The match of the Champions League group stage between Frankfurt and Liverpool has just concluded. The visitors found themselves behind early on — at the 26th minute, Frankfurt took the lead. Before that, Jeremy Frimpong left the pitch injured, casting a shadow over the early proceedings.
Trailing, Liverpool began their comeback, and by full-time they had secured a commanding 5-1 victory. With consecutive losses behind them, this result could be the catalyst they needed.
Goal timeline:
26′: Frankfurt goal
35′: Hugo Ekitike (Liverpool)
39′: Virgil van Dijk (Liverpool)
44′: Ibrahima Konaté (Liverpool)
66′: Cody Gakpo (Liverpool)
70′: Dominik Szoboszlai (Liverpool)
Ekitike’s equaliser came first — returning to his former club, he showed his quality. From his own half, Andy Robertson delivered a vertical feed; Ekitike received the ball, sped past a defender, and one-on-one with the keeper finished with his right foot. It was a goal that brought out Ekitike’s strengths.
Shortly after drawing level, Liverpool pressed on. At 39 minutes, from a corner taken by Gakpo on the left, van Dijk headed powerfully — a towering header that seemed to rise above everyone. Immediately after, Liverpool won another corner. With van Dijk having just scored, I expected Konaté to be the target. The right corner was delivered by Szoboszlai, and Konaté rose to meet it with a strong header. Given that Konaté hasn’t always been at his best this season, I hope this goal can mark a turnaround.
In the second half the goals continued. At 66 minutes Gakpo scored: Szoboszlai played a vertical ball to Florian Wirtz on the right. Wirtz controlled it neatly and slid it inside, and Gakpo finished with his left. Wirtz, who had faced criticism for having neither goals nor assists thus far, got his assist. Then at 70 minutes Szoboszlai delivered a low-trajectory long-range shot — it hit the left corner of the goal, making it 5-nil. It was Wirtz who provided the pass to Szoboszlai, so he likely picked up a second assist.
Today’s match was important for Liverpool to recover from their recent losing streak, and a five-goal win is pleasing indeed. The next objective will be to close out a game with a clean sheet. Although the margin was large, there were still some concerns. At 17 minutes the match had kicked off when Frimpong went down on the pitch. From the look of his mannerisms it appeared to be a problem with his right hamstring. If so, he could be sidelined for some time.
Connor Bradley, who came on unexpectedly for Frimpong, showed a decent performance, so the expectation on Bradley will likely grow. Let’s hope Frimpong’s injury turns out to be minor.
Finally, Liverpool made use of the five-substitution rule in this match (one substitution being the irregular injury change). Here are the changes:
19′: Frimpong → Bradley
46′: Isak → Chiesa
73′: Ekitike, Gakpo → Salah, McAllister
74′: Konaté → Gomez
