Liverpool needed a second-half penalty from Mo Salah to overcome a difficult night in Spain and maintain their 100% record in the Champions League.
Salah stroked in his 16th goal of the post-season when Luis Diaz was fouled in the area and the only strike proved enough to see Girona off the mark.
Liverpool have won six out of six and opened up a five-point gap at the top of the table ahead of tonight’s next games.
Salah has scored in four successive away starts for Liverpool and once again proved to be the difference maker.
Victory means a point from their last two games will be enough for Liverpool to secure a top eight finish.
MD6 win ✊ #UCL pic.twitter.com/xb9fNz3HH3
— Liverpool FC (@LFC) December 10, 2024
Allison is back in style
Defender Joe Gomez was denied his first goal for Liverpool after Paulo Gazzaniga’s close-range header was saved, with the keeper also saving a shot from Darwin Nunez minutes later.
Girona, with every player behind the ball, burst happily on the counter-attack and Liverpool goalkeeper Alisson, making his first appearance since early October following a hamstring injury, was soon in action.
Daley Blind completely missed the cross on the edge of the six-yard box but the ball fell to Alejandro Francis and Allison kept his effort at the second attempt and later pushed away a shot from Miguel Gutierrez.
Nunez had another effort blocked when Salah responded and Girona responded with a shot from outside the area by Yasser Aspriya, which Alisson saved for a corner, with Girona gaining confidence.
Alisson was involved again in the opening seconds of the second half, saving from Arnaut Danjuma, and Liverpool struggled to break down a stubborn Girona defense before a Donny van de Beek foul on Diaz gave Salah a chance from the spot.
Salah missed a penalty in Liverpool’s last Champions League game against Real Madrid, but he made no mistake this time sending the keeper the wrong way and the ball into the bottom corner.
Girona never looked like equalizing with Liverpool keeping possession much better than they did in the first half and leaving the Estadi Montilivi with the three points.
