(Credit: Imago)

Evan Shaw

Wed 18 March 2026 21:58, UK

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Liverpool enjoyed another memorable Champions League night as they beat Galatasaray 4-0 at Anfield on Wednesday night.

Arne Slot’s side were facing a 1-0 deficit from the first leg in Turkey last week, but they quickly took control of the second leg on yet another emotionally charged European clash on Merseyside.

Dominik Szoboszlai levelled the tie on aggregate with a neat finish into the bottom corner on 25 minutes, before second-half strikes from Hugo Ekitike, Ryan Gravenberch and Mohamed Salah completed the comeback to see the Reds progress to the quarter finals.

They will meet PSG in the next phase of the competition, after they dismantled Chelsea over two legs to progress.

Liverpool’s latest victory had an added element, as referee Szymon Marciniak had to be replaced before kick-off by fourth official Pawel Raczkowski, and with that in mind, Football Insider picks out three errors from the man in the middle.

Referee too lenient on Galatasaray time wasting in the early stages

Galatasaray held a slender advantage from the first leg in Turkey, and it was clear that they were prepared to do whatever it took to try and protect that at Anfield on Wednesday.

Okan Buruk’s side did their best to weather the storm from the Reds in the early stages of the game, and they were evidently keen to take every possible opportunity to slow the game down inside the opening 20 minutes.

Victor Osimhen, Sacha Boey and Mario Lemina all received treatment after challenges in the early stages, and Raczkowski did little to try and prevent the visitors from disrupting the momentum of the game.

Liverpool were visibly frustrated due to the incessant delays from the Turkish giants, as Szoboszlai led the fiery protests after an incident that saw Osimhen receive treatment.

Referees are undoubtedly limited in terms of how they can counteract time wasting when it comes to physios being called onto the pitch, but Raczkowski arguably showed a little naivety in terms of what he allowed Galatasaray to get away with.

Jeremie Frimpong amazed by sixth-minute decision

Football Insider revealed at the start of March that Liverpool will likely add a new right-back to their squad ahead of next season, with Conor Bradley’s exact return date still unclear amid his long-term injury.

Jeremie Frimping has suffered with plenty of injury problems of his own throughout the campaign, as the Dutchman’s debut season in the Premier League hasn’t really gone to plan for him so far.

Slot trusted the former Bayer Leverkusen man with a start in the all-important second leg in midweek, and he showed an admirable energy throughout the game.

However, that landed the 25-year-old in trouble in the sixth minute of the action, when he bundled over Baris Alper Yilmaz in the corner near the Galatasaray goal.

Frimpong appeared to have been fouled first by his opponent, who then got goalside of the Liverpool man before crumpling to the floor.

Raczkowski adjudged Frimpong to have pulled his counterpart to the ground and awarded an extremely generous free-kick to Galatasaray, a decision that left the Liverpool man amazed.

It was a relatively innocuous challenge from Frimpong, but the referee’s view of the incident played into the stop-start nature of the opening stages.

Alexis Mac Allister robbed of late goal

Alexis Mac Allister thought he had got his name on the scoresheet in the final minutes of the game, when he bundled the ball home following a corner.

However, his joy was short-lived as Raczkowski quickly ruled the game out for a foul on the Galatasaray goalkeeper Ugurcan Cakir.

The incident was reviewed by VAR but the on-field referee’s initial decision was quickly upheld, despite replays appearing to suggest that Cakir had gone to ground extremely easily with Virgil van Dijk in the vicinity at the time.

It ultimately made little difference in terms of the final result, but Mac Allister was unsurprisingly frustrated to see his goal denied for such an innocuous challenge.