By Fernando Kallas
LISBON (Reuters) – Liverpool took a firm grip of their Champions League tie with Benfica as goals from Ibrahima Konate, Sadio Mane and Luis Diaz earned them a 3-1 victory in Lisbon in their quarter-final first leg on Tuesday.
Konate opened the scoring with a close-range header from a corner and Mane extended Liverpool’s lead 30 minutes into what was an one-sided first half, with Mohamed Salah, Diaz and Naby Keita all passing up great scoring chances.
Yet five minutes after the break, 22-year-old French defender Konate completely missed a cross and allowed in-form striker Darwin Nunez to score and put Benfica, roared on by a sold-out Estadio da Luz, back into the game.
Benfica gained in confidence and briefly took charge but former Porto winger Diaz, who never lost a match against their bitter rivals Benfica, scored on the counter-attack after a Keita through ball.
(Reporting by Fernando Kallas; Editing by Toby Davis)
