LONDON: Mohamed Salah scored his 50th European goal for Liverpool as the Reds booked their place in the last 16 of the Champions League with victory over 10-man Lille however Aston Villa must wait after losing 1-0 in Monaco.

At Anfield Salah’s goal came when he latched onto a brilliant Curtis Jones through ball and slotted over the advancing Lucas Chevalier in the 34th minute.

Lille, who were unbeaten in 21 games in all competitions, had restricted Liverpool until then but Arne Slot’s side controlled the game after the goal.

Salah sent another one-on-one wide, before curling just past the far post in the second half.

The visitors were reduced to 10 men just before the half mark when Aissa Mandi was given a second yellow card for tripping Luis Diaz. His first was complaining about a possible foul on Jonathan David in the build-up to the goal.

They surprisingly equalised three minutes later when David passed home after Hakon Haraldsson’s effort was blocked.

Liverpool soon restored their advantage though when a corner was headed clear to Harvey Elliott and his deflected strike found the bottom corner.

Darwin Nunez, who started after his two stoppage-time goals in Liverpool’s Premier League win at Brentford on Saturday, had a late goal ruled out for offside following Federico Chiesa’s effort being tipped away.

The win is Liverpool’s seventh in the new-look league phase and continues their 100% record in the competition.

They will be seeded for the last 16 when it takes place in March and will face one of the eight sides that make it through February’s play-offs.

Villa setback

Aston Villa missed the chance to all but secure their place in the Champions League knockouts as they were beaten by Monaco at Stade Louis II.

Wilfried Singo got the game’s only goal in the eighth minute, heading home from close range after Emiliano Martinez had initially done well to keep out Thilo Kehrer’s effort.

Villa were not at their best, but did have chances to equalise, with Monaco goalkeeper Radoslaw Majecki twice denying the visitors before half-time.

First, Leon Bailey forced him into a decent stop after good work by Emiliano Buendia, who also teed up Ollie Watkins for an effort straight at Majecki.

Monaco also had a goal ruled out early in the second half when Maghnes Akliouche was flagged offside, but the hosts continued to look the most likely to score again, twice getting in behind the Villa defence only for last-ditch blocks to prevent them scoring.

The defeat means Unai Emery’s side will likely need to beat Celtic at Villa Park next Wednesday to seal a top-eight place in the league phase of the competition.

Meanwhile, the win boosted Monaco’s own automatic qualification hopes as they moved alongside Villa on 13 points.

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