LIVERPOOL came from behind to knock AC Milan out of the UEFA Champions League (UCL) with a 2-1 victory at San Siro on Tuesday.

Milan needed a victory to have any chance of qualifying for the knockout stage in its first appearance in the competition since the 2013-14 season and things appeared to be going to plan when Fikayo Tomori scored in the first half.

But Mohamed Salah kept up his impressive scoring streak and fired Liverpool level seven minutes later. And a Tomori howler gifted Divock Origi and Liverpool the winner in the 55th minute.

That saw Liverpool become part of an elite list of clubs to qualify for the knockout stage with a perfect record, and the first English team to do so.

Liverpool dominated possession from the outset in Milan but it was a cautious start from both teams with chances few and far between.

Milan broke the deadlock in the 29th minute and it was an Englishman who scored against an English team. A corner was flicked on at the near post and Liverpool goalkeeper Alisson Becker had to make a save to prevent an own goal, but Tomori prodded home the rebound.

Liverpool almost immediately equalized but Mike Maignan did well to keep out a fierce strike from Origi.

However, the visitors didn’t have to wait long. Maignan could only parry an effort from Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain and Salah fired the rebound into the roof of the net to render the boisterous home fans silent.

It was Salah’s 11th goal in his past 11 Champions League matches. The Egypt forward also became the first player to score at least 20 goals for Liverpool in five successive seasons since Ian Rush in the 1980s.

Also in the group, Atletico Madrid grabbed a place in the last 16 as Antoine Griezmann scored one goal and had a key role in the two others as the Spanish side beat Porto 3-1.

Meanwhile, Real Madrid finished top of Champions League Group D as goals from Toni Kroos and Marco Asensio secured a 2-0 home win over Inter Milan, which had Nicolo Barella sent off.

In another thriller, Kyle Walker was shown a late red card as Manchester City suffered a shock 2-1 defeat at RB Leipzig, but City still advanced to the Champions League’s last 16 as group winner.

(SD-Agencies)