Divock Origi provided Liverpool a conceivably significant away goal in their Europa League quarter-final game against Borussia Dortmund as the first leg in Germany ended in a 1-1 draw. The Belgium international hit on Reds manager Jurgen Klopp’s arrival to his previous club with a low finish across goal in the first half and put visitors ahead. Dortmund goalkeeper Roman Weidenfeller then denied Origi one-on-one. Mats Hummels headed in an equaliser soon after the break and the hosts squeezed while seeking a winner, but Liverpool kept them under control.
At last it was a reasonable result as Dortmund, who are favourites to win the Europa League, took full control on the ball however Klopp’s strategies guaranteed Liverpool disappointed their competitors, confining them to a couple of real possibilities. Some eyebrows were raised before start of the game when Klopp chose Origi for the start rather than England striker Daniel Sturridge. Origi could not score any goal since 14 February, whereas Sturridge gave off an impression of being finding his form after coming back from injury with three goals in nine matches.
The 20-year-old was just like an observer in the opening stages as Liverpool doused up some early pressure, however Klopp said before the kick-off that he had given him the nod in the wake of his speed and power – and both were on show when Liverpool took the lead. He managed skipper Jordan Henderson’s somewhat clumsy ball brilliantly before transforming towards goal and directing a low strike into the far corner. From that point on, Origi picked up the ball fabulously to reduce some stress on a defence that obviously came under some large stress at times.
In Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, Dortmund have a standout amongst the most deadly finishers in Europe, yet Dejan Lovren and Mamadou Sakho faced the assignment of invalidating the 33-goal Gabon striker. He was restricted to one real opportunity, an attempt from close range that was obstructed by Lovren, whereas Sakho threw his body in the way of Henrikh Mkhitaryan to deny what was a practically confirm goal.
