UEFA Champions League
Result: Red Star Belgrade 2-0 Liverpool
Date: 06 November 2018
Venue: Stadion Rajko Mitic
Red Star Belgrade made history with first-half goals earning them a 2-0 win over Liverpool to throw Group C wide open.
Hammered in the reverse showdown in Anfield a few weeks ago, Zvezda came out to get their campaign back on track.
In a hotly contested Group C, a lot was on the line for particularly the English side needing only a win to edge closer to the knockout stages with Zvezda on the brink of elimination.
All the earlier attacking happened on the home side with skipper Vujadin Savic hoofing over from a corner on 15 minutes.
Inside a few minutes, Daniel Sturridge received Liverpool's best chance and failed to make it count when he blasted over the bar from an unmarked situation.
Zvezda, famously known as Red Star Belgrade continued piling on the pressure as Marin forced Alisson Becker to get down and save for a corner.
From the resultant corner, Red Star broke the deadlock when Milan Pavkov headed in from unmarked position amidst a cluster of defenders around him at the midway point.
Jurgen Klopp's side were stunned further when Pavkov struck again with a stunning finish from outside the box, giving Alisson no chance after 29 minutes.
Left bewildered by the set-back, the five-time European champions tried a revival with Salah tossing and turning near the box to only fire off target in the end.
The Reds changed it around at halftime with a double substitution in Roberto Firmino and Joe Gomez.
Red Star still kept the balance of the game intact, finding spaces for a few half-chances early on, with Sadio Mane going close to cutting the deficit at the other end.
A cross from out wide by Andrew Robertson bounced off a defender and to the top of the crossbar as Liverpool pressed for a way back to the contest.
With little in the way of attacking creativity, Zvezda became content to soak up the pressure whilst playing on the break.
The Reds though came searching and Salah forced a corner with a deflected shot that had Milan Borjan scrambling to divert for a corner before clipping the outside post seconds later.
Nearing conclusion, the Premier League outfit became more desperate with rushed attempts while Red Star held on to become the first ever Serbian side to win a Champions League match.
