Liverpool 2-1 Leicester: Darwin Nunez misses more chances as Wout Faes goal gift wins

Darwin Nunez's wastage in front of goal continues to command a lot of attention, but the quality of Wout Faes' finishing at Anfield last night could not be disputed. Unfortunately for the Leicester defender, it was in the wrong net.

Two hapless Faes own goals before half-time allowed a stuttering Liverpool to overcome a slow start - and more misses from Nunez - to find an unusual route to a valuable aggregate victory. Gary Barlow was present for the game, but for Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp it's less about wanting to rule the world for his team and more about qualifying for next season's Champions League.

Their uneven start to the season has left them with work to do on that front from sixth in the Premier League, but last night's hard-fought victory saw Liverpool move within two points of the top four. Leicester were good value for a point on aggregate after taking a shock fourth-minute lead when Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall was granted the freedom from Anfield to cross the center of an unguarded defense from 40 yards out and to beat Alisson at close range.

The Liverpool defense eyed each other accusingly after Dewsbury-Hall's solo effort, but the midfield - minus Fabinho whose wife gave birth before the game - was just as much to blame. Leicester lost striker Patson Daka to a limp in the 13th minute, but substitute Jamie Vardy nearly put Harvey Barnes in for their second spot shortly after his arrival. It took a timely intervention at the far post from Trent Alexander-Arnold to save Liverpool.

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The home side, possession-wasters until then, had the ball in the net in the 26th minute, but Mo Salah's goal was ruled out for offside. When the equalizer came in the 37th minute it came from a Leicester boot as Faes managed to slice the ball in calamitous fashion over goalkeeper Danny Ward's head and into the far corner of the center of Alexander-Arnold.

The Belgium defender didn't even need to play the ball as he walked safely into Ward's waiting gloves and no Liverpool striker in sight. Faes' night got worse just before the break as he inadvertently turned the ball into his own net for the second time. Chasing the Nunez chip over Ward, he tried to clear her from inside his own penalty area after she hit the post, but only managed to deflect her towards the goal.

Faes is pronounced 'Farce' in Flemish, but it was more of a pantomime production - except there was no one behind the 24-year-old. It was one more goal to keep the match ball and The Kop unnecessarily encouraged him to shoot every time the ball came close to him in his own half after the break.

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Leicester, who brought in Youri Tielemans just before the hour mark, created a great chance to equalize moments later, but Dewsbury-Hall recovered their header. This served as a warning to Liverpool not to over-commit the forwards, but even so they continued to create openings only for Nunez to ignite twice.

That's not happening for the Uruguayan in front of goal at the moment, but luckily for Liverpool it was for Faes last night. "3-0 for the Leicester boys", as the traveling fans sarcastically sang at the end.