Mohamed Salah and Roberto Firmino both scored twice as the Reds romped into a 5-0 lead after 68 minutes before being pegged back.
Mohamed Salah scored twice for Liverpool
Liverpool have taken a firm grip on their UEFA Champions League semi-final after beating Roma 5-2 in the first leg at Anfield.
Mohamed Salah and Roberto Firmino both scored twice, with Sadio Mane getting the other as the Reds romped into a 5-0 lead after 68 minutes.
However two late goals will give the Italian side hope ahead of the second leg in Rome.
Salah, playing against the club that sold him to Liverpool last summer, was brilliant, scoring twice and setting up goals for Firmino and Mane.
The Egyptian's stunning brace had given the Reds a 2-0 half-time lead at a raucous Anfield, but Jurgen Klopp's team, seemingly already through to the final, conceded twice late on.
A goal from Edin Dzeko in the 81st minute and a Diego Perotti penalty in the 89th gave the visitors a slim chance of turning the tie round in next Wednesday's return game in the Italian capital.
Salah gave Liverpool the lead in the 36th minute, curling an exquisite shot into the top corner, before doubling the score just before half-time with a dinked finish after Liverpool's potent attack cut through the visitors' defence.
That took his goal tally for the season to 43, but he turned provider after the break, setting up close-range finishes for Mane and Firmino with crosses from the right and the Brazilian made it 5-0 with a header from a corner on 68 minutes.
While a three-goal advantage should be sufficient to ensure Liverpool will go through, Roma overcame the same deficit in their quarter-final victory over Barcelona.
The eventual winners will play either Real Madrid or Bayern Munich, who meet on Wednesday, in next month's final in Kiev.
Klopp praise team;
Jurgen Klopp saluted Liverpool’s “fantastic” 5-2 demolition of Roma on Tuesday as the Reds manager soaked up a Champions League semi-final first leg goal spree that was beyond his expectations.
Klopp’s side are within touching distance of the final after crushing Roma at Anfield.
Mohamed Salah’s brace was followed by goals from Sadio Mane and Roberto Firmino, who also struck twice to leave Liverpool five up by the 68th minute.
Liverpool let their guard down in the closing stages and Roma netted twice to give themselves a slender chance of a second-leg escape act in Italy.
But Klopp admitted he couldn’t have hoped for a more dynamic display from his team.
“It was the perfect performance for pretty much 80 minutes. We made defensively one mistake, then their penalty is not a penalty but that is the situation and now it is 5-2,” he said.
“Of course we would have been more happy with 5-0 or 5-1 but 5-2 is a fantastic result. We go there and try again.
“It is absolutely better than I thought before the game.”
Following Klopp’s game-plan, Liverpool exploited Roma’s creaky defence as Salah and Mane ran them ragged with their pace and movement.
“We had all these runs behind, it changed the game completely and they couldn’t cope with that. We scored these goals and could have scored more,” Klopp said.
“That is all positive, at this moment it doesn’t feel all positive because they scored these two goals but tomorrow I will see the really good part of the game.”
Aside from Roma’s late double, the only problem for Klopp on a memorable evening was the injury to Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain that saw him carried off in the first half.
“Oxlade-Chamberlain is probably a really bad injury,” Klopp said.
“That is bad news for us. The squad doesn’t get bigger at the moment so we need to be creative in the next few games.”
Although Liverpool fans will be dreaming of a final showdown with Real Madrid or Bayern Munich, their players are well aware Roma staged a stunning fightback to eliminate Barcelona in the quarter-finals.
The Italians lost the first leg 4-1, but won 3-0 in Rome to go through on away goals.
Liverpool captain Jordan Henderson admitted there was frustration at letting Roma back into it and he warned his team-mates not to let down their guard in the return leg.
“It felt as though we were in full control but we basically gave them two goals, you can’t do that in the Champions League,” he said.
“At the same time we played well, we will go there with a three-goal advantage.
“Overall we have got to stay positive. We knew it would not be easy here, we know it will not be easy there.
“It will be a challenge but one we will look forward to and one we will hopefully finish them off.”
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