majority of an end-to-end game but after substitute Darwin Nunez swept a shot wide and Salah hit a deflected effort against the post, it looked like it wasn't going to be the home team's night.

But after Matip's late intervention－he met an outswinging corner with a header that had just crossed the line before being cleared－Liverpool will head into back-to-back group games against Rangers after the international break in good heart.

"I think everyone understood we had to put in a completely different shift for the game," Klopp said. "We did that."

"If you put the two games next to each other, I don't think you recognize the same squad," Klopp said of his side's improvement from last week in southern Italy.

"It's the first step but nothing more," added the German, whose side is not in action again for another two and a half weeks, with Sunday's match against Chelsea postponed due to policing pressures around the funeral of Queen Elizabeth II.

Before kickoff, there was a minute's silence as a tribute to the Queen, who died last week at the age of 96. It was respectfully observed, except for a few random shouts that were quickly hushed.

All-Star idea

Klopp, meanwhile, poked fun at an idea from Chelsea's American owner Todd Boehly for the Premier League to stage an All-Star game.

Earlier in the day, Boehly, who is a co-owner of baseball's Los Angeles Dodgers, suggested that a US-style All-Star game between teams in the north and south of England could be introduced.

Boehly became Chelsea's owner in the summer and earlier this month fired Thomas Tuchel as the Blues' head coach. Tuchel and Klopp are friends, former colleagues and compatriots.

"He doesn't wait long. When he finds a date for that he can call me," Klopp said of the All-Star idea. "In American sports these players have four-month breaks. Does he want to bring the Harlem Globetrotters as well?

"Maybe he can explain that. I'm not sure people want to see that－United players, Liverpool players, City players, Everton players all together. It is not the national team. Did he really say it?"

Agencies