Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain praised the vociferous Anfield support as Liverpool stunned Manchester City in the first leg of their Champions League quarter-final.
The England midfielder was one of Liverpool’s scorers in a 3-0 win that left Pep Guardiola’s all-conquering team humbled.
Mohamed Salah and Sadio Mane were on target either side of Oxlade-Chamberlain’s 26-yard rocket on another memorable night of European football at Anfield.
Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain celebrates his stunning long-range strike in Liverpool’s 3-0 win
Liverpool left Manchester City stunned with three first-half strikes on Wednesday night
Oxlade-Chamberlain praised the intense atmosphere inside Anfield during the game
‘It was a great start for us – going 3-0 up before half-time set us up brilliantly,’ Oxlade-Chamberlain told BT Sport.
‘We knew we had to start fast, but I don’t think that was hard today with the atmosphere. From coming into the ground right through to the warm-up, the fans were unbelievable out there.
‘It got me going and I’m sure it got the rest of the boys going. We’ve won the game in the first-half and then had to defend well in the second.’
His blistering strike from distance on 20 minutes was a highlight of a resounding first-leg victory that leaves Jurgen Klopp’s side strong favourites to make the last four.
‘It was a good strike. The space just opened up for me,’ he added. ‘I’ve been working on that, on trying to do it more often.
‘I showed myself that if it’s on more often I can keep doing it.’
Oxlade-Chamberlain let fly from 26 yards with a rocket shot that beat Ederson
Liverpool captain Jordan Henderson also said the noisy Anfield atmosphere fired up the team
There were unsavoury scenes outside Anfield as the City team bus was pelted with projectiles
Liverpool captain Jordan Henderson also praised the fans for the feverish atmosphere they generated inside the stadium, but the club had to apologise to City after their team bus was damaged by projectiles thrown by fans outside as they arrived for the match.
‘We knew the atmosphere would be brilliant, and it was. We had to make the most of that,’ said Henderson.
‘We were on the front foot, high intensity. In the second-half they obviously came at us a bit more and we dropped deep at times, which we didn’t really want to do, but we defended brilliantly.
‘It’s only the first leg so we need to make sure we do it again away.’
Henderson picked up a yellow card late on that will rule him out of next Tuesday’s return leg at the Etihad Stadium.
Jordan Henderson was booked late on, meaning he will be suspended for the return leg