Salah Reaches 50th European Goal as Liverpool Beat Lille to Secure Last-16 Spot

Mohamed Salah marked a significant milestone, scoring his 50th European goal for Liverpool as the Reds cruised past 10-man Lille to secure their place in the Champions League last 16.

Salah opened the scoring in the 34th minute, expertly chipping the ball over Lille goalkeeper Lucas Chevalier after Curtis Jones threaded a perfectly timed pass. Despite Lille’s impressive 21-match unbeaten streak, they struggled to deal with Liverpool’s attacking pressure after the opening goal. Salah had two further chances to extend the lead, missing a one-on-one and curling another effort just wide of the post.

Lille’s challenges were compounded when Aissa Mandi was sent off just before halftime for a second yellow card, having fouled Luis Diaz. Mandi’s earlier yellow had been issued for dissent. Despite being a man down, Lille shocked the home crowd by equalizing shortly after, with Jonathan David scoring from a deflected effort.

However, Liverpool quickly regained the lead, with Harvey Elliott’s shot from a cleared corner deflecting into the net. Darwin Nunez thought he had extended the lead, but his goal was ruled out for offside after Federico Chiesa’s parried shot.

With seven wins out of seven in the group stage, Liverpool remains unbeaten and advances as a top-seeded team into the last 16. They will face one of the play-off winners in March.