Elliott winner keeps Liverpool perfect

Liverpool booked their spot in the last 16 of the Champions League with a 2-1 victory over 10-man Lille this morning at Anfield.

Goals from talisman Mohamed Salah and substitute Harvey Elliott maintained a 100% record for Arne Slot's men, remaining atop of the 36-team table with 21 points, three points clear of second-placed Barcelona with one game of the league phase remaining. Lille are 11th with 13 points.

Salah netted his 50th European goal for Liverpool in the 34th minute when he sprinted onto a long pass from Curtis Jones, after Kostas Tsimikas won the ball inside the Reds' half, and then curled a shot around goalkeeper Lucas Chevalier.

"Special is, I think, the word that describes Mo's performance at this club," Slot said. "Or maybe there are even better words to use, but he's been outstanding for this club for so many years, and still he does. Today, great goal."

Despite being reduced to 10 men when Aissa Mandi was shown his second yellow card in the 59th minute for his tackle on Luis Diaz, Jonathan David levelled for the visitors three minutes later when he hammered home the loose ball after Hakon Arnar Haraldsson's shot was blocked.

The strike was David's fifth in the competition's league phase this season and only the second goal Liverpool had conceded, with the first coming in their opening game at AC Milan.

Liverpool quickly regained the lead when a corner was headed out to the edge of the box and Elliott fired a crisp shot that took a wild deflection into the net in the 67th minute.

"Very good team," David said of Liverpool. "I think they might be the best team in the world at the moment.

"We came against the first of the Champions League group so we knew it was going to be a complicated game even more so when we went to 10 men," he added. "It's frustrating, we wanted to hold on as long as we could but it's very difficult."

Darwin Nunez celebrated what he thought was Liverpool's third goal just before added time, but it was chalked off for offside. The Anfield crowd chanted Nunez's name in appreciation of the effort.

Lille showed why they were unbeaten in 21 successive games in all competitions inside the opening minute on Tuesday when Gabriel Gudmundsson's thunderous shot from outside of the box sailed just wide of the net.

Salah squandered several terrific chances. He could not quite connect with Diaz's blistering square ball in the first half, and then had only the keeper to beat in the 44th minute but shot wide of the post.

Liverpool travel to PSV Eindhoven for their final match of the league phase on January 29, while Lille host Feyenoord.

Villa edged by Monaco

AS Monaco edged out Aston Villa 1-0 at home in this morning, with an early goal from Wilfried Singo as the Ligue 1 side secured their first victory of the year.

Monaco snapped a four-game winless run in all competitions and are amongst the seeded playoff spots in the 36-team Champions League table with 13 points.

Villa, who were unbeaten in their last five matches across all competitions, also have 13 points with a top-eight finish now in jeopardy.

Monaco took the lead after eight minutes, as Singo headed in from close range after goalkeeper Emiliano Martinez made a fine save to keep out Thilo Kehrer's initial header from a corner.

The visitors withstood Monaco's pressure and enjoyed more possession before the break but Monaco keeper Radoslaw Majecki kept out efforts from Leon Bailey and Ollie Watkins.

The start of the second half saw chances for both sides, with Villa's Morgan Rogers firing just wide and Monaco's Maghnes Akliouche having an effort ruled out for offside.

Villa manager Unai Emery sought to spark some life into his attack with the introduction of Jhon Duran but they could not breach a solid Monaco backline as Matty Cash pulled a shot wide.

"It was my mistake when we played with two strikers because we lost positioning," Villa boss Emery said. "We lost control of the game. We were very weak in the middle.

"We were horrible in set-pieces, we were horrible. We had seven corners and not one close to scoring.

"It was important to get three points because I think we lost the opportunity to get in the top eight. Today was the key."

Villa will host Celtic in their final Champions League first phase match next Wednesday.