Liverpool 2-1 Lille: Player ratings as Elliott extends Reds' perfect Champions League record | OneFootball

Liverpool ultimately eased to a 2-1 Champions League victory at home to a Lille side reduced to ten players on Tuesday, extending their faultless record in Europe's premier club competition to seven straight wins this season.

Lille came in to Tuesday's contest with the bitter taste of defeat a distant memory, buoyed by a 21-game unbeaten sequence stretching back to mid-September.

The French visitors had plenty of reason to be confident and were emboldened further by a strong start, muzzling Liverpool's fearsome front line as well as the Anfield crowd. It took a moment of magic in the 34th minute for Merseyside to eventually erupt.

Jonathan David, Lille's perennially sought-after forward, lost possession deep inside Liverpool's half. Curtis Jones strode on to the loose ball and threaded it through the scattered white shirts, splitting Lille open and teeing Mohamed Salah up for a one-on-one with Lucas Chevalier. There was only ever going to have one winner in that duel.

It looked as though the outcome of the fixture in its entirety was similarly foregone. Liverpool scarcely crept out of second gear, but didn't seem to need to, trotting through the second half with the swagger of a team that sits atop the Champions League table. A second yellow card for Lille right-back Aissa Mandi after an hour may very well have wrapped up the contest in the minds of many at Anfield.

Some Liverpool players seemed to be of the same opinion and Arne Slot's side were caught off-guard by a low cutback from Gabriel Gudmundsson. Hakon Haraldsson's effort was blocked but David was on hand to fire Lille level just three minutes after being reduced to ten men.

It didn't take long for the Reds to recover from the shock of conceding just their second Champions League goal this season. Harvey Elliott, one of two half-time substitutions made by Slot when Liverpool were very much in cruise control, volleyed a half-cleared corner into a crowded penalty area, picking out the bottom corner via a slight deflection in the 67th minute.

Despite some flickers of threat from Lille in the closing stages, Liverpool held on to claim three points which guarantee their place in Champions League round of 16 regardless of any other results from across the continent.

Liverpool player ratings (4-3-3)

Mohamed Salah was on target once again on Tuesday / Carl Recine/GettyImages

*Ratings provided by FotMob*

Subs not used: Caoimhin Kelleher (GK), Vitezslav Jaros (GK), Andy Robertson, Ibrahima Konate, Tyler Morton, Cody Gakpo, Jayden Danns

Lille player ratings (4-2-3-1)

Jonathan David struck for Lille against Liverpool / James Gill - Danehouse/GettyImages

*Ratings provided by FotMob*

Subs not used: Marc-Aurele Caillard (GK), Vito Mannone (GK), Isaac Cossier, Angel Gomes, Ethan Mbappe, Mohamed Bayo