Liverpool 2-0 Bologna Player Ratings: Salah’s magic leaves the visitors in tatters

Mohamed Salah produced a spectacular display to help Liverpool beat Bologna 2-0 in the Champions League at Anfield. The Reds opened their account, with Salah feeding a brilliant lofted ball to Alexis Mac Allister, who nodded it into the net. The visitors had a glorious chance before the break but Kacper Urbanski had his shot parried away by Alisson Becker. While the Rossoblu struggled to equalise, Salah put the game to bed with a stunning strike from outside the box with his strong foot.

The Reds have now won both of their games in the UCL this season, having picked up 5 wins out of 6 games to top the Premier League.

Liverpool Player Ratings vs Bologna

Goalkeeper

Alisson Becker: 8/10 – Produced two fine saves against Urbanski and Orsolini

Defenders

Andrew Robertson: 6/10 – A rather ordinary performance from the Scottish left-back. Was often beaten by Orsolini.

Virgil van Dijk: 7/10 – Involved in nine defensive actions, although his passing was slightly off the mark.

Ibrahima Konate: 8/10 – A solid performance from the French centre-back, who clocked up a passing accuracy of 94%. Made a great diving block against Ndoye’s strike.

Trent Alexander-Arnold: 7/10 – His passing game was brilliant as usual. Delivered 7 passes into the final third.

Midfielders

Ryan Gravenberch: 8/10 – The Dutchman’s resurgence continues under Arne Slot as he put in another world-class performance. Anchored the midfield at will and escaped the pressure at ease with his tireless legs.

Alexis Mac Allister: 8/10 – The Argentine carried on his excellent consistency with another fine performance. Started and finished the move with a well-timed run into the box

Dominik Szoboszlai: 8/10 – The Hungarian caused all sorts of problems for the Italians with his unmatched playmaking skills. Set up Salah’s strike, created 1 big chance and completed 2/3 dribbles and three passes into the final third

Attackers

Mohamed Salah: 9/10 – Set up Mac Allister’s strike with a weighted pass and scored a typical belter from outside the best to cap off a spell-binding performance

Luis Diaz: 8/10 – Diaz proved he is a master of chaos with mazy dribbling abilities, leaving Bologna defenders in his wake. Completed the game-high 5 dribbles and created 1 big chance.

Darwin Nunez: 5/10 – Handed the start ahead of Jota but failed to capitalise on it. Replaced at the hour mark.

Substitutes

Kostas Tsimikas 3/10 – Booked for a foul just outside the box

Conor Bradley: N/A

Cody Gakpo: N/A

Curtis Jones: N/A

Diogo Jota: N/A

Manager

Arne Slot: 8/10 – Slot’s fairy-tale run continues and he ensured the Reds dominate their first home UCL game of the season. Deployed his strongest eleven and at any point during the game, the Reds didn’t budge away from their attacking style of play.

Bologna Player Ratings vs Liverpool

Goalkeeper

Lukasz Skorupski: 4/10 The Polish keeper had no chance against Salah’s worldie.

Defenders

Juan Miranda: 5/10 – Much impressive with his defensive actions and passing skills but easily allowed Salah to take his shot.

Jhon Lucumi 7/10: Unlike his centre-back partner, Lucumi fared better. Put in a lot of efforts to prevent the Reds from breaching the defence. Made as many as 6 recoveries.

Sam Beukema: 4/10 – Was ball-watching for Liverpool’s first goal. Hauled off midway through the game

Stefan Posch: 6/10 – Struggled to handle Luis Diaz as he was dribbled past three times. But improved in the second half

Midfielders

Remo Freuler: 5/10 – The Rossoblu skipper tried to bring some stability to the midfield despite being at the receiving end of the Reds’ rampant attack

Kacper Urbanski: 5/10- The Polish talent could have equalised after forcing a fine save from Alisson. Also sent his shot over the post just outside the box despite being in a promising situation.

Nikolo Moro: 4/10 – The Croatian midfielder hardly made his presence felt.

Attackers

Dan Ndoye: 5/10 – Ndoye was touted as the potential threat but the Reds contained him smartly in numbers. Had his shot blocked by Konate towards the end.

Riccardo Orsolini: 6/10 – A much-improved player in the second and brought some hope that Bologna can pull something out of the game. Forced a great save from Alisson.

Thijs Dalinga: 4/10 – Started the game in place of Argentine wonderkid Santiago Castro but only made little impact.

Substitutes

Santiago Castro: N/A

Nicolo Casale: N/A

Giovanni Fabian: N/A

Michel Aebischer: N/A

Samuel Iling-Junior: N/A

Manager

Vincenzo Italiano: 4/10 – In contrast to Slot, Italiano’s struggles are manifest to bed in as Bologna’s coach. Had a poor start to Serie A and now this defeat puts him under scrutiny once again.

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