Salah strike takes Liverpool into last 16 at Napoli’s expense

Liverpool: Mohamed Salah's stunning solo effort saw Liverpool edge out Napoli for a place in the Champions League last 16 thanks to a 1-0 win at Anfield on Tuesday.

Salah wriggled beyond two Napoli challenges before finishing from a narrow angle 11 minutes before the break on a night when only Liverpool's profligacy in front of goal cost them a more comfortable margin of victory.

And they were nearly made to pay in stoppage time when Alisson Becker produced a crucial save to deny Arkadiusz Milik a dramatic equaliser.

However, despite losing all three of their away games in Group C, three home wins at fortress Anfield were enough to see Liverpool through to the knockout stage on goals scored over the Italians in second place behind Paris Saint-Germain, who won 4-1 away to Red Star Belgrade to secure top spot.

Salah signalled his return to top form by scoring a hat-trick in a 4-0 win at Bournemouth on Saturday that sent Liverpool to the top of the Premier League, and his 13th goal of the season saw luck shine on last season's Champions League finalists.

The Egyptian fluffed his first chance of the night when he miscontrolled Andrew Robertson's excellent cross with just David Ospina to beat.

Napoli were left aggrieved 15 minutes in when Virgil van Dijk was only shown a yellow card for a dangerous lunge on Dries Mertens.

Van Dijk did play the ball first, but his follow through took out the Belgian international and could easily have been punished with a red card by Slovenian referee Damir Skomina.

Napoli had not been beaten in Europe this season before travelling to England's north-west and showed the danger they posed when Marek Hamsik fired inches over from Mertens's cross.