Champions League: Liverpool overcome Villareal in semi-final first leg

Liverpool wore down Villareal 2-0 in a UEFA Champions League semi-final first-leg tie on Wednesday to keep their bid for four titles alive.
Pervis Estupinan deflected team captain Jordan Henderson’s cross into his own net in the 53rd minute, and Sadio Mane got the second two minutes later.
The result left the six-time winners well-placed for the return leg in Spain on Tuesday.
Villarreal, who had stunned Juventus and Bayern Munich in the previous rounds, had frustrated Liverpool in the first half before being well beaten.
They created no serious scoring opportunity with just one attempt, compared to Liverpool’s 20.
Jürgen Klopp’s Reds have already won the League Cup, are in the FA Cup final against Chelsea and trail Manchester City by one point in a fierce Premier League title duel.
Should they reach the Champions League final on May 28 in Paris, Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City could also be their opponents there.
This was after Manchester City beat Real Madrid 4-3 in a thrilling the other first-leg semi-final on Tuesday.
“They are a very organised team and we knew they would make it difficult. It was just important that we kept going and believed that we would eventually break them down. We did that with two good goals,” Henderson said.
But he warned that “the game is still alive and it will be tough in Villarreal.”
Villarreal defender Pau Torres shared this view, insisting that “there’s a lot of football left in this semi-final yet.”
He added, “We go home beaten by two goals but we stay confident. Should we score in the first 10 minutes next week we are back in the tie.”
(NAN)
We have recently deactivated our website's comment provider in favour of other channels of distribution and commentary. We encourage you to join the conversation on our stories via our Facebook, Twitter and other social media pages.
More from Peoples Gazette

Agriculture
FG tasks ECOWAS on leveraging financing strategies for agroecology
The federal government has urged stakeholders in the agriculture and finance sectors in the West Africa region to leverage financing strategies to enhance agroecology practices

Politics
Katsina youths pledge to deliver over 2 million votes to Atiku
“Katsina State is Atiku’s political base because it is his second home.”

States
Anambra partners with NFSS to strengthen forest conservation
The Anambra State Ministry of Environment is partnering with the Nigeria Forest Security Service (NFSS) to strengthen forest conservation.

NationWide
ICPC set to institutionalise anti-corruption education in law schools
The ICPC has launched a nationwide initiative to integrate anti-corruption education into lawyers’ training.

Lagos
LUTH awards research grants to three resident doctors
The CMD congratulated the grant recipients, urging them to maintain rigorous ethical standards.

NationWide
FG targets 11 new pharmaceutical manufacturing projects
Mr Muktar said the projects are already underway, reflecting growing investor confidence in Nigeria’s pharmaceutical sector.

States
IG Disu commends security agencies over rescue of Oriire abduction victims
He said it was time for all Nigerians to unite and support efforts to tackle insecurity.

States
Troops arrest suspected terrorist, rescue nine kidnap victims in Katsina
According to the operation’s spokesperson, the victims are being processed for reunification with their families.





