Liverpool maintained their 100% winning record in the Champions League league phase as they booked their place in the round-of-16 courtesy of a 2-1 win over Lille. Goals in each half from Mohamed Salah and Harvey Elliott secured the victory as the Reds ensured at least a top two finish by claiming their seventh successive win.

The Ligue 1 outfit played the final half-hour with ten men after Aissa Mandi was sent off for a second bookable offence after tripping Luis Diaz. But that did not prevent Jonathan David from equalising for Lille moments later.

They were not level for long though, as Elliott’s deflected strike restored Liverpool’s lead just five minutes later.

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Lille had been unbeaten in 21 matches prior to their trip to Anfield, having last lost back in September. And here’s what the French media made of their defeat to the Reds…

MaxiFoot pointed to Mandi’s red card as a turning point as Lille were left stunned by Liverpool.

They wrote: “The match took a turn: already cautioned for an unnecessary protest, Mandi cut off a deep call from Diaz and was logically sent off for a second yellow card.

“The beginning of a nightmare? No! In the process, David took advantage of a Haraldsson strike blocked by Tsimikas to score from close range. But a few minutes later, Liverpool regained the advantage with a long-range strike from Elliott deflected into his own goal by Mukau.

“Stunned and outnumbered, Lille struggled to exist at the end of the game.”

Meanwhile, they picked Salah as their man of the match, giving him a 7.5 out of 10 rating. Of the Egyptian they said: “Again and again! The Liverpool winger made Gudmundsson's life hell. However, at the start of the game, the Swede, helped by his teammates, was able to limit the damage.

“But little by little, the Egyptian got into action and took advantage of a nice opening from Jones to open the scoring. In the process, he was close to a double but his shot flirted with the post. Afterwards, the former Roman continued to cause problems for the Dogues, but was unsuccessful against Chevalier.

Dominik Szoboszlai did not impress the media outlet though, with the Hungarian rated 4.5 out of 10. They said: “Preferred to Mac Allister, the Hungarian left a rather mixed impression.

“On a technical level, the Liverpool midfielder was good and participated in the control of the Reds. However, in the duels, the former RB Leipzig player was often moved and lacked impact when approaching the truth zone. Replaced in the 64th minute by Wataru Endo.”

Footmercato conceded that Lille were ‘logically beaten in Liverpool,’ and ‘seemed timid but believed in it until the end,’ as they were ‘punished for their lack of cutting edge’.

They too would hand Salah man of the match, giving him a 6.5 out of 10 rating as they wrote: “A match like he has already had so many at Anfield, a constant and decisive danger, if not clinical and irreproachable.

“He is not always very precise for his partners at the start of the match, but he punishes LOSC from his first situation after a precise pass from Jones. His ability to hold the ball in high-intensity races will have been a poison for the LOSC defence.

“The Egyptian could still have put his team out of harm's way, but he misses the target and comes up against Chevalier.”

Meanwhile, L’Equipe picked Virgil van Dijk as the man of the match as they handed the Liverpool captain a 7 out of 10 rating. Of the Dutchman, they wrote: “Van Dijk held the fort again for Liverpool, who did not crack in the face of a daring Lille attack in the wake of Haraldsson.”