MARTINEZ WONDER GOAL NOT ENOUGH TO OVERCOME LIVERPOOL

Alexis Sanchez throws away Inter’s comeback chances moments after Lautaro Martinez scores a spectacular goal. The Italian giants beat Liverpool 1-0 on the night but it wasn’t enough to get through to the quarter finals; Liverpool progress via a 2-1 aggregate score.

Liverpool suffer their first defeat since March 2021 as Lautaro Martinez rockets his 20-yard effort into the top left corner. The goal came from Liverpool’s goal kick; a muddled Matip lost possession and wasn’t able to recover before the Argentine talisman fired the ball past Alisson. Liverpool’s man between the sticks couldn’t get anywhere near what could be one of the goals of the competition this year.

Shortly after Inter pulled themselves back into the tie, an idiotic challenge from Alexis Sanchez leads to a second yellow card. Sanchez lunged into a tackle with Fabinho, whilst he did get the ball the unnecessary follow through was what earned the Chilean his second yellow card of the game. With his studs showing and no need to follow through the tackle as much as he did, Inter were left chasing the game with only 10 men.

Off the crossbar!

The first opportunity of the fixture fell to Liverpool, as Sadio Mane won a free-kick after being brought down by Dumfries out on the left flank. Alexander-Arnold’s eyes lit up as he got his first chance to question the Inter defence with a delivery into the box.

The English full-back whipped the ball into the 18-yard area; it met Joel Matip in the air. His powerful header crashed into the crossbar before Inter managed to get the ball away for a corner kick. Handanovic was lucky that the bar denied Matip as he was rooted to the spot.

Skriniar denies van Dijk

Alexander-Arnold was called to action again for the corner ball after Inter managed to avoid conceding to Joel Matip’s header. The full-back played a low driven corner towards the front post; van Dijk charged towards the ball, sending it flying at goal.

Somehow Skriniar managed to take the ball away from goal with a superb intervention. Van Dijk had beaten Handanovic, if it weren’t for the Slovakian defender, Liverpool would have taken the lead.

Calhanoglu tests Alisson

Inter Milan’s first chance came towards the end of the first half when Calhanoglu attempted to catch out Alisson with a low free-kick towards the far post. The Turkish international went for goal himself, just about managing to find the only gap in Liverpool’s defence.

The ball fizzed towards goal however Alisson was quick to parry away the strike. Calhanoglu forced Alisson to make his first proper save of the game.

Trent’s free-kick sails wide

The final highlight before the interval came from another Trent Alexander-Arnold set piece. This time he went for goal himself, instead of assisting his teammates.

He guided the ball over the wall however he wasn’t able to get enough dip to bring it back down. A little too much whip on the effort resulted on it going slightly wide.

Inter get away with yet another opportunity to concede as Handanovic struggled to get across goal. The score was 0-0 at the break with neither side able to break the deadlock, Liverpool however had the two-goal advantage on aggregate.

Salah misses key chance

Thiago managed to get 65 minutes under his belt in this fixture, making his first appearance since his Carabao Cup injury. He helped mount the attack in the 52nd minute which led to Mo Salah’s first big chance. The Spaniard dinked the ball to pick out Diogo Jota, who was beaten to the ball by Handanovic.

The ball fell to Mo Salah who had the goal gaping; somehow the Egyptian hit the woodwork from 10 yards. He tried to squeeze it past the two Inter Milan defenders on the line but was unable to increase Liverpool’s advantage.

Stunning strike from Martinez

Martinez brought Inter back into the tie in fantastic fashion. Liverpool’s passing out the back went wayward as Joel Matip lost possession down the right-hand side. Alexis Sanchez retrieved the ball before playing inside to Martinez.

The striker allowed the ball to roll across his body so he could open up to strike it. After being stuck under van Dijk’s shadow the entire game, Martinez finally got half a yard to punish Liverpool’s wasted opportunities. The right footed effort whistled into the top corner, with Alisson totally stranded in his goal.

An unstoppable finish from the Argentine who had given the Italian giants the all-important lifeline. With the deficit halved, it was all to play for in the 30 minutes that remained.

Sanchez sees red

Only moments after assisting Martinez’s lifeline goal, Alexis Sanchez earned his second yellow card of the match after an unnecessary foul on both Thiago and Fabinho in the same phase of play.

He’d run himself into the ground all game but on this occasion, the former Arsenal man got too carried away. Sanchez lunged recklessly into the challenge with Fabinho; studs up, needless follow through, an easy decision for the referee.

Massimiliano Farris – a member of the Inter Milan coaching staff – was also sent off for his comments to the referee whilst arguing the decision. Inter Milan went down to 10 men, making the feat of progressing to the quarter finals even harder.

Salah hits the post again

15 minutes remained, Liverpool continued to hold on to their one goal aggregate lead, whilst searching for a goal to seal their place in the quarter-finals.

Sadio Mane switched the ball across to the opposite wing, once again Salah found space inside Inter’s penalty area. He blasted it from 12 yards, aiming for the far post. Much like many other instances in this fixture, Handanovic was beaten. Despite this, the far post – the opposite one from the previous time – denied Salah the equaliser.

Clinging onto the clean sheet

In the dying moments of the game, a fantastic sliding block from Vidal ensured Inter could hold on to a last slither of hope. Mo Salah squared the ball towards Luis Diaz, the new signing shot from close range but Arturo Vidal put his body on the line to keep Inter in it.

Diaz’s shot was harder to miss than score. With Handonovic stranded and the goal wide open, everyone at Anfield was certain the Colombian would break Inter Milan hearts. Although Arturo Vidal had other ideas, sliding to the rescue.

Liverpool narrowly progress

Despite Lautaro Martinez’s astonishing strike, Inter Milan weren’t able to overcome the two-goal deficit from the first leg at the San Siro.

Alexis Sanchez will take a lot of responsibility for the loss as he got himself sent off just moments after Martinez gave Inter a lifeline. His reckless challenge on Fabinho resulted in all the momentum Inter had built up was lost as they went down to 10 men.

Liverpool have now suffered their first home defeat in 28 games - the last time they lost being against Fulham – however it didn’t matter in the end as they were still able to progress to the next stage of the competition.

The tie could have ended very differently, if Liverpool hadn’t struck the woodwork on so many occasions. They had Handanovic beaten on several occasions but couldn’t manage to get the ball over the line.

A quadruple run still on for Jurgen Klopp’s side, who will discover their quarter final opponents on March 18th in the Champions League Quarter Final draw.

Line-ups:

Liverpool – (4-3-3) : Alisson, Robertson, van Dijk, Mati, Alexander-Arnold, Thiago (Henderson 65’), Fabinho, Jones (Keita 65’), Mane, Jota (Diaz 84’), Salah

Inter Milan – (3-5-2) : Handanovic, Bastoni, de Vrij (D’Ambrosio 45’), Skriniar, Perisic, Calhanoglu (Vecino 83’), Brozovic (Gagliardini 75’), Vidal, Dumfries (Darmian 75’), Sanchez, Martinez (Correa 75’)

Referee: Antonio Miguel Mateu Lahoz

Attendance: 51,747

MOTM: Arturo Vidal

Written by Isabelle Newnham