As Harvey Elliott joined his fellow Liverpool substitutes for the post-match warm-down, he was serenaded by the 2,000 travelling fans being kept behind in an otherwise deserted stadium.
His name echoed around Parc des Princes after securing one of the most unlikely European victories in the club’s illustrious history.
A young player who has been consigned to the periphery for so much of Arne Slot’s first season in charge suddenly found himself in the spotlight and deservedly so.
Just 47 seconds separated Elliott replacing Mohamed Salah and him coolly slotting past Gianluigi Donnarumma with his first touch after being teed up by Darwin Nunez. There was a joyous knee slide before he was mobbed by his team-mates.
ADVANTAGE LIVERPOOL ⚽️
A ‘smash and grab’ night for Liverpool at the French champions, sub Harvey Elliott scoring the only goal of the game after 47 seconds with his first touch 🤩
— Football on TNT Sports (@footballontnt) March 5, 2025
His 87th-minute winner was Liverpool’s only shot on target as they pulled off the ultimate smash and grab raid in the French capital to give them a precious lead going into next Tuesday’s second leg of the last-16 tie at Anfield.
Alisson, who produced a string of outstanding saves to ensure Paris Saint-Germain failed to make their dominance count, made a beeline for Elliott after the final whistle and lifted him off his feet.
“You don’t really think about scoring with your first touch, but it fell perfectly for me with a great pass from Darwin and I just had to supply the finish,” Elliott told LFCTV.
“I just had to make sure I got a good connection. I aimed for the bottom corner and although he got a hand to it, luckily it went in. There was talk on the bench about us defending with our lives and hoping we’d get one chance. We showed our resilience as a team and we got our reward in the end.”
On a personal level, it has been a difficult season for Elliott. A broken bone in his foot kept him out for two-and-a-half months before Christmas and when fit he has found his game time limited.
Having started 27 matches in all competitions under Jurgen Klopp in 2023-34, he has made only four starts under Slot and they were in the domestic cups and the Champions League dead rubber against PSV Eindhoven.
When Liverpool recently embarked on a gruelling run of five Premier League games in 15 days, Elliott’s overall involvement amounted to one brief outing off the bench against Manchester City.
There is no disgrace in being overlooked with the bar set so high. The midfield trio of Ryan Gravenberch, Alexis Mac Allister and Dominik Szoboszlai have been integral to Liverpool’s pursuit of glory, with Curtis Jones also excelling when called upon. Elliott can operate wide on the right but Salah’s durability and output means rotation in that area is rare.
A degree of impatience is understandable for the 21-year-old, who has clocked up 137 appearances for the club since arriving from Fulham in 2019.
His place in the pecking order has led to inevitable speculation about his future this summer but Liverpool have no intention of selling and he has given no indication he intends to abandon his mission to become a first-team regular.
“I need to use that anger and frustration and turn it into motivation,” Elliott added.
“I always want to play Champions League football. It’s not about everyone being able to see I’m frustrated, it’s about being there for the team. Although I only played five minutes against PSG, I had the mentality of wanting to help the team as much as possible.
“You just need little moments where confidence becomes bigger and better and hopefully more opportunities come. The manager has his decisions and his tactics and you have to respect that as a player.”
It was the latest Liverpool had recorded a match-winning goal both scored and assisted by a substitute since the 2019 Club World Cup semi-final against Monterrey, when Trent Alexander-Arnold set up Roberto Firmino.
Given how few opportunities he has been given, it is remarkable Elliott has scored in three successive Champions League appearances for the first time in his career, having also netted against Lille and PSV in the league phase.
“A big moment for him,” said Slot. “I can understand that he is sometimes frustrated by the playing time he gets because he is a good player, but he is in competition with players that I hardly take off.
“Dominik Szoboszlai is always the one that just keeps on going. He also scores goals and is so important for us with all the running he does. And yeah, Mo Salah I think is quite key as well. So Harvey has to do it with limited playing time but he just keeps on going.
“I have to give him big compliments for that and also my staff because they keep working with him and every time come up with great exercises so he stays fit.”
Slot deserves credit too for the substitutions he made. Salah was as ineffective as he has been all season but a lot of managers would have left him out there rather than introduce Elliott late on.
Bringing on Jones and Wataru Endo for Luis Diaz and Gravenberch gave Liverpool more of a combative edge, while Nunez replacing the struggling Diogo Jota provided an attacking focal point which had been lacking previously.
Publicly criticising Nunez’s work ethic against Wolverhampton Wanderers and Aston Villa was a gamble by Slot, but he seems to have got a positive response out of him. The Uruguayan attacker did brilliantly in the build-up to the winner as he proved too powerful for Marquinhos and then picked out Elliott. “From the moment Darwin came in we were more of a threat than before,” Slot said.
PSG had 70 per cent possession, 27 shots to two, 10 shots on target to one, and created an xG (expected goals) of 1.8 versus 0.3. But their 22-game unbeaten run was ended because Alisson produced “the performance of my life” and Elliott showcased a clinical edge the hosts were lacking. You had to admire the resilience as Slot’s side dug deep and weathered the storm.
“Alisson is the best in the world and every game he shows why,” Elliott said. “He’s unbelievable. Without him, I don’t think we would be anywhere near where we are this season.”
Liverpool will need to be more composed, more polished on home turf in order to reach the quarter-finals but what a position they find themselves in. They have now beaten the champions of Spain, Germany, England and France this season without conceding a goal.
Luis Enrique had warned his PSG players to be wary of a front line consisting of “three fighter jets”, but it was a surprise package off the bench which proved their undoing.
(Top photo: Anne-Christine Poujoulat/AFP via Getty Images)
