MX23RW : Thursday, November 7 21:33:06| >> :60:602:602:
[monks data]
Attendance: 52,465
Liverpool logo
Champions League | Quarter-Finals
Apr 9, 2019 at 8pm UK
 
Porto

2-0

Keita (5'), Firmino (26')
FT(HT: 2-0)

Jurgen Klopp: 'Liverpool 100% deserved Porto win'

Jurgen Klopp: 'Liverpool 100% deserved Porto win'
© Reuters
Naby Keita's deflected strike and Roberto Firmino's tap-in put the Reds in charge.

Jurgen Klopp admitted a slight frustration that Liverpool "lost a bit of direction" in the second half against Porto but was ultimately content by a 2-0 victory at Anfield.

Naby Keita's deflected fifth-minute strike – his second goal in two games – and Roberto Firmino's tap-in before the half hour put the Reds in the ascendancy in the first leg of their Champions League quarter-final.

Sadio Mane saw his strike just after the resumption ruled out for offside and the hosts struggled for fluency thereafter, though Klopp was much the happier of the two coaches afterwards.

The Liverpool boss said: "We deserved the win 100 per cent, we scored two wonderful goals, we were in a lot of really dangerous situations. Overall it was a really good performance.

"Two-nil is a really, really good result, I would probably have taken that before the game and I'll take it now.

"They had too many set-pieces because they are really good in there and we don't want to give them away but that's how it is. They went for it as well but we defended them well.

"The problem was a little bit in the second half, we gave one or two counter-attacks away and then we had to control it again a bit more.

"We lost a bit of direction, didn't play that clear any more. We were still around in the box and all that stuff, which was good, but defending counter-attacks we had to work really hard which costs you a little bit and you lose a bit of rhythm.

"But all good. Two-nil, the game is still on, we have to go there and fight. Porto will try everything to strike back and that will be a really tough game again."

Naby Keita
Naby Keita celebrates scoring against Porto (Peter Byrne/PA)

While Klopp said "there were a lot of good performances", he singled out Keita for praise following a whole-hearted effort from the midfielder.

The Guinean has struggled to make his mark on Merseyside since arriving for a then club-record £53million fee last July.

But he followed up an encouraging display last Friday against Southampton, in which he opened his goal-scoring account for Liverpool, by making an impression against the Portuguese champions.

Klopp added: "Naby was a few times a bit unlucky in situations, and had to find his way back into games if you want. But he was in it from the start.

"We hoped it would be like this because last game he got better and better, minute by minute, so we wanted to build on it. He was really good. All of them were really hard-working and really good football too.

"I loved the goal. It was deflected, but it was a situation we wanted, the half-space we wanted to use. The boys did that really well. It was a really good performance."

Sergio Conceicao
Sergio Conceicao has called on Porto's fans to make it tough for Liverpool in the second leg (Martin Rickett/PA)

Porto head coach Sergio Conceicao believes the Merseysiders are contenders to go all the way in Europe's elite club competition.

However, he is not writing off Porto's hopes yet and has called on the club's supporters to create an intimidating atmosphere at the Estadio do Dragao in the return leg next week.

He said: "The team we played against is a very strong candidate to win this Champions League. But the 90 minutes are over and we've got another 90 minutes at the Dragao.

"I ask all the fans to come to the game and create an atmosphere at the Dragao because we want everything on the field to even up the difference between the teams and hopefully we can get into the semi-finals."

ga('create', 'UA-72310761-1', 'auto', {'name': 'pacontentapi'});
ga('pacontentapi.set', 'referrer', location.origin);
ga('pacontentapi.set', 'dimension1', 'By David Charlesworth, Press Association Sport');
ga('pacontentapi.set', 'dimension2', '37b54124-ee8d-4fa0-99a5-71cafc2703f2');
ga('pacontentapi.set', 'dimension3', 'paservice:sport,paservice:sport:club-news,paservice:sport:football,paservice:sport:match-reports,paservice:sport:uk,paservice:sport:world');
ga('pacontentapi.set', 'dimension6', 'story');
ga('pacontentapi.set', 'dimension7', 'composite');
ga('pacontentapi.set', 'dimension8', null);
ga('pacontentapi.set', 'dimension9', 'sport:football');
ga('pacontentapi.send', 'pageview', { 'location': location.href, 'page': (location.pathname + location.search + location.hash), 'title': 'Jurgen Klopp content as Liverpool take two-goal advantage to Porto'});

ID:355805: cacheID:355805:1false2false3false:QQ:: from db desktop :LenBod:restore:9582:No Data Analysis info
Restore Data
Share this article now:
Liverpool midfielder Naby Keita celebrates scoring against Porto on April 9, 2019
Read Next:
Naby Keita finding feet as Liverpool beat Porto
>
rhs 2.0
Today's games header
Tables header RHS

League Phase

TeamPWDLPTS
1Liverpool440012
2Sporting Lisbon431010
3Brest431010
4Inter Milan431010
5Monaco431010
6Barcelona43019
7Dortmund43019
8Aston Villa43019
9Atalanta42208
10Juventus42117
11Lille42117
12Man City42117
13Arsenal42117
14B. Leverkusen42117
15Celtic42117
16Dinamo Zagreb42117
17AC Milan42026
18Bayern42026
19Benfica42026
20Feyenoord42026
21Real Madrid42026
22Brugge42026
23Atletico42026
24PSV41215
25Sparta Prague41124
26Stuttgart41124
27PSG41124
28Shakhtar41124
29Girona41033
30Salzburg41033
31Bologna40131
32RB Leipzig40040
33Sturm Graz40040
34Young Boys40040
35Red Star40040
36Slovan Bratislava40040


Sports Mole provides in-depth previews and predictions for every match from the biggest leagues and competitions in world football.
Argentina's Lionel Messi kisses the World Cup trophy after collecting the Golden Ball award on December 18, 2022Sign up for our FREE daily preview newsletter direct to your inbox!