Liverpool defeats Villarreal CF 2-0 in the first leg of the Champions League semi-final and scores twice in two second-half minutes

Villarreal defended well against Liverpool in the first half and threatened to do the same in the second half. But Liverpool finally got a breakthrough thanks to an own goal by Villarreal after a fortunate deflection in the 53rd minute.

The goal came after Mohamed Salah passed the ball to the man of the match Jordan Henderson, who sent a cross towards the middle of the penalty area. The cross got deflected as Villarreal defender Pervis Estupinan stuck his boot out and flew over the head of goalkeeper Gerónimo Rulli, barely grazing over his fingers into the net.

Just two minutes later, Sadio Mane doubled the lead for Liverpool. The Reds get a quick-fire double as they score for the second time in two second-half minutes. The Senegalese forward fired the ball into the bottom right corner, beating Gerónimo Rulli with his low strike after receiving a through-ball from Mohammed Salah.

Villarreal went into the match with a complete focus on defence and frustrated the Liverpool attackersVillarreal committed so highly to resisting the Liverpool attackers that they hardly managed to take the ball more than 20 yards further than their penalty area. Whenever they managed to work the ball from the back, there was hardly anyone in the friend to use the opportunities. They were defensively tight and intelligent with their game and tried to utilize free kicks and restarts even though it wasn’t of much use due to a lack of players upfield, managing just one shot in the match.

Liverpool emerged victorious over Villarreal with a score of 2-0. Both the sides will lock horns again in the second leg of the match at El Madrigal on May 4.