Sevilla grab point from profligate Liverpool

Liverpool were made to pay for passing up a host of opportunities, including a first-half Roberto Firmino penalty, as Joaquín Correa snatched a 2-2 draw for a persistent Sevilla at Anfield.

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The home side suffered an early setback when Sergio Escudero crossed for Wissam Ben Yedder to convert but levelled in the 21st minute when the outstanding Alberto Moreno exchanged passes before cutting the ball back for Firmino to tap in.

Liverpool should have put the contest to bed in the remainder of the first half but only had one more goal to show for their dominance. Mohamed Salah's deflected 37th-minute effort gave them the lead but Firmino's unsuccessful penalty, which clipped the post, turned out to be pivotal.

Sevilla regained their composure after the interval and snatched a point when substitute Luis Muriel found Correa, who neatly sorted out his feet and swept the equaliser past Loris Karius. Liverpool had Joe Gomez sent off in added time as Muriel nearly fired a Sevilla winner during a frantic finish.

Key player: Alberto Moreno (Liverpool)

Reporter's view: Matthew Howarth (@UEFAcomMattH)

This was not the result Liverpool had been hoping for on their return to the UEFA Champions League group stage, but there were plenty of positives from the hosts' perspective. The heavy defeat by Manchester City last Saturday does not seem to have dented their confidence, and Philippe Coutinho's first appearance of the campaign was a welcome sight for fans of a Liverpool persuasion. However, if Firmino had converted his first-half spot kick, Jürgen Klopp's charges would surely have gone on to win the game.

Reporter's view: Graham Hunter (@BumperGraham)

Football is, as they say, a funny old game. That performance from Sevilla really bore no resemblance to all the things which they are good at – and which brought them this far via their Liga campaign last season and subsequent play-off. For almost an hour Eduardo Berizzo's team were much slower, much more diffident than usual. Then, it seemed, adversity brought out their spirit. Steven N'Zonzi slowed the tempo down a bit, Muriel added pace up front, and their confidence gradually began to return. Perhaps a point was more than they appeared to merit – but they truly clung to this match and got something pretty important in return.