Liverpool notched a second consecutive defeat on Tuesday, this time losing 1-0 at Galatasaray in UEFA Champions League action as their luck with late goals starts to run out.
The Reds went down early as Victor Osimhen scored a penalty in the 17th minute, which ended up serving as the game’s lone goal. Liverpool’s 16 shots were not enough for them to find an equalizer, even as manager Arne Slot brought Mohamed Salah and Alexander Isak off the bench.
But the result will not be his only post-match concern. Goalkeeper Alisson came off in the second half with an injury, with Giorgi Mamardashvili filling in for the final half hour and making his Champions League debut in the process.
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The day’s action began in the unlikely Champions League host city of Almaty, Kazakhstan, where Real Madrid put Saturday’s 5-2 loss at Atletico Madrid in the past with a 5-0 win at Kairat. Kylian Mbappe scored a hattrick to open the scoring, further establishing himself as the star of Los Blancos’ attacking show with Xabi Alonso at the helm, while Eduardo Camavinga and Brahim Diaz finishing things up with late goals.
Meanwhile in London, Chelsea collected their first win of the Champions League season with a 1-0 result against Jose Mourinho’s Benfica, the manager making his return to the competition after a five-year absence. The Blues did not come out unscathed, though, with Joao Pedro picking the team’s third red card in four games when he received a second yellow card in stoppage time.
A difficult evening in Turkiye was compounded by second-half injuries suffered by Alisson Becker and Hugo Ekitike as Arne Slot’s side were unable to retrieve any points from the setback inflicted by the hosts’ early spot-kick.
Alisson made a good early save from Baris Alper Yilmaz and Liverpool then settled into a rhythm of dominating possession amid the deafening whistles of the home crowd.
A lovely move ended with Frimpong’s low cross – aimed for Ekitike – being cut out by Davinson Sanchez and the Reds’ No.22 then miscued a header from Gakpo’s cross.
The momentum of the half hinged on a minute around the quarter-hour mark as, first, Gakpo saw an effort cleared off the line at one end before Galatasaray won a penalty at the other.
Dominik Szoboszlai was adjudged to have fouled Yilmaz and Osimhen stepped up to convert from 12 yards.
The visitors resumed control of possession but were unable to test home goalkeeper Ugurcan Cakir until Florian Wirtz dug out a snapshot from Frimpong’s knockdown that was tipped wide.
Galatasaray then somehow cleared the danger following a corner where Virgil van Dijk made first contact and Milos Kerkez and Ekitike each attempted to force the ball over the line.
A positive start to the second half included an inventive Ekitike attempt, the forward flicking Frimpong’s pull-back goalwards, only for Cakir to save.
The next chance was Galatasaray’s, though, as Osimhen beat Ryan Gravenberch to the ball and bore down on Alisson. Liverpool’s No.1 made a fine stop but injured himself in the process and had to be replaced by Giorgi Mamardashvili.
On the hour, Slot introduced Conor Bradley, Alexander Isak and Mohamed Salah from the bench and Isak’s first involvement was to draw a save from Cakir.
But the Reds’ hopes of mounting a comeback were dealt another blow soon after as Ekitike was forced off too.
Bradley headed wide and, with Galatasaray tiring as Liverpool’s urgency increased, a late equaliser felt more likely.
It seemed that the Reds would have the chance to level with a penalty of their own when the referee awarded a spot-kick for a foul on Ibrahima Konate with one minute left, but the decision was overturned following a VAR review and Slot’s team were beaten.
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