Sadio Mane scored twice to become his side’s outright record away goalscorer in Europe as Liverpool beat Bayern Munich 3-1 at the Allianz Arena to book their place in the quarter-finals of the Champions League.
The Senegalese forward opened the scoring for the Reds on the night with a well-taken finish, leaving Bayern needing a couple of goals following on from last month’s goalless first leg.
An own goal from Joel Matip gave the Bavarian giants hope of pulling off a comeback, but Virgil van Dijk headed home a second for the visitors and Mane then rounded off the scoring late on – his seventh goal away from home in continental football, moving him ahead of Steven Gerrard and Roberto Firmino.
Liverpool kept Bayern quiet over the 180 minutes, conceding the Matip own goal somewhat against the run of play, and they will join fellow Premier League sides Tottenham Hotspur, Manchester United and Manchester City in Friday’s draw for the last eight.
Liverpool were dealt an early injury blow when losing skipper Jordan Henderson to an ankle injury sustained in a challenge with James Rodriguez, leading to the 13th-minute introduction of Fabinho.
Much like in the first leg, the two sides cancelled each other out all over the park in a flat opening quarter to the match.
Thiago Alcantara fired wide from 25 yards and Robert Lewandowski had a weak penalty appeal rejected when going down in the box under little – if any – contact from Van Dijk.
Van Dijk played a big part in Liverpool’s away goal when it arrived, sending the ball up the field to Mane, who controlled it and produced a Cruyff turn just inside the box to catch out Manuel Neuer and leave the goalkeeper stranded well off his line.
In-form forward Mane still had plenty of work to do, clipping the ball over a couple of Bayern players and into the far corner of the net for his ninth goal in 10 outings.
Andrew Robertson then tested Neuer at his near post as Liverpool went in search of a second, but the next goal would fall the way of the German champions.
After bursting clear of Robertson down the visitors’ left, Serge Gnabry squared the ball and Matip, attempting to cut out the pass before Lewandowski could tap it in, succeeded only in sending it past his own goalkeeper.
Bayern ended the first half well but their momentum fizzled out for the opening 20 minutes of the second period, with the only shot in that time arriving from Mohamed Salah at the end of a counter, which Neuer was equal to.
Following a period of sloppy play that saw both sides continually give the ball away, Liverpool took control of the tie courtesy of Van Dijk’s powerful header.
The Dutch centre-back attacked James Milner’s corner, heading the ball into the ground and past Neuer for his first goal in the Champions League.
Mane sealed the win six minutes from the end when guiding Salah’s cross away from Neuer into the bottom corner, creating some personal history and leaving Liverpool on course for silverware on two fronts this season.
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