UEFA Champions League: Liverpool beats Ajax 2-1; Joel Matip's late winner gave Liverpool a crucial win

Jorgen Klopp made four changes to the Liverpool squad after the 4-1 loss to Napoli on September 8. One of the crucial changes was the return of Joel Matip in place of Joe Gomez at the backline.

Within the regulation time, Mohamed Salah in the 17th minute and Joel Matip in the 89th minute were the goal scorers for Liverpool. Mohammed Kudus was the lone goal scorer for Ajax.

Liverpool started the match aggressively, and it did not take long to open the scoring. Diogo Jota charged toward the goal and Broke the Ajax defensive line before passing the ball to Mohamed Salah. 

The 30-year-old Egyptian striker made no mistake and slotted the ball into the bottom right corner of the net to make it 1-0.

Dutch defender Daley Blind launched a counterattack for Ajax in the 27th minute. He passed the ball to Steven Berghuis on the left flank, who sent it to Mohammed Kudus inside the box.

The 20-year-old Ghanaian midfielder fired the ball into the net with a powerful left-footed strike to equalise the score for the visiting side. The first half ended with both sides tied 1-1.

Liverpool continued their attacking momentum in the second half as Diago Jota broked past the Ajax defensive line. However, he failed to convert after Ajax goalkeeper Remko Pasveer saved his shot.

Both sides got several golden opportunities to gain the lead in the second half but failed to use them much. Liverpool finally got the breakthrough in the ending minutes of the match when Konstantinos Tsimikas lifted an excellent cross into the Ajax box, allowing Joel Matip to head in the winning goal.

After the victory, Jurgen Klopp said, “A lot. I think if we put the two games, Napoli and tonight, next to each other, you don’t recognise properly that it’s the same sport.”

“It was all different. The start was different. The middle was different. The finish was different. The way we played, the way we defended, everything was different. Everything was better with much higher intensity, much more aggression, braver, and more ready.

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