By Aiwu Esele
Coquelin scores for Villarreal and Sadio Mane scores the third and final goal for Liverpool
Like it started late in their Anfield encounter last week, Liverpool came from behind sluggishly to fire home unexpected goals that sealed Villarreal’s hope to play in the final of the 2022 UEFA Champions and perhaps win and book a ticket to the 2023 game as they currently stand sixth position in Laliga.
It all started with underdogs Villarreal trying to come back from a two nil first leg deficit at Anfield. It proved to be an interesting encounter with Villarreal scoring two early first half goals through Dia in the 3rd minute and the second by Coquelin in the 41st minute. The sudden, unexpected goals gave Liverpool players a scare while the Villarreal fans started dreaming of a champions league final. But all this could only last for 45 minutes.
Manager, Jurgen Klopp came up with a plan to substitute Diogo Jota for Luiz Diaz at half time and that proved to be a right decision as the substitute scored and caused dangers in the Villarreal 18 yard box. Liverpool spirited comeback with a low angled shot by the Brazilian Fabinho in the 62nd minute while Luiz Diaz timed his run to convert a header from Alexander Arnold ‘s cross in the 68 minute and in form Senegalese, Sadio Mane scored in the 75 minute to finish the tie at 3-2 with an aggregate of 5-2.
Liverpool will face either Real Madrid or Man city in the champions league final after the duo’s game at the Bernabeu on Wednesday. Final takes place in Paris on May 25, 2022.
