Liverpool warmed up for Sunday’s huge Premier League encounter with Manchester City in fine fashion as they earned a 5-1 first-leg lead over Sparta Prague in the Europa League last-16.
Alexis Mac Allister benefited from some sloppy Sparta defending to win then score a penalty after just six minutes, but Liverpool relied on some wasteful finishing from their Czech hosts, plus some heroic defending from Caoimhin Kelleher and co, to avoid being pegged back.
But Liverpool added two more before the break through Darwin Nunez, who fired from the edge of the box before volleying into the far corner on the stroke of half-time in the striker’s first start back after a muscle injury.
The second half, however, started in disaster for Liverpool as half-time substitute Conor Bradley conceded an own goal with his first touch of the game, before defender Ibrahima Konate limped off with a concerning injury. But Luis Diaz’s finish from inside the box restored Liverpool’s three-goal lead eight minutes after the break.
Jurgen Klopp’s side welcomed back Dominik Szoboszlai and Mohamed Salah off the bench after respective injuries, with the former adding a fifth with the last kick of the game – but attention now turns to Sunday’s huge title six-pointer at Anfield against City.
