Liverpool fights back to beat Villarreal 4-3 in thrilling match

Liverpool came from behind to beat Villarreal 4-3 at Anfield on Tuesday. This win keeps their perfect start in the Champions League.

Villarreal's coach Inigo Perez looked like he would beat his former boss Andoni Iraola as his team took a 2-0 lead within the first half-hour. Georges Mikautadze and Sergi Cardona scored early goals for the Spanish side.

But Villarreal struggled to defend crosses into the box. Alexis Mac Allister and Ronald Araujo scored to make it 2-2 before halftime.

Mac Allister netted his second goal 25 minutes from the end. Substitute Florian Wirtz completed the comeback, giving Liverpool nine points from three matches, matching Paris Saint-Germain at the top of the table.

Iraola left his three big-money forwards on the bench for this match. Alexander Isak and Bradley Barcola joined Wirtz on the sidelines as they kept an eye on their upcoming game against Brighton in the Premier League on Sunday.

Villarreal took full advantage of Liverpool's changes early in the game. They scored the first goal after just four minutes. Virgil van Dijk misjudged his header back to Alisson Becker, and Mikautadze finished easily from close range.

Perez’s journey as a manager began unexpectedly when he could not get a work permit to join Iraola as his assistant at Bournemouth. He ended up as the boss at Rayo Vallecano, where he had worked under Iraola before. Last season, he led the small La Liga team to the Conference League final.

Villarreal's understanding of Iraola's tactics showed as they attacked Liverpool freely at times in the first half. A well-executed team move helped them score their second goal. Nathan Saliba found Cardona's run from left-back, and he calmly slid the ball past Alisson.

Until Mac Allister's looping header from a Kostas Tsimikas corner, Liverpool's attack hardly posed a threat. Rio Ngumoha then started to challenge the Villarreal defence, and his first assist came thanks to poor defending. Cardona let Ngumoha's cross go at the back post, not realizing Araujo was coming in to score the equalizer.

That was Araujo's last act as he was substituted for Wirtz at halftime. Liverpool stepped up their game after the break. Ngumoha's quick run down the right opened up the Villarreal defence. His low cross was smashed in off the bar by Mac Allister.

Just three minutes later, Cody Gakpo set up Wirtz to score his first goal of the season. This goal silenced his critics about his lack of scoring.

But Villarreal's defence still looked shaky. Tani Oluwaseyi made things tense with a well-placed shot from Ayoze Perez’s cross. Despite this, Liverpool held on for the win, moving closer to the last 16 while Villarreal stayed with just three points from their first three matches.