Liverpool booked their place in the UEFA Champions League semi-finals despite a 3-3 draw at home to Benfica in the quarter-final second leg match played at Anfield on Wednesday night.
Leading 3-1 from the first leg a week ago in Portugal, the Reds were not in danger of losing the advantage before Anfield was almost completely filled.
It’s no surprise that they got off to a great start, creating chances in the first few minutes.
It was the visitors who had the first chance in the 13th minute when Everton tried his luck with a stun shot towards the goal from a distance, but his powerful shot passed close to the left post with difficulty.
Although Liverpool seemed the most likely team to score first, it wasn’t long before they could pull off the breakthrough – in the 23rd minute.
Having not scored a single goal for the Reds, Ibrahim Konate opened his account for Liverpool last week against the Portuguese side, giving them a thrilling lead at Anfield when he headed brilliantly from Konstantinos Tsimikas’ corner.
Two minutes later, Benfica thought they had leveled when Darwin Nunez hit the net, but the assistant referee raised his flag and the referee whistled for offside.
Luis Diaz was then saved by Odyssias Vlachodimos just before the half-hour mark after the winger made himself some space inside the penalty area and fired a quick shot to the right side of the goal.
But Benfica returned to the game in the 32nd minute when Goncalo Ramos had a great opportunity inside the penalty area and hit the ball into the lower left corner.
However, the goal was subjected to a VAR review to ascertain whether or not there was an offside.
Just before the break, a rebound landed at Naby Keita’s feet, and hitting a first exit from distance Sharpe flew past the right post.
Jurgen Klopp’s players started the second half as if they had finished the first, creating a number of chances as they went on to claim the win.
10 minutes into the first half, they doubled their lead when Diogo Jota sent the ball to Roberto Firmino, who hit the ball into the empty net to make it 2-1.
The score was 3-1 after an hour as Tsimikas once again made a beautiful free kick shot to Firmino, hitting the ball into the right post.
Benfica made it 3-2 in the 73rd minute when Roman Yarimchuk scored, but the goal was reviewed by the video assistant referee.
The visitors clashed and got the equalizer in the 83rd minute, this time Darwin Nunez beat Alisson in the net.
Just like the first two targets, the hit was reviewed by VAR, before it was allowed to stand still.
Despite his best efforts, Benfica could not get past the Reds, losing 6-4 on aggregate.
Liverpool will now meet Villarreal in the semi-finals for a final ticket.
