Mohamed Salah‘s lovely first-half strike sent Liverpool into the Champions League's last 16 and Napoli crashing out at a tension-filled Anfield on Tuesday.
The Italian side pressed for a leveller in the second half, with Liverpool goalkeeper Alisson denying Arkadiusz Milik in stoppage time with a superb save, but the home side's resolute defence stood firm to the intense relief of the home fans.
Paris St Germain's 4-1 victory at Red Star Belgrade meant they finished top with 11 points while Napoli, who started the day leading the way, exited the competition as Liverpool snatched the second spot on goals scored after both teams finished with nine points.
“I'm still full of good feeling,” Liverpool manager Juergen Klopp said.
Klopp stuck with the midfield three that struggled against PSG in their last Champions League match and it was Napoli who found their rhythm first, creating some promising openings early on.
Kalidou Koulibaly was doing a fine job of marking the Egyptian, until Salah produced a moment of magic to score the only goal of the match, skipping past Koulibaly before slotting in from a tight angle – his 34th goal for Liverpool in 2018 in all competitions.
Liverpool really could have increased their lead from a 1-0 scoreline in the second half, with Salah firing wide from a good position, before Sadio Mane was denied by a fine save from David Ospina.
This article was most recently revised and updated 4 years ago
