Roberto Firmino came off the bench to
score a stoppage time winner as Liverpool secured their place in the Fifa Club World Cup final with a narrow 2-1 win over Monterrey.
Jurgen Klopp opted to rotate his squad to give some of his fringe players a chance to impress if they progressed to the final, with Adam Lallana and Xherdan Shaqiri both handed starts.
But with Virgil van Dijk out with illness,
Jordan Henderson was forced to operate as a makeshift centre-back, with James Milner deployed at right-back.
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The unbalanced Reds line-up didn’t seem to have much effect on them going forward as the Champions League winners dominated the early stages and it was no surprise to see them go ahead.
Mohamed Salah was the architect, holding off his marker and playing a clever reverse pass into Naby Keita , who finished with aplomb.
Just two minutes later, Monterrey were back on level terms. Liverpool failed to clear from a free-kick and after Jesus Gallardo saw his effort parried away by Alisson, Rogelio Funes Mori slotted home the rebound.
Klopp decided to abort his plan to rest Sadio Mane, sending on the Senegalese forward with 25 minutes left for Shaqiri and later sent on Firmino.
And the Brazilian came up trumps in stoppage time, slotting home superbly from Trent Alexander-Arnold’s cross to steal victory late on.
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