Liverpool win 2-0 at Inter Milan, Bayern draw

MILAN (AP):

WHEN A breakthrough is proving elusive, Liverpool can still prosper from a set piece.

After 75 minutes of caution -- even tedium -- in the Champions League at Inter Milan, Andy Robertson swung in a corner that was met at the near post by Roberto Firmino glancing in a header, with his back to goal.

It was Liverpool's fifth goal from a set piece in the Champions League this season, ranking first in Europe just like in the English Premier League.

Once Mohamed Salah found the net in the 83rd minute it ensured the six-time European champions secured a 2-0 win in the round-of-16 first leg yesterday.

It was a free kick from Robertson that created the opening for the second goal at San Siro as Liverpool scored from the game's only two shots on target.

The hosts only partially cleared before the ball found its way back to Trent Alexander-Arnold, whose cross into the penalty area was nodded down by Virgil van Dijk. Salah was primed, unmarked centrally, to produce a shot that deflected past goalkeeper Samir Handanovic for his 10th goal in his last 12 Champions League appearances.

By securing a fourth successive away win in Europe for the first time since 2006, the 2019 Champions League winners gained a crucial cushion to take back to Anfield for the second leg next month.

"I think we both took a lot of risk in the pressing," Van Dijk told CBS. "It's about the hard fight, the battle when you have the ball -- be brave, make the right decisions and keep it tight at the back."

Inter Milan didn't manage a single shot on target in the 90 minutes and now face missing out on a first quarter-final appearance since 2011 in European football's elite competition.

"In the Champions League small details make the difference," Inter defender Milan Skriniar said. "We have created a lot, but we did not manage to score."

How differently it might have turned out for the Italian champions had Hakan Calhanoglu's first-half shot from a tight angle not hit the crossbar.

"We don't have much hope now," Inter coach Simone Inzaghi said. "But we will go Anfield to play the best possible match and we will see."

The night's other first-leg produced a far tighter result, with Bayern Munich needing a goal from Kingsley Coman in the 90th minute to recover a 1-1 draw at Salzburg.

Coman, who scored Bayern's winner in the 2020 final, equalised in the last minute to prevent the Bavarian powerhouse from slumping to their second consecutive defeat after their 4-2 loss to promoted Bochum in the Bundesliga on Saturday.

Bayern, who had come from behind to win 6-2 on their previous trip to Salzburg in the group stage last season, were forced to do it again after Junior Chukwubuike Adamu's 21st-minute opener for the Austrian champions.

"It wasn't enough in the first half. Salzburg came up with dangerous counter-attacks. We controlled it better in the second half," said Bayern midfielder Joshua Kimmich. "The team realised we wanted to win the game. That we can is not in question. We have to bring that on the field in every game. We're not in a flow where everything just happens."