Roberto Firmino came off the bench and scored a dramatic late winner as Liverpool beat Paris Saint-Germain 3-2 in their Champions League opener on Tuesday (Sep 18).
Roberto Firmino's injury-time winner gave Liverpool a dramatic victory over Paris Saint-Germain in their opening Champions League Group C game at Anfield.
Firmino was only fit enough to be on the bench after suffering an eye injury in Liverpool's victory at Tottenham on Saturday - but he emerged on 72 minutes to secure a win that manager Jurgen Klopp may have thought was slipping away after Kylian Mbappe's late equaliser threatened to rescue a point for PSG.
Daniel Sturridge, Firmino's replacement in Liverpool's starting line-up, headed them in front from Andrew Robertson's cross on the half hour, James Milner adding a second from the spot six minutes later after Georginio Wijnaldum was fouled.
Thomas Meunier pulled one back for PSG before half-time but, with Brazil superstar Neymar and Mbappe subdued, Liverpool were in control, seeing a Mohamed Salah goal ruled out for a foul.
Klopp's side were stunned when Mbappe pounced in the area to beat Alisson with seven minutes left - but Firmino made it a perfect start to Liverpool's Champions League campaign by beating Alphonse Areola with a low, angled drive deep into stoppage time.
Man of the match - Georginio Wijnaldum
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* Liverpool have won their opening six competitive matches of a season for the first time since 1961-62.
* PSG are winless in their last five Champions League matches against English sides (D3 L2) and have only kept one clean sheet in their previous 13 such games, a 0-0 draw at Stamford Bridge during the 2004/05 group stages.
* Since the start of last season, Liverpool have scored 44 Champions League goals; 11 more than any other team in the competition in this period.
* Since he joined Liverpool in the summer of 2015, only Sergio Aguero (17) and Harry Kane (15) have scored more penalties in all competitions for a Premier League club than James Milner (13).
* Daniel Sturridge has been directly involved in a goal in each of his last four Champions League appearances for Liverpool (2 goals, 2 assists).
- Source: News websites
