UCL: Red Star Belgrade stun Liverpool

Liverpool’s hopes of reaching the last 16 of the Champions League have taken a major blow courtesy of a shock 2-0 defeat at the hands of Red Star Belgrade on Tuesday.
Milan Pavkov took full advantage of Liverpool mistakes to net a first-half brace, and the hosts produced an obdurate defensive display in the second half to keep last season’s runners-up at bay just a fortnight after being swept aside at Anfield.
Liverpool remain top of Group C despite the result, but they are only a point clear of Napoli and two above Paris Saint-Germain, who face each later today and provide the final two opponents for Jurgen Klopp’s side in the group stages.
Red Star, meanwhile, are still bottom of the group but move level on points with PSG ahead of tonight’s match, courtesy of their first ever victory in the Champions League proper.
The first clear chance fell the way of Red Star’s skipper Vujadin Savic when the ball fell to him inside the penalty area, but he failed to keep his shot down on the turn.
Sadio Mane’s pace was beginning to cause the hosts problems and he slid the ball through for Sturridge again moments later, only for the striker to cut back and see his eventual effort deflected wide for a corner.
Red Star responded by drawing the first meaningful save from Alisson Becker as he turned El Fardou Ben Nabouhane’s long-range snapshot around the post, and that proved to be a warning for the visitors as the hosts took the lead from the resulting corner.
Liverpool’s defenders failed to block the run of Pavkov, who rose unchallenged before planting a towering header past Alisson to raise the decibel levels even further inside the stadium.
Liverpool were made to rue a catalogue of errors in the buildup to the goal once again, with questions raised over Virgil van Dijk, Joel Matip and Alisson as Klopp’s side found themselves with a mountain to climb after half an hour.
Firmino and Joe Gomez were brought on for Sturridge and Trent Alexander-Arnold, but Liverpool were immediately on the back foot at the start of the second half too and survived a couple of early scares in the opening minutes.
Not much was going the way of Liverpool in the final third, and the woodwork came to Red Star’s rescue 11 minutes into the second half when Andrew Robertson’s cross took a big deflection before looping over the keeper and onto the top of the crossbar.
Klopp’s side dominated possession throughout the second half, but the home side looked like a different proposition to the one which had conceded 10 times in their previous two Champions League games as they kept the five-time winners at arm’s length.
There was a chance for a late consolation when the ball broke kindly for Salah in the area, but his finish – and Borjan’s celebrations at saving it to keep his clean sheet intact – summed up a famous night for Red Star and one to forget for Liverpool.