Liverpool cruise as Chelsea and Newcastle reach CL pre-quarters

Liverpool eased to a 3-0 win in Marseille in the Champions League on Wednesday as Harry Kane’s double earned Bayern Munich a 2-0 victory against Union Saint-Gilloise that secured a place in the last 16 for the German giants.

Arne Slot’s Liverpool extended their unbeaten run to 13 matches in all competitions since a 4-1 hammering at home by PSV Eindhoven in the Champions League in November.

Mohamed Salah made his first appearance for his club since returning from the Africa Cup of Nations, but he was not among the scorers.

Instead it was Dominik Szoboszlai who got the breakthrough just before half-time with a clever free-kick that went under the wall.

“I did my homework and got told that if no one is lying down, then I can hit it under the wall. I tried it and it worked out,” the Hungarian said.

Hugo Ekitike hit the bar before the second goal arrived on 72 minutes when Jeremie Frimpong’s ball into the middle went in off goalkeeper Geronimo Rulli.

Substitute Cody Gakpo wrapped up the win at the death, leaving Liverpool fourth in the 36-team standings, and in a position to clinch a last-16 place by beating Qarabag next week.

Meanwhile, Bayern joined table-toppers Arsenal in guaranteeing a top-eight finish with a game to spare, and therefore a last-16 spot, as they saw off the Belgian champions at the Allianz Arena.

Kane headed in to open the scoring early in the second half, then won and converted a penalty on 55 minutes.

Kim Min-jae was sent off for the home side before Kane squandered the chance to score a hat-trick by sending another penalty off the woodwork -- he nevertheless has seven goals in seven Champions League games this season, and 34 in all competitions.

“We scored at the right times, were a bit unlucky with the red card but even after that when we went down to 10 men we controlled the game well and earned the three points,” Kane told DAZN.

Newcastle United were too strong for PSV at St James’ Park, running out 3-0 winners after Yoane Wissa got an early opener and Anthony Gordon made it two on the half-hour.

Harvey Barnes then fired in the third on 65 minutes, and Newcastle are in the top eight before completing the league phase away to reigning champions Paris Saint-Germain next week.

Chelsea are eighth after edging out Cypriot minnows Pafos 1-0 at Stamford Bridge thanks to a Moises Caicedo header in the 78th minute -- as new coach Liam Rosenior enjoyed a win in his first Champions League game.

Barcelona are among the teams involved in the fight for direct last-16 access after they came from behind to defeat Slavia Prague 4-2.

The Czech side had not scored in any of their previous five European outings but went ahead through Vasil Kusej’s early goal.

Fermin Lopez scored twice to turn the game around, only for the unlucky Robert Lewandowski to put through his own net and make it 2-2 at the interval.

However, a brilliant Dani Olmo strike restored Barca’s lead just after the hour and Lewandowski sealed the win with his first Champions League goal this season.

Atletico Madrid drew 1-1 away to Galatasaray in Istanbul, with Giuliano Simeone putting the visitors ahead early on only for a Marcos Llorente own goal to restore parity.

Atalanta’s top-eight hopes were hit as they lost 3-2 at home to Athletic Bilbao, with the Basque side reviving their hopes of making the play-off round.

Gianluca Scamacca headed Atalanta in front but Gorka Guruzeta equalised before the break and Nico Serrano and Robert Navarro added further goals in the second half. Nikola Krstovic then pulled one back late on.

Juventus continued their Champions League recovery with a third straight European win, beating Benfica 2-0 thanks to second-half goals by Khephren Thuram and Weston McKennie.

Vangelis Pavlidis missed a penalty in spectacular fashion for Benfica, and Jose Mourinho’s side now look set to be eliminated.

However, surprise package Qarabag are on course to make the play-offs after beating Eintracht Frankfurt 3-2 in Baku.

Colombian Camilo Duran scored twice for the home side either side of a Can Uzun effort and a Fares Chaibi penalty. Bahlul Mustafazade then won it for the Azeri club in injury time.

All 18 matches in the final round of games will be played simultaneously next Wednesday, Jan.28.

Agencies