Liverpool crushed Sparta Prague 5-1 in the first leg of their Europa League last-16 match on Thursday thanks to an early penalty kick by Alexis Mac Allister and a brace from Darwin Nunez.

Liverpool dominated the match and led 3-0 at the half, moving one step closer to the quarterfinals. Liverpool qualified for the knockout stages as the group champions.

The Argentine gave Liverpool the lead in the sixth minute from the penalty spot after Mac Allister was brought down inside the box.

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As he blasted into the bottom corner, he confused Sparta goalie Peter Jensen.

In the 25th, Nunez extended the lead from long range, finishing his effort barely under the crossbar to record the 1,000th goal in Juergen Klopp’s career.

In stoppage time in the first half, the Uruguayan forward extended the lead to 3-0 by slotting home from the edge of the box after receiving a lofted pass from Mac Allister.

Following the interval, Conor Bradley, a replacement for Liverpool, scored an own goal, but Luis Diaz gave the visitors a three-goal advantage again in the 53rd minute.

Replace Mohamed Salah believed he had increased Liverpool’s advantage to 5-1, but VAR disallowed his goal because it was offside.

However, Dominik Szoboszlai added a fifth in injury time.