Galatasaray 1-0 Liverpool: Arne Slot’s side suffer second defeat in a row
It was a strange night at the Ali Sami Yen as Liverpool fell to a disappointing defeat against Galatasaray. First point of note was the strange lineup. Arne Slot leaving Alexander Isak on the bench was understandable but the surprise was the decision to have him joined there by Mohamed Salah.
Even stranger was Salah’s replacement. Right-back Jeremy Frimpong started on the right wing in place of the Egyptian, while midfielder Dominik Szoboszlai started at right-back. It was not too surprising then to see Liverpool playing like complete strangers.
Not that they didn’t create chances, they had plenty. Frimpong in particular was lively down the right, forcing his full-back to work incredibly hard. Hugo Ekitike, Ryan Gravenberch and Cody Gakpo all had good opportunities. But the away side’s passing was generally skittish and they looked vulnerable right from the outset.
Just a few minutes into the game, Galatasaray’s Baris Yilmaz sounded the early warning when he scorched past Szoboszlai into the penalty area, but Alisson, superb as always in one-on-ones, made a brilliant save.
Liverpool would miss a one-on-one themselves shortly after, before Yilmaz drove into the box again and was fouled by Szoboszlai, who caught him in the face. Victor Osimhen converted the resulting penalty to put the hosts ahead.
Before the match, Arne Slot had dismissed talk of defensive issues in his side and said instead that they needed to work on set-pieces. And while the goal came from the spot, it would be difficult to accept the manager’s point on the evidence of this game. Liverpool gave away several balls and a much more clinical Galatasaray and Osimhen would have punished them.
At one point, after Curtis Jones had given away the ball, Osimhen dawdled inside the penalty arc and Jones recovered to nick it away. Not long after that the Nigerian stole the ball from a flat-footed Gravenberch and bolted towards goal, but under pressure from Ibrahima Konate he played too quickly and too weakly, and Alisson was able to display his one-on-one skills again.
However, the speed to get back into position and deny Osimhen caused the Brazilian to hurt himself and he was replaced by Giorgi Mamardashvili.
Liverpool got better after Salah and Isak were introduced after the half hour. They pushed for the equaliser, with Isak immediately threatening. Salah had a few moments of pressure on the right wing.
Late in the game, it looked like Slot’s side had a chance to salvage a point when they were awarded a penalty, but after a VAR review the decision was overturned.
