A night for the ages: PSV rip through Liverpool at Anfield in 4-1 win
PSV picked up a sensational win in the UEFA Champions League on Wednesday evening, beating the English league champions Liverpool 4-1 away at Anfield. Ivan Perisic, Guus Til, and a double from Couhaib Driouech topped off a historic night for the Eindhovenaren.
With this win, PSV became just the second team ever to score four goals at Anfield after Real Madrid had done so in February 2023. Driouech also became only the second ever PSV player to come off the bench and score twice in the UEFA Champions League/European Cup since Nick Deacy in 1975.
There were no surprises in PSV’s team, with Peter Bosz going for the same 11 players that have performed so well for the reigning champions over the last few weeks. Liverpool started the game with three Oranje internationals in Virgil Van Dijk, Cody Gakpo, and Ryan Gravenberch. Jeremie Frimpong started on the bench. Liverpool is managed by former Eredivisie winner Arne Slot.
And it was Van Dijk who impacted the game in a negative way within the first few minutes. The Oranje and Liverpool captain inexplicably hit the ball out of the air using his arm after he felt he had been pushed for a corner. This resulted in a penalty, which Ivan Perisic converted to put the Eindhovenaren 1-0 up.
Liverpool equalized in the 16th minute. Gakpo got his shot off on his right foot, and although it was saved by goalkeeper Matej Kovar, the rebound went straight to Dominik Szoboszlai, who placed it into the empty net.
The home side came very close to taking the lead in the 28th minute. Once again, it was Gakpo causing his former club a headache with a good low cross to Mohamed Salah, but Anass Salah Eddine did extremely well to block the effort.
Slot’s side kept ramping up the pressure with Van Dijk almost making up for his error in the 32nd minute. The center back was unmarked in the box from Salah’s corner, but he headed the effort onto the crossbar.
PSV re-took the lead in the 56th minute. A sublime pass by Mauro Junior found Guus Til, who continued his fantastic form since being put in the striker position, tapping it home.
Gakpo almost leveled the game in the second half when Szoboszlai found him at the far post with a cross, but the winger headed the chance over.
The last 20 minutes of the game proved to be one of the most memorable ones for PSV as a club in a long time. First, Bosz’s side made it 3-1 when an error from Ibrahim Konate resulted in Ricardo Pepi hitting the post with a shot before Driouech was on hand to convert the rebound.
This sent the traveling Eindhoven support into wild celebrations, and it got even better in injury time. A through ball found Sergino Dest in behind Van Dijk, and he laid it off to Driouech, whose finish was magnificent to make it 4-1.
There was a sense of disbelief among the PSV supporters at the final whistle. Despite Liverpool’s poor form as of late, not many gave the Eindhovenaren a chance against the side that spent around 336 million euros on players last summer.
PSV are in 15th place in the 36-team UEFA Champions League after the win, ahead of clubs like FC Barcelona and Juventus. The defeat will only serve to increase the pressure on Slot, who was also defeated 3-0 at home by relegation battlers Nottingham Forest last weekend.
