Salah, Firmino give Liverpool edge over determined Inter

Goals from Roberto Firmino and Mohamed Salah earned a 2-0 win over Inter Milan in the San Siro to put Liverpool in complete control of their Champions League tie.

Jurgen Klopp's side had to withstand pressure against the Italian champions but those two second-half goals mean Liverpool are well placed to reach the quarter-finals.

Inter had their moments with Hakan Calhanoglu coming closest when he latched onto Ivan Perisic's centre and struck the underside of the crossbar with Alisson beaten.

While Edin Dzeko also had a goal disallowed for offside, Alisson did not actually have a save to make thanks to strong defensive performances from Ibrahima Konate and Virgil van Dijk.

When Firmino came off the bench to score, quickly followed by Salah doubling the lead, Liverpool became strong favourites to progress to the last eight going into the second leg at Anfield.

Not many will be surprised to see Liverpool emerge as two-goal winners and anyone watching the highlights will think this was yet another example of their big-game forwards making the difference. Firmino's header was superb. Salah's finish was typical.

But this was a tough test for the Liverpool defence and Konate deserves huge credit for his role in the team's clean sheet alongside the ever imperious Van Dijk. The 22-year-old uncapped Frenchman had some big moments at the back as Inter were pushing.

His outstretched boot to prevent Dzeko latching onto a cross from the right almost certainly denied Inter the opening goal. Central defence was not a weakness for Liverpool. But with Konate growing into his role, it is an area in which they might be getting stronger.

Liverpool are back at Anfield on Saturday to face Norwich in the Premier League with an opportunity to