UCL: Van Dijk scores late winner for Liverpool as Chelsea lose to Bayern

Virgil van Dijk was the hero as Liverpool scored a last-gasp goal to defeat Atletico Madrid 3-2 in their UEFA Champions League match at Anfield on Wednesday.

The Liverpool captain spared his team’s blushes after the Reds squandered a two-goal lead to the Spanish visitors.

Andy Robertson and Mohamed Salah had put Liverpool ahead within six minutes of the match, but Marcos Llorente’s brace threatened to derail the home side’s joy.

Liverpool took the lead in the fourth minute when Salah’s free-kick hit Robertson on its way into the net for 1-0, before Salah finished a well-worked move into the far corner for 2-0.

His contribution within two minutes means the Egyptian forward has 65 goal contributions in the UCL (48 goals, 17 assists), more than any Liverpool player in history.

However, Diego Simene’s side did not back down, working their way back into the match before reducing the deficit on the stroke of halftime through Llorente’s strike.

The Spaniard’s deflected volley on 81 minutes seemed to have secured a point for Los Cholconeros until van Dijk’s header deep in injury time silenced the visitors to seal the 3-2 win.

Liverpool have maintained their flawless UCL league phase record since its inception last season, with nine wins in as many matches.

Elsewhere, Atalanta — without Ademola Lookman — were torn to shreds by Paris Saint-Germain, the UCL champions, losing 4-0 in France.

Lookman watched from home as Luis Enrique’s side scored twice in each half to teach the visitors a football lesson.

Chelsea were also defeated 3-1 by Bayern Munich, with Harry Kane hitting a brace for the Bavarians.

In other matches involving Nigerian players, Bruno Onyemaechi was on the bench in Olympiakos’ goalless draw with Pafos. It was a similar fate for David Moses in Slavia Prague’s 2-2 draw against Bodo-Glimt. Igoh Ogbu, his compatriot, did not make Slavia’s match squad.

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