Liverpool 7 Spartak Moscow 0 : Solanke Benched, African Stars Score

Liverpool ran out 7-0 winners over Spartak Moscow in the UEFA Champions League on Wednesday evening to seal their passage to the next phase of the competition as group winners.

The 20-year old Dominic Solanke was named on the substitutes bench for the Merseyside club and watched on as his side made a glittering start in the encounter.

Liverpool calmed nerves earlier than expected when Phillipe Coutinho stepped up to send Spartak's goalkeeper, Alexander Selkihov the wrong way from the spot after Georgiy Dzhikiya had pulled down Mohamed Salah in the box.

Just fifteen minutes into the game, it was 2-0 as some silky combination involving Liverpool's attacking triumvirate of Firmino, Salah and Mane left Coutinho in acres of space with the Brazilian easily rolling home his second of the night.

Spartak visibly struggled to contain the sheer pace in their hosts attack and were trailing by three goals with less than 20 minutes played, Roberto Firmino this time profiting from a chipped Mane's pass which deflected off a defender but the striker was on hand to fire in a half-volley on second attempt.

The second period brought more misery for Massimo Carrera's side as Liverpool continued the rout with further goals from Salah, Mane and Coutinho who helped himself to a hat trick with the Senegalese bagging a brace for the Premier League giants in a 7-0 victory as they saw off their Russian counterparts in swashbuckling fashion.

Solanke was  not summoned from the bench for the entirety of the game.

Emmanuel Chinaza

Photo Credit : Liverpoolfc.com