Liverpool took a giant step towards a top-eight finish in the opening phase of the Champions League with an impressive away victory over Marseille. They thought they had opened the scoring inside 25 minutes when Hugo Ekitike tucked the ball home from close range. However, the Frenchman was clearly offside and the goal was chalked off following a brief VAR intervention.

The visitors eventually broke the deadlock on the stroke of half-time, with Dominik Szoboszlai hitting a free-kick underneath the wall and into the bottom corner. Marseille pushed for a leveller in the second half with Mason Greenwood stinging the palms of Alisson Becker from range. However, it was Liverpool who doubled their advantage when Jeremie Frimpong's cross was turned in by Marseille defender Facundo Medina. It ultimately went down as an own goal by home goalkeeper Geronimo Rulli.

Things got even better for Liverpool as Cody Gakpo fired into the corner in the final minute of stoppage time, rounding off a brilliant away day for the Reds.

Express Sport rates and slates the Liverpool players following tonight's victory at the Stade Velodrome...

Liverpool player ratings vs Marseille

Alisson Becker - 7

Showed bravery in racing out of his box to sweep up loose balls and made two crucial saves to deny Marseille an equaliser.

Jeremie Frimpong - 7

Caused problems for Marseille on the right flank and played the low cross which led to the second goal. A great performance.

Joe Gomez - 8

Missed a free header from a corner in the opening exchanges. Was otherwise faultless on a rare start in central defence.

Virgil van Dijk - 8

Did his defensive duties well enough and moved Liverpool forward with some smart passes on his 350th appearance for the Reds.

Milos Kerkez - 7

Showed a good level of aggression in attack and defence. Fired some pinpoint crosses into the box. A decent performance.

Ryan Gravenberch - 6

Struggled with his decision-making in the middle of the park and missed a few headers, but otherwise kept things ticking.

Alexis Mac Allister - 6

Nearly scored with a driven effort from range that whistled past the far post and did his fair share of defensive work.

Dominik Szoboszlai - 8

Scored a genius free-kick and created several chances from the right flank. The best player on the pitch throughout.

Florian Wirtz - 7

Looked lively in the final third, showing for the ball and trying to make a positive impact, but wasn't able to score or assist.

Mohamed Salah - 6

Relatively quiet on his return from international duty. Went close with a half-hearted attempt in the first half and missed a sitter at the end.

Hugo Ekitike - 7

Didn't time his run well enough when he scored the disallowed goal but hit the woodwork and posed a constant threat in the box.

Substitutes

Cody Gakpo - 7

Was introduced with just 11 minutes remaining in place of Ekitike. Led the line well enough and took his goal brilliantly.

Curtis Jones - 6

Kept things moving along in the closing stages of the match with Liverpool firmly on top.