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hugo akitike scored on his return eintracht frankfurt As liverpool Their four-match losing streak ended With a confident 5-1 return to the Champions League In Germany.
France international, who scored 26 times in 64 matches Bundesliga Ahead of a £69 million summer move, the team suffered a significant blow that saw his new side get back into the match after conceding an eighth consecutive game.
He left behind the British record signing alexander isaacWho still seems to lack intensity, both have come together as head coaches for the first time Arne Slott Opted to do something different in an attempt to change my destiny.
and together florian wertz Initially, the Dutchman had put his faith in him to stop the rot of £300m worth of new talent, meaning mohammed salah He was on the bench like he was for the last time Champions League Away game against Galatasaray.
but it was centre-back virgil van dijk And Ibrahima Konate Who delivered the deadly blow through a free header from a corner just before half time liverpool At last deliveries on set-pieces began.
Wirtz came into his own with an assist in the second half Cody Agate And Dominic Szoboszlai He was also wished a happy return to Germany.
If ever there was opposition to play, facing avoiding their worst performance in 73 years, it was Frankfurt, who have been even more open than Liverpool – losing 18 of their last five games and not keeping a clean sheet in the last nine, having conceded three or more chances in five of the last seven.
Incredibly, after winning their opening Champions League match 5–1, Frankfurt have lost by the same score in their last two matches.
This probably influenced Slote’s decision to go with two strikers, although this was a slight perturbation due to Wirtz initially playing on the right side of a four-man midfield.
The Germany international is an intelligent footballer, but in the early stages he constantly checked his position and when he received the ball, his first attacking pass went straight to the opponent.
The change to a 4-2-2-2, with Wirtz and Gakpo playing narrow and high, gave them much more control than in previous matches. Until this happened.
Wirtz flagged Frankfurt’s left corner, lost possession to the midfielders curtis jones And Szoboszlai clashed with each other leaving Mario Gotze, the man whose failed move to Anfield in 2016 had complimented Salah’s arrival on a free centre-back.
His pass out to former Leeds right-back Rasmus Christensen was sent wide of the far post.
Liverpool’s response came after nine minutes and – ironically, for all their dominance – it came from a simple counterattack.
Nathaniel Brown’s cross was wrong. andy robertson And he sent Akitike running through his own half to beat Michael Zetterer confidently, with the Frenchman raising his arms in celebration almost apologetically.
The score was Liverpool’s 300th away goal in all European competitions, courtesy of Konate, following Van Dijk’s lead and his 200th away goal in all formats of the competition.
The fitness of Isak, who looked lethargic and had just one shot that was deflected off a post by Zetterer, continued to be managed and he was replaced by Federico Chiesa at the interval.
Wirtz, who had made a good save from Zetterer’s free-kick, was finding space in his modified inside-forward role and Szoboszlai and Connor Bradley – a first-half replacement for the injured Jeremy Frimpong – almost benefited from the latter’s shot which hit the post.
When Szoboszlai returned the favour, Wirtz crossed for Gákpo to side-foot home, before the Hungary captain picked up a short pass from the German to drill into the net from 25 yards.